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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Twelfth Night
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, or What You Will (c.1601) Comedy by *Shakespeare, possibly written for court festivities on 6 January 1601, the twelfth night of *Christmas. The main plot is one of romantic misunderstandings between Orsino, duke of Illyria, who is in love with Olivia, who is in love with the page Cesario, who is in fact Viola in male disguise, whose love for Orsino completes the unhappy triangle. The arrival of Viola's identical twin, Sebastian, complicates matters further. The play contains superb lyric poetry, starting with Orsino's opening line: 'If music be the food of love, play on.'
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The sub-plot, busy with the schemes of Olivia's courtiers, introduces three of Shakespeare's best-known comic characters: her uncle Sir Toby Belch, a hard-drinking knight in the Falstaff mould; her self-important steward, Malvolio, who is persuaded that she loves him; and the effete Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
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