Twelfth Night Mistaken Identity Essay

For instance, when he finds the love letter that is supposedly written by Olivia, confessing her love for him, and telling him to smile, wear yellow stockings and go cross-gartered, he says, “I will smile, I will do every thing that thou wilt have me.” (2, 5, 165-6). He thinks the letter is from countess Olivia, who he is in love with, and believes that the greatness of being her husband is about to be given to him. Before finding the letter, he wanders around in Olivia’s garden and dreams about himself “To be Count Malvolio!” (2, 5, 32). He imagines how the other characters of the play would serve him, which again shows that Malvolio thinks he stands above everyone. In addition, when Malvolio is hailed by Olivia, he arrives smiling, wearing yellow stockings and cross-gartered, which makes Olivia think he has gone insane: “Why, this is very midsummer madness.” (3, 4, 51). Consequently, in this part of the play Malvolio’s inside does not match his outside. Throughout the play he is a grave character, that detests other persons having fun, so his actions of smiling and wearing strange dress make him look like a madman, which is why he gets locked up in Olivia’s basement. Towards the end, he returns to his initial manner, and declares that he will “be reveng’d on the whole pack of you!”, referring to the characters that tricked him into believing that the letter was

    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.

In William Shakespeare's comedic play, Twelfth Night, a recurring theme is deception. The characters in the play used deception for a variety of purposes. Viola's use of deception involves her disguising herself as a man in order to obtain a job with the Duke of Illyria, Orsino. On the other hand, Maria, Olivia's servant, writes a letter to Malvolio in Olivia's handwriting to make Malvolio act foolishly because of his love for Olivia. While some use deception as a means of survival, others use deception to trick others and make them act foolishly.

Although Viola faced a lot of confusion and conflicts she was equipped to handle this because she was mostly causing it by cross dressing and lying about who she truly was. But, Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andres, servants to Olivia, all decided to play practical jokes on Molvolio. By giving Molvolio a note and disguising it to look like Olivia’s hand writing, they caused Molvolio to make a fool of himself. The note left him directions to behave and dress a certain, this caused ignominious Molvolio to become confused. By being deceitful and conspiring, Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrews colors shined through. Not to mention, Molvolio’s true self became evident after misidentifying the letter. Molvolio became arrogant and was filled with self-importance, but when things became clear and Molvolio discovered the note was not written from Olivia he became embarrassed. He could not move forward, forgive and forget, so he left. This is how misidentification can cause conflicts and cause character’s true selves to shine

What is a comedy? According to a famous filmmaker, Woody Allen, thinks “Comedy is rather like a dessert, a bit like meringue.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream - a play written by William Shakespeare, is a comedy which talks about a love story between four lovers that live in Athens. Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia and Helena are all fighting for each other. The play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” written by Shakespeare, consisted of a lot of humorous situations, for example: When Titania fell in love with Bottom who had an ass; when Lysander suddenly fell in love with Helena, when Demetrius suddenly fell in love with Hermia. This essay is considered as a comedy, as it consists of exaggeration, irony, funny characters,

Society cannot describe or expound upon the significance of the identity of gender of oneself because the question has no finite and/or absolute answer due to the ever-changing variables in common ideology and thinking. The variables just mentioned are in correspondence to the time and amount of influence outside opinions have on oneself and his/her opinion about the matter. The fact remains that the subjective views of one’s personal beliefs equates to nothing in the presence of contravening, biased thinking of the society. People often tend to follow. It is the nature of our species to follow, for general acceptance among peers is the true catalyst of all decisions. In modern society, many new perspectives have been introduced such as gay and lesbian relations, or the belief in one’s gender to be opposite of their physical appearance. “In examining how female eroticism begins to assume discursive shape and currency on the early modern stage, I argue here that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night offers an overlooked opportunity to witness the dynamics by which a language of female-female desire emerges from the materials of conventional heteroerotic discourses already in circulation,” (Ake 375). The truth lies solely with the person who ponders the question. This is what many literary works attempt to convey, yet few stand prevalent. Shakespeare creates the lucid, romantic comedy Twelfth Night in order to convey the lack of certitude in gender identity of the self, while

Thrilling yet confusing, and even troublesome, Twelfth Night’s theme of identity is showed within the romantic comedy through many ways. As an essential subject establishing rich symbolism and imagery, it uses disguises and crafty characters’, which causes much confusion between the characters. Furthermore, the idea brings out the comical essence of the piece. It examines the gender roles in Twelfth Night relating to the history of Renaissance/Elizabethan Theatre; males played female roles—a male actor would play a female character (Viola) who disguises herself as a male (Cesario), for women were forbidden to act. Through What You Will, it proves one’s physical features, and how a person presents them self, possesses

Through out Shakespeare’s entire Twelfths Night Act there were various roles of mistaken identities. “Shakespeare often uses mistaken identity to create confusion and tangled, love triangles. This keeps his plays fresh and serves to add humor to the entertainment.” (D, Jill) Viola is one of the main characters of the Twelfths Night Act we can easily reduce the amorality or her decision to dress like a young man. Her character is the center the entire plot. She seems to be the only character to truly be authentic. She also seems to be truly in love. Viola also plays the character of Cesario. At times she has problems keeping her identity being that she is in disguise. For Orsino and Olivia, Orsino starts out by professing his love for Olivia.

There is a certain degree of expectation with the genre of comedy that despite whatever difficulties appear within the play, by the end these will be resolved and the play will have a traditional happy-ending with a marriage or a celebration in the final scene. The “Twelfth Night” is no exception to this rule. Despite problems of confused identities and sexualities, the play ends with marriage for the major characters because they “have learned enough about their own foolishness to accept it wisely, and their reward, as it should be, is marriage.”(Schwartz 5140). There is a resolution of harmony to a certain extent and an endorsement of romantic love yet despite the happiness evident in the last scene, there are many elements in the play

In Twelfth Night there are many characters that are greatly disliked by others, many would say Malvolio is the most disliked due to his profound attributes. Twelfth Night is a well-known romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night is also an admirably well-written romantic comedy. Malvolio, Lady Olivia’s steward, is not a character many would like to be compared to as his ego, gullibility and sternness cause him to be mistreated and greatly disliked. Malvolio’s egotism is portrayed throughout the play because it is a trait that affects him constantly. His gullibility is mostly seen during the major prank that is played on him in scene two act five. We see Malvolio’s sternness throughout the whole entire play as well, because it is another trait that is always with him. Malvolio’s egotistical, gullible and stern personality cause him to be justly abused and easily disliked by others.

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.

William Shakespeare, in his well-known comedy Twelfth Night, creates a plot that revolves around mistaken identity and deception. Mistaken identity, along with disguises, rules the play and affects the lives of several of the characters. Shakespeare's techniques involve mistaken identity to bring humor, mystery, and complication to the play. Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola who is disguised as a eunuch, Maria who writes a letter to Malvolio as Olivia, and then the mix-up between Sebastian and Viola are revealed.

     Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. In Act 3, scene 1, Olivia displays the confusion created for both characters and audience as she takes on the traditionally male role of wooer in an attempt to win the disguised Viola, or Cesario. Olivia praises Cesario's beauty and then addresses him with the belief that his "scorn" (3.1.134) only reveals his hidden love. However, Olivia's mistaken interpretation of Cesario's manner is only the surface problem presented by her speech. The reality of Cesario's gender, the active role Olivia takes in pursuing him/her, and the duality of word meanings in this passage threaten to turn the

Another example is the way in which Olivia adopts the pretence of mourning and the puritanical Malvolio is tricked into the role of Olivia's suitor and becomes a smiling courtier.

The genre of William Shakespeare’s most performed play has been debated for a long time: is it a comedy or a tragedy? The play has elements of both genres, but one is clearly prevalent. While the story hits upon the tragic element of despair, The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, is a comedy because lovers are separated, characters are in disguise, and the story has a happy ending.