Gl’Ingannati (1537)
This Italian comedy involved the use of disguises and mistaken identity. A brother and sister are parted by accident (and eventually reunited), and the sister disguises herself as a boy. In her disguise as a male, the sister serves a master and has to act as a go- between between that master and the woman he loves. However, the Italian comedy is similar to Shakespeare’s comedy in only a superficial way. Shakespeare adds far greater depth and dimension and meaning than that contained in his source.
“Apolonius and Silla” (1581)
Barnabe Rich wrote this prose tale in English.
Gl’Ingannati was its major source.
This medieval celebration occurring on Twelfth Night (January 6: the twelfth day after Christmas) became too riotous and outlandish as far as the Church was concerned. Rules and order were turned upside down. A King of Fools was elected: he was the Anarch (representing the anarchy of the day) while the King or Monarch of the land quietly found a place to keep out of harm’s way. The holiday gave the industrious commoners a day of psychological release from the hardships of day-to-living. Although far less blasphemous and orgiastic in Shakespeare’s time, the people of Renaissance England still enjoyed the opportunity of releasing their pent-up emotions and acting irrationally on the holiday.
During the late Middle Ages in England, a holiday was celebrated on Midsummer Eve (St. John's Eve, June 23). The lighting of bonfires, feasting, and merrymaking were common parts of the celebration. It was also a time for lust and love. In the late 15th C., John Mirk of Lilleshall Abbey, Shropshire, gives the following description: "At first, men and women came to church with candles and other lights and prayed all night long. In the process of time, however, men left such devotion and used songs and dances and fell into lechery and gluttony turning the good, holy devotion into sin." Shakespeare’s Countess alludes to this holiday when she refers to Malvolios’ behavior as “midsummer madness” (Act III, Scene 4).
Don Virginio Orsino, the Duke of Bracciano (Italy), came to the court of Queen Elizabeth I in January of 1601. According to one critic, Shakespeare possibly wrote the play in honor of that visit. The same critic (Leslie Hotson) contends that the Countess Olivia symbolizes Queen Elizabeth and that Malvolio symbolizes the pompous Comptroller of the Royal Household. The comptroller was usually in charge of the financial affairs of running the palace. The critic’s theory is plausible. Although Olivia and Orsino act foolishly and are quite unlike the historical figures in many ways, both the Queen and the real Duke may have been pleased with Shakespeare’s jest.