Main Themes In Twelfth Night

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. The play centers on the lead female role and protagonist, Viola, who

Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night is based off the traditional Christian holiday – a day on which the normality of the world is turned upside down. On this particular day, the normal order of things is disrupted and the social standings of lower and upper social class members are reversed. The title is delightfully fitting for the play, as the storyline is comprised of comical disruption within the social decorum of Illyria. In this essay, I will examine how the carnival atmosphere of the Twelfth Night holiday is reflected in the way the play is constructed. Shakespeare introduces a topsy-turvy world where metaphoric boundaries are crossed with the created ambiguity of gender and the act of deception.

He twisted Olivia's words (from a fake letter) around to make it sounds like she will admire his yellow cross-gathered stockings, when she really despises them, considering him as a mad. Feste, the clown, said: .".Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal, and you smile not he's gagg'd: and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenge", and by doing so, Feste criticizes Malvolio's overestimation, when at their first meeting Malvolio said: "I marvel your lady takes delight in such a barren rascal." Through doing this, he shows himself to be a man who condescends to those that he believes to be lower than him, acting on his own personal belief of superiority. Thus, this self-inflated sour character is brought to his knees, unlocked in darkness, because he was considered as a "madman", and he "holds Belzebub at the stave's end as well as man in his case may do." This was done through a fake love-letter written by Maria, and when Malvolio appears, he shows the letter arguing that it set off his madness, which he signed as: "The MADLY-US'D MALVOLIO." Thus, self-love, pride, desire to climb the social ladder, and to burn the social class boundaries, all these factors drove Malvolio to a state of madness, as a consequence he was humiliated, leading to his downfall. By humiliating him, even Puritanism is mocked. Malvolio symbolized Puritanism (strict values, no fancy...), and due to the fact that the joke was around his new dresses for Olivia, yellow socks, smiles, the

In spite of the promise of three weddings to be celebrated, the play concludes on a sour note when Feste, the clown, depicts life as grim, "for the rain it raineth every day" (Act V Scene i). They play’s primary central theme is that of the comic relationships between men and women. Furthermore, it illustrates the traditional, societal notions of “interdependence, and the newly emerging attitudes towards individual choice and personal desire, or as the play puts it, ‘will’” (Malcolmson 163). Although Twelfth Night is a story of love and courtship, nevertheless, it is also a “comedy of gender,” because of its ability to override the traditional Elizabethan notions of the female role through the characters of Viola and Olivia.

Most of the major characters in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night experience some form of love or marriage. Whether it’s unrequited like with Antonio and Malvolio, or it is something seemingly unattainable like with Duke Orsino. Regardless, it is clear that love is prevalent as one of the central themes Shakespeare seems to emphasize in Twelfth Night. With that, we see him communicate different interpretations and feelings regarding the subject. He does this with the medium of melodramatic characters. In this essay, I will elaborate on the opinions of love that Shakespeare communicates through one of the leading characters:

Obstacles are found in many situations, especially true love when disguise is involved. The mistaken identity of one has a powerful effect on the rest of the characters in Shakespeare’s twelfth night as it creates problems for true love. Aside from Shakespeare’s others, the play focuses on mistaken identity/disguise and unrequited love. Disguise truly is an obstacle for true love to prevail in twelfth night. The obstacle of disguise that occurs in the play will be analyzed by exploring situations, character’s thoughts, and the result of poor decisions made.

Trevor Nunn’s (1996) adaptation of Twelfth Night illustrates the complexity of Feste’s character and how important he is to the overall play. Ben Kingsley, the actor, presents Feste as sympathetic and gentle choric figure. It is Feste who allows the audience to see the films respect for the original play, and the existing issues within it. This includes the defencelessness of women, and the attractive, but dangerous, qualities of altering one’s true sexual identity. Interestingly, unlike the original script, Nunn opens his first scene with Feste observing Viola struggle to shore after the shipwreck she has experienced. In this context, Kingsley’s Feste is revealed for the first time. He is shown as a mysterious and isolated individual, who

Egotism has the ability to cloud one’s moral judgement and can therefore affect not only the individual, but an entire community as well. William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night introduces how deceit and trickery can cause a person to be so concerned with themselves, that they become oblivious to the consequences that can arise from their actions. Malvolio, a trusted and loyal servant to the Lady Olivia, falls victim to the jokes of others in the household due to his serious approach to life and opinion that there is no time for fun. Because of the jokes and mockery, he becomes preoccupied with winning the affection of Olivia and begins to hold himself in the highest esteem, making him unaware of the conflicts around him. Malvolio’s self-absorption

The Stratford version of gulling Malvolio scene which is a stage play from Twelfth night written by William Shakespeare is better than the Multicultural version that is presented in a movie version of the play. The Stratford Theater presented the character as very funny and interesting to watch because of the tongue-tied jokes. In the Multicultural, movie version the characters of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian are shown as very aggressive and malevolent people also Maria who is Olivia's maid is shown as a malicious woman who wants to make a fool out of Malvolio who is Olivia's steward and like's Olivia. The Multicultural version didn't have any background music which is not amusing for some audience, but Stratford Theater had many tones

Yet the atmosphere of the play may render Malvolio’s aspirations less unreasonable than they initially seem. The feast of Twelfth Night, from which the play takes its name, was a time when social hierarchies were turned upside down. That same spirit is alive in Illyria: indeed, Malvolio’s antagonist, Maria, is able to increase her social standing by marrying Sir Toby. But it seems that Maria’s success may be due to her willingness to accept and promote the anarchy that Sir Toby and the others embrace. This Twelfth Night spirit, then, seems to pass by Malvolio, who doesn’t wholeheartedly embrace the upending of order and decorum but rather wants to blur class lines for himself alone.

himself just to suit his outlook on the situation. For example, the play he twists Olivia's words around to make it seem like she likes his yellow cross-gartered tights when in reality she dislikes them. Sir Toby just considers himself and no one else, not even his companions. He ignores Maria's notification about drinking into the night, and he continues to push Sir Andrew and Olivia to court. Even though he believes that Sir Andrew doesn't have a chance. Olivia considers the all-inclusive community around her, yet she furthermore assumes that no man is meriting her brilliance. She assumes that she is "all that," and that no one can organize her. For Shakespeare to incorporate this sort of just a single was most likely to demonstrate that Malvolio who thinks excessively of himself isn't right about Olivia cherishing him.

Comedy, in the Elizabethan era, often included themes of wit, mistaken identity, love, and tragedy, all tied up with a happy ending. These themes are prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comical play that explores the pangs of unrequited love and the confusion of gender. Love is a powerful emotion that causes suffering, happiness, and disorder throughout the play. The play also demonstrates the blurred lines of gender identity, which ties into the modern day debate on sexuality and gender identity. The main characters in the play, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are connected by a love triangle, each person pursuing an unrequited love. Suffering from love and the fluidity of gender are the prevalent themes explored throughout the play and intertwined with Viola, Olivia, and Orsino.

Meanwhile Olivia's drunkard uncle, Sir Toby; his pawn in the story Sir Andrew Aguecheek, are trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia with Sir Andrew. When Sir Toby takes offense at Malvolio's, the houses Stewart, constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved, telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and in hopes of becoming noble he, happily follows its commands. He behaves so strangely that

Twelfth Night explores the various representations of love that are universal to the human experience.

According to Chris, Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’ touches on sensitive concepts within the society (1). Similar to the majority of his literary works, Twelfth Night captures the concept of love and how individuals use love through marriage to achieve power or a higher social status. Throughout the play, there is an apparent struggle for social status by the key characters. Lindheim asserts that there are some characters in the play, such as Antonio who would do everything within their means in order to achieve their sexual desires (2). For example, in a more traditional society or contemporary setting, Antonio could never hope of