“Now, now the mirth comes with the cake full of
plums, where bean's the king of the sport here; beside we must know, the pea
also must revel, as queen, in the court here. Begin then to choose, this night
as ye use, who shall for the present delight here, be a king by the lot, and
who shall not be twelfth-day queen for the night here.”
-Robert Herrick (1591-1674): “Twelfth Night: Or King and Queen”
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| "Twelfth Night" by David Teniers the Younger (1634-40) |
Some might find it
confusing that the title of Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night is not mentioned anywhere within the text, nor does it
seem to have any direct reference to the events of the play itself. It has been suggested that the play was given
the title based on having been performed on the twelfth and final night of the
traditional Christmas celebration, on the eve of the Epiphany. After four weeks of fasting throughout the Advent,
a series of three Christmas Day mass ceremonies would commence a twelve-day
festival of feasting and merriment, during which all manual labor other than
the necessary care of livestock would cease.
During the Twelfth Night festivities, a cake with a dried bean hidden
inside would be served. The reveler who found the bean in his slice of cake became
the King for the evening and would either choose his consort or have a Queen
chosen by means of a separate cake hiding a dried pea.
This practice of role-play which rearranged the normal social order was
a common theme in Tudor-era Christmas traditions as well as in the festivals
upon which they were based.
Midnight
of Twelfth Night also marked the end of the reign of the Lord of Misrule, who
was a commoner appointed to direct the Christmastide revelries. For these twelve days he would foster general
disorder and mockery of authority—masters waiting on servants, cross dressing,
and other forms of role reversal—as well as excessive drinking and the singing
of bawdy songs. The custom was so
prevalent that many of the Tudor monarchs appointed a Lord of Misrule within
their own courts. Queen Elizabeth’s
concerns over such public chaos and increasing condemnation from the Protestant
Reformation ultimately discouraged the excessive mayhem of the celebration. Although
secular in nature, the designation of a Lord of Misrule to preside over social
disorder had evolved from the Feast of Fools, a medieval tradition in which
young clergy inverted traditional liturgical elements such as vestments,
sacraments, and sermons. This in turn is believed to have derived from the
traditions of ancient Roman festivals. Saturnalia, a celebration in recognition
of the harvest god Saturn, overturned the traditional relationships between
master and slave while encouraging licentious behavior.
These periods of role-playing and
reversal are believed to have strengthened existing social hierarchies, as the temporary
suspension of societal norms allowed for the expulsion of pent-up resentments
with the understanding that such freedoms were short-lived. The many inversions of power, dignity, and
social role that Shakespeare includes in Twelfth
Night certainly evoke the licensed disorder of its namesake
celebration. Both offer a fleeting
social revolution in which things are temporarily turned topsy-turvy, roles are
reversed, and pranks are played, but in the end all of the confusion and chaos ultimately
reverts to a world of order.
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