These adaption are different in several ways. In the Disney's version their was
less explained emotions and with completely fantasy results of hardly knowing
each other. The marriage was fast, and it seemed that they didn't know each
other. In the second movie, the ball resulted was tragic. Their was character
development of the Prince to accepting the women he loved in spite of her
social class. The orphan aspect is constant as well as the Prince having to
search for the truth and true girl. Whitney

The two stories are based on the same plot. They both explore gender roles in a male dominated society. It makes us ask ourselves why we view women as inferior physically. These examples show that given the opportunity, a woman could perform as well as (if not better than) her male counterpart (in both cases their male twin). This is a classic narrative strategy that has been repeated often. When the women are inevitably discovered, everybody falls neatly back into their traditional gender roles, with the sisters getting the guys, and the brothers getting the girls.

The text provided and the storylines seem to be pretty much the same in plot. The differences though are clearly in the presentation and the time periods they were made in contribute to this a lot. This is really common though, because so many of Shakespeare's plays have been reinterpreted into movies and not necessarily dumbed down, but made more accessable to the audiences of the time. Take "Westside Story" for example, an adapatation of Romeo and Juliet. There's been a really recent trend though with movies like "She's the Man" where Shakespeare's play are made more modern by adapting them for more of a teen audience. "Ten Things I Hate About You" was based on "The Taming of the Shrew" and "O" was based on "Othello".

I've seen the movie "She's the Man" but I've never read Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" or seen the movie based on this work. After reading the excerpt though it's very clear that the movie generally adheres to the play, aside from minor details. It would be interesting to look into the role of women in the time period which "Twelfth Night" is set in, because the Amanda Bynes movie mainly revolves around gender issues. There is, again, the more "playful" setting in the movie, whereas the play involves a woman trying to make a living after suffering a life-changing event. Finally, I found it interesting how the 2nd movie's director added other elements to the movie to make it more interesting such as Sebastien's girlfriend, Monique.

Kristen Cone

Nicholas Walsh

I have never read the play or seen either film. After reading Shakespeare's version, I am able to see that it is written in a traditional shakespearian way with common plots such as mistaken identity, which is found in serveral of his plays. From what I can gather from the summary of the first movie version, the movie stays true to the play with no major plot or character differences. The second version seems to show little effort in staying true to the play and instead only holds a slight resemblence to it . This is caused by major plot changes and liberties taken in an attempt to modernize the play.

The first movie adheres to the traditional plot of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. However, that does not mean that it is more entertaining. The second film is a youthful adaptation on the adult tale created by Shakespeare. The movies clearly appeal to different audiences, but because I have never seen either movie it is difficult to address specific examples of this. On characters, it seems that the second film added more characters than the original; this was probably a necessity because of the shift in audience.

Michael Thompson
RHE 306 March 27

Having not seen the movie that ties in more directly with the play, I can only compare the original Shakespearean version, and "She's the Man". (Editor's note: Michael did not intentionally watch it out of his own free will. It was simply on at the video store when he was working.) The remake follows the original in key events such as the identity change and final resolution, but for the most part just takes the idea of the battle of the sexes and runs with it. However, it does so on a superficial level and never really gets beyond immature ideas. "Let's put Amanda Bynes in the guy's locker room and see what happens!" Sure, they could take the idea of the battle of the sexes and try to ante it up a notch, but like the original we get inoffensive humor and smile all the while ignorant characters run around without knowing Viola's true identity.

These adaptations are interesting, especially the aspect of feminism in each. It is prominent in the newest version, if somewhat cliche. A modern take on the play is an interesting twist, bringing the story out of the realm of shakespearean. It becomes impossible to guess that the story is a Shakespearean play unless one has previous experience with The Twelfth Night in its original form.

I liked both of the movies, they are very similar to the plot that I chose for my movie as well. It just takes elder more conservative ideas and transfers those ideas into a movie that better fits the time period that the movie takes place. It is a good idea when creating newer movies to translate the time period, but keep the same undertone. The only differences are that one person is a girl who turns into a man to live at the court of the Duke and the newer one turns into a male soccer player.

Initially, this is a fascinating story, whether it’s told as the first movie or the second movie. Both stories are basically the same, but there are a few differences. From the plot summary you can see that Viola makes herself look like a man in the first movie because she wants to make a living in the court of the Duke. As a man, she would’ve made a better living. On the other hand, Viola turns into a man in the second movie so that she can prove a point. She wants to show everyone that she can play soccer with the boys. The second movie would probably be more enjoyable for me because I’m not a big Shakespeare fan, and more of a modern language would be more suitable for me. Overall though, an intriguing plot that was entertaining for the Shakespeare audience, is entertaining for the current audience, and will be entertaining for many years to come.

John Killough Wangel
RHE 306 Hyojin Han
March 27, 2007

In the reading The Twelfth Night and both of the movies, the general storyline seems to flow identically. A sister that has a twin brother, takes on the identity of their absent brother to fulfill a goal. However, when the missing brother returns the secret is revealed and the girl has to explain herself. Where the two stories differ most in my opinion is the seriousness of the two issues. In the reading and first movie, Viola takes on a role that is essential to making money and making it through her life it seems. In the second movie, Viola does not have to take on an alter ego to make it through life, rather it is desire that drives her. Of course, due to the difference in time periods, the language, setting, and attire are all drastically different. In the end, it seems all works portray a similiar story with the same message, just in a different time period and setting.