Historical Context

• it was more scandalous for an older male to express sexual interest in a female than a younger male
• Illyria is located on the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Greece
• Shakespeare uses this setting as a way to explore themes related to love, identity, and gender roles.
• Shakespeare's use of satirises on the puritanical attitudes through Malvolio was not uncommon he also used shylock as a way to do this
• under Elizabeth, there was a strong desire to keep social rankings distinct. This desire stemmed from the emerging merchant class that threatened the old social order, so the reaction was to maintain the social hierarchy. theatre provided freedom from societal rules
• sumptuary laws were in place at the time (Laws that controlled consumption or how people spent their money. they were designed to make a person's place in society legible by regulating how much members of different classes were allowed to spend)
• the presentation of Malvolio's yellow stockings were not only funny because they were hopelessly outdated in 1601 but because brightly coloured hoses were a symbol of the young and free. 
• allegorical theatre was popular at the time with characters or storylines representing a moral or political message (Sir Toby being lechery and greed)
• The play is set during carnival season which is traditionally associated with chaos and disorder. The festive atmosphere allows Shakespeare to challenge traditional values and conventions without fear of retribution. It also provides an opportunity for him to comment on contemporary issues such as the role of women and the power dynamics between men and women.
• use of "mad" or mentally ill patients as a form of entertainment was popular in the era of shakespeare (Malvolio)
• Stubbs' Puritan manifesto was published in 1572 and demanded that Queen Elizabeth I 'restore the purity' of New Testament worship in the church of England. rallies against the popular culture that Stubbs believed was immoral and needed reform. the subjects that came under criticism include gluttony and drunkenness.
• The lord of misrule is someone who creates and organises festivities and often opposes strict rule and this was both common in real life in the Elizabethan era and in literature/theatre at the time
• being imprisoned below the stage in Elizabethan theatre was a portrayal of hell
• At the time that the play was written, all actors were men as women were not permitted to perform in the theatre. Therefore, in the first performance Viola would have been played by a male actor, playing a woman, who is pretending to be a man.
• The Puritans beheaded King Charles 1 in 1649