Twelfth Night (1969) - Sir Ralph Richardson, part 10 of 10

this extract starts with Act V at about line 282 (Feste starts reading the madman's letter) to end of play...with many cuts, of course.

link below to a single playlist of all 10 parts of this "Twelfth Night":
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7F429A373BCAC12F

Joan Plowright ... Viola and Sebastian
Riggs O'Hara ... Fabian
Tommy Steele ... Feste
Ralph Richardson ... Sir Toby Belch
Alec Guinness ... Malvolio
Gary Raymond ... Orsino, Duke of Illyria

some marvelous performances here!

Directed by John Sichel...unfortunately the play has been cut extensively, to fit the TV broadcast time slot.


Reading the Variorum Edition, I was surprised to see that almost all the commentators so vehemently disliked Feste's final song.
"so poor a recommendation as this song" said one, another hopes it will be "degraded to the footnotes", another remarks "a wretched song"!

However, the editor Furness was glad to note that John Weiss ("Wit, Humor, and Shakespeare", 1876.p. 204) wrote:

When the play is over, the Duke plighted to his page, Olivia rightly married to the wrong man, and the whole romantic ravel of sentiment begins to be attached to the serious conditions of life, Feste is left alone upon the stage. Then he sings a song which conveys to us his feeling of the world's impartiality ; all things proceed according to law ; nobody is humoured ; people must abide the consequences of their actions, ' for the rain it raineth every day.' A ' little tiny boy ' may have his toy ; but a man must guard against knavery and thieving ; marriage itself cannot be sweetened by swaggering ; whoso drinks with ' toss-pots' will get a 'drunken head'; it is a very old world, and began so long ago that no change in its habits can be looked for.

The grave insinuation of this song is touched with the vague, soft bloom of the play. As the noises of the land come over sea well-tempered to the ears of islanders, so the world's fierce, implacable roar reaches us in the song, sifted through an air that hangs full of the Duke's dreams, of Viola's pensive love, of the hours which music flattered. The note is hardly more presageful than the cricket's stir in the late silence of a summer. How gracious has Shakespeare been to mankind in this play ! He could not do otherwise than leave Feste all alone to pronounce its benediction



Henry I Ruggles, ("Method of Shakespeare as an Artist", 1870, p. 15):

This comedy is pervaded with the spirit of literature and gentility. It is lifted above the working-day world into a sphere of ease, culture, and good-breeding. Its characters are votaries of pleasure in different degrees, from the lowest gratification of the sense up to the more refined pleasures derived from the exercise of the imagination, which, after all, are but the pleasures of the sense at second-hand.

Beside the air of elegance it possesses, it is filled to the brim and overflowing with the spirit that seeks to enjoy this world without one thought or aspiration beyond. It jumps the hereafter entirely. Every scene of it glows with the warmth and sunshine of physical enjoyment. It places before us the sensual man, with his fondness for cheer, his cakes and ale, his delights of the eye and ear, his pleasure in pastime and sport, his high estimation of a good leg and a good voice, in short, of all that can gratify the sense, win favour, or conduce to worldly advantage.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Twelfth
• Night
• comedy
• Ralph-Richardson
• Joan-Plowright
• Theatre
• play
• Alec-Guinness
• Tommy-Steele

[Concetta20]

I love Tommy Steele!

[WhiteRoses4Ever]

Poor Malivio. I can't believe that's Obiwan from Star Wars. He's so funny.

[princeminski47]

@WhiteRoses4Ever I find your lack of couth disturbing.

[FireEyedMaidOfWar]

@joyleng: I afraid not: Since Aristophanes lived at the days of Plato and his plays are known as the Elder Comedy and they are defiantly a lot funny and political too; so there is no escape. Besides: Socrates (since Plato is his mere scribbler) was an outspoken detractor of all acting and representing art, stating that such artists only draw shadow images of the things, which have no connection with the divine ideas or their earthly incarnations; so you could ask an abstainer as well about wine!

[joyleng]

@Countrygirltori24

Concur with you completely though if you can, read the play again after watching the play.

The words will come alive for you and it will be a pleasurable experience of a different sort.

Enjoy! :)

[joyleng]

@GreatGrumbledook

I know what you mean.

You see, in those times, Plato's definition of comedy is anything that does not qualify as a tragedy.

Adding humour to a play was an early modern invention.

[joyleng]

@tangoseven70

Indeed! I am pleasantly surprised at this rendition.

Best ever! :)

[festmeable]

hey guys if you search wallaby17171 feste, you can check out my final song in twelfth night. I loved playing feste the jester in my high school shakespeare company and i just want you too check it out.

[nicelydone31]

how now art thou mad??? lol!!!! hahahahaha!

[figueroa661]

A great interpretation of SHakespeare. The plays are so much more enjoyable when acted than on the page alone!

Thanks for posting

[tangoseven70]

This is my favorite version on YouTube of Feste's last song. I love the contrast between the speaker in the song and the singer's relative youth. I think the performance really carries off a surprisingly bittersweet ending.

[GreatGrumbledook]

This version of Twelfth Night (or what you will) is like a good old wine: The label may be withered a bit but the content of the bottle is far better than any of the ones with new labels; by far the best version I have ever seen; though the idea of having an actress play both Viola and Sebastian is a bit odd: There should be twin actor and actress couples around to perform such a task; and yes: Twelfth Night is one of my favourite Shakespeare comedies, though there is almost nothing comical!