Foolish Wit In Twelfth Night

    It is not unusual that the fool should be a prominent figure and make an important contribution in forming the confusion and the humor in an Elizabethan drama. In William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, Feste the clown is not the only fool who is subject to foolery. He and many other characters combine their silly acts and wits to invade other characters that either escape reality or live a dream. In Twelfth Night, Feste, Maria and Sir Toby are the fools that make the comedy work in many senses.

Shakespeare’s fools are more than just court jesters. Their purpose is to provide insight and wisdom, which they often do in a witty manner. In King Lear, by William Shakespeare, the Fool behaves as a symbol for King Lear’s rationality and sanity. Throughout the play, Lear’s rationality and sanity quickly diminishes; causing a transformation into a literal fool. After the storm, Lear’s sanity and rationality completely disappear and Lear completes his transformation into the literal fool. The Fool is not present for the remainder of the play because Lear no longer has rationality and sanity.

William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest language in the English language and England’s national poet, has written numerous histories, tragedies, comedies and poems. Throughout his plays, his use of dramatic irony, immaculate word choice and wording, and his vast imagination has made him a successful playwright even in his time. Shakespeare’s scripts for his theatrical company, needed to pertain to the needs and fascinations of the Elizabethan audience. It is safe to assume that all his sonnets, poetic speeches, electrifying action and soliloquies in his play were created for the delicate and quickly appreciative of language Elizabethans of his time. A particular example out of the many soliloquies

through his vanity is easily fooled into thinking it is he who she loves although

Many people can be foolish because of the decisions they decide to make, surprisingly even fairies can be fools. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, fairies are just as fools as humans can be. From Bottom turning into an ass. Puck’s mistake in applying the love potion on the wrong person. Oberon’s decision to apply the love potion on his wife. By looking at the foolishness of Bottom, Puck and Oberon, it is evident that Puck’s statement “Lord what fools these mortals be” can also be applied to fairies

Shakespeare’s Fool is often the sole character who avoids being sucked into the dramatic maelstrom that engulfs other characters. Fools make jokes and can be relatively easy to pass over. It is as though they are saying - laugh away and ignore the man telling jokes. However, their jokes hold the key to some of Shakespeare’s beliefs and outlook on life. They reveal his existential musings such as “who are we?” and “what is the meaning of it all?”. Fools try to answer these questions at the same time as they amuse audiences. Shakespeare’s Fool suggests one is better off laughing at and with the more difficult aspects of the human condition.

First, Shakespeare illustrates the revelation about the people around the four characters. After he gives all of his fortunes to his two eldest daughters the fool tells the king that he is nothing. The fools is revealing how the king has disowned his only true daughter and alluding to how the king will be cast out by his rapacious daughters. In the beginning of the play, King Lear tells

Throughout William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Feste exemplifies the role of a jester and fool, but thoroughly demonstrates to his audience that there is more to him than the other characters might see. Feste is often degraded by his fellow associates, and deemed inferior to others because they view him for his “lack of wits,” but very few of them realize that Feste is anything but a fool. Feste is Olivia's personal and professional fool, and is therefore given the license to kill (with words). In the first scene that Feste is introduced to the reader, he is immediately stereotyped for being the usual joker, and he even plays along with the part that others reckon him to play. In this scene, Feste wittily

Finally, the strongest lesson that can be learned in Twelfth Night is having genuine friendships. I believe that Antonio and Sebastian have a great friendship. When Antonio saved Sebastian from drowning he wanted to be his servant so bad he was willing to beg for it even though he SAVED his life. Antonio said “If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your / servant. (II.i.29-30)”. Similarly, Maria and Sir Toby had a true friendship too. When Maria was setting up the letter prank for Malvolio, she wrote the letter by mimicking Olivia’s handwriting. Sir Toby was very happy with her and started to like her for who she truly was. Not for her looks which other guys usually do. He ended up eloping with her from something that made them stronger

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream The focus of this discussion will be upon the language and performance possibilities of this extract from the Dream[1], following brief consideration of the manner in which the extract relates to the rest of the play in terms of plot development and the reflection of certain of the play’s themes. Performance aspects are considered alongside the distinctive features of the language, as it is suggested that the nature of the language employed governs performance. Broadly speaking, it is argued that while the language of the extract lends itself to a humorous performance on more than one level, in certain respects the humour seeks to convey a serious

In the play “Twelfth Night” a comedy by William Shakespeare, Feste is depicted as a witty fool, a smart but foolish man, because, his wisdom shown through his shrewd comments, his witty language, and his jocose interactions with other characters. Throughout the play, Feste uses quick-witted comments, that show his intelligence

It is easily argued that Shakespeare’s comedic plays have a similar, formulaic, structure. Dr Schwartz from the California Polytechnic State University argues that the ‘action of a comedy traces a movement from conflict to the resolution of conflict’. There are many disorders and complications in each plot, which by the end of the play must be resolved for the satisfaction of the Elizabethan audience, and in some perspectives, this applies to the modern day audience as well. Twelfth Night poses many different arguments as to

Dramatic irony is a very useful tool for comic situations. When the audience understand something that the characters in the play don’t, it creates a funny scene in the play. Shakespeare uses this a lot in Twelfth Night to create humor, as do other authors and playwrights. When characters in the play soliloquize, the audience finds out a lot of useful information, some information Shakespeare uses to create dramatic irony. When using dramatic irony, Shakespeare makes his plays way more comical.

In William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, it is ironic how many times the fool is said to be dishonest, when, in fact, his role proves entirely opposite. Though sometimes the characters do not realize his hidden messages, the reader can instantly comprehend Feste's figurative language, which is evident in every scene in which the fool appears. Whether he is singing to Orsino, arguing with Malvolio, or playing around with Viola, Feste always manages to sneak in a few symbolic foretokens before his exit. His keen eye and fast wit help him to actively partake in the portrayal of the story, however, the fool is merely present to express that which cannot be fully expressed through the

nothing is precisely what Lear ends with. In Act I scene IV one of the