The Brilliant Comedy of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Essay

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

In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare contradicts vapid stereotypes about gender. Through Viola’s disguise as Cesario, he is able to prove that a woman is able to fulfill a man 's role in society. She is able to fool the other characters and is even able to woo another woman. This reinforces ideas about how invalid the rules and regulations society has made since Viola easily broke through them. Later on in the story, Sir Andrew challenges Viola to a duel. Viola expects Sir Andrew to be a great fighter, and he expects the same from her. This creates a comedic situation since they both are too afraid of each other to engage in the fight. (3.4, 223-298)

This becomes courtly love because Cesario doesn’t love her back. Meanwhile, outside Olivia’s house, Malvolio has caught up with Viola (still disguised as Cesario). Malvolio gives Cesario the ring that Olivia has sent with him, rebuking him for having left it with Olivia. Viola realizes Olivia’s deception and plays along with it, pretending that she did indeed give the ring to Olivia. She tells Malvolio that Olivia took the ring and insists that Olivia must keep it. Malvolio throws the ring onto the ground and exits. Alone, the confused Viola picks up the ring and wonders why Olivia has given it to her. She wonders if it means that Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario. If such is the case, Viola reflects, the events have indeed taken an ironic turn, because Olivia has unknowingly fallen in love with another woman. “Poor lady, she were better love a dream,” Viola says to herself (II.ii.24). Apparently loved by Olivia and in love with Orsino, who loves Olivia, Viola expresses her hope that time will untangle these problems since she certainly cannot figure out how to solve them. Even though Cesario doesn’t like Olivia she never gives up on liking

She feels pity for Olivia and herself with the statement "Poor lady, she were better love a dream" (2.2. 25)! Viola's use of deception causes a cross gender love triangle with which she can not deal.

William Shakespeare wrote plays that covered the breadth of human experience, which seem to have transcended the restraints of age because they contain universal themes. His body of his work is comprised of genres of plays, which varied from tragedies to comedies.

Different types of love and marriage play a significant role in Shakespeare’s twelfth night, whether unrequited like with Antonio and Malvolio; or something seemingly unattainable like with Duke Orsino. Love is prevalent as one of Shakespeare's central theme emphasized in the Twelfth Night. With that, we see Shakespeare communicate different interpretations and feelings regarding the subject. He does this with the medium of melodramatic characters. However, this essay will solely elaborate on the character Duke Orsino and his exploration of love. Through Orsino’s actions, Shakespeare conveys several messages still applicable today, some of which are about the fine line between superficial love and genuine love, love's incoherency, and love's

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

In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, love as the cause of suffering is one of the most prominent theme of the story. Even though this play ends in love and wedded bliss, Shakespeare also shows us that love can also cause pain. The characters often view love as a curse, something that is thrust upon you and you cannot easily or willing escape. Examples include Malvolio’s love for Olivia, the love triangle between Olivia, Duke Orsino, and Viola as Cesario, and Antonio’s crush on Sebastian. There are countless occasions where unrequited love for another results in heartbreak and sorrow.

“Then you are mad indeed, if you be no better in your wits than a

The rise of tension between characters is another characteristic of comedic plays. After Oberon sees the way that Helena has been treated by Demetrius, he orders Puck to apply the juice to the eyes of Demetrius. Puck accidentally applies the juice to Lysander’s eye, which causes him to fall in love with Helena. After the mistake had been caught, Oberon sends Puck to watch Helena and Oberon applies the juice to Demetrius’ eyes. This causes both men to fall for Helena and now the battle is for Helena and not Hermia. Helena is convinced that this is a joke or prank because neither of the two men loved her before. Now because of Puck’s mistakes the four decide to find a

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.

Sir Toby finally has to point out that "‘accost' is front her, board her, woo her, assail her" all in all this makes a very confusing scene. The other two women (Viola and Olivia) are used to add comedy through mistaken identities, since Olivia believes Viola to be a man and falls in love with her. In (2.2.20-21) Viola discovers that Olivia is in love with her and exclaims: "For she did speak in starts distractedly. She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion". While there are a great deal of comedic scenes there are also those with great sentiment in them.

Viola is not the only one affected by her plan; Olivia falls in love with Viola,

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a play with themes that parallel the folly of the festival it is named after. The main storyline of the plot plays on this a lot by mixing up the stereotypes around gender that were very present at the time. However, a sub-plot involving secondary characters defines this theme even more. It takes the idea even further by relating servants’ attempts to blur the lines between social classes. Twelfth Night’s Maria and Malvolio both have great aspirations to rise above their social class. However, Maria succeeds where Malvolio fails because of her capability to make use of the satiric ambiance of her mistress’s household to achieve her goals.

Love triangles.  They’re complicated and quite messy, as shown in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  In Twelfth Night, twins Viola and Sebastian of Messaline are separated by a shipwreck, and both land in Illyria, but still separated, believing the other is dead.  Meanwhile, Duke Orsino is attempting to win over his crush, Lady Olivia, but she’ll have none of him since her brother died and she vows to mourn him for seven years, whilst avoiding everyone except her servants during such time.  Viola disguises herself as a man, under the pseudonym Cesario, and joins Duke Orsino’s court.  Orsino sends Cesario to woo Olivia for him, but upon meeting each other, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, not realizing Cesario is actually a woman.  Whilst