Twelfth Night

Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night is a critical Elizabethan-era work that explores attraction and sexuality within the relationship between Viola (as Cesario) and Duke Orsino. Her role is one of steadfast love towards Orsino; she willingly courts Olivia on his behalf as Cesario, burying her feelings for him because she cares that he is happy. There is a rigid dichotomy between Viola and Orsino’s passion; where Viola is steady, Orsino is inconsistent. Feste states directly to Orsino that his “mind is a very opal” (2.4.71) which implies he is constantly changing what he wants and is more in love with the idea of love rather than Olivia. Duke Orsino’s evolution from a typical Petrarchan lover to passionate love, through trials of gender confusion

The first scene starts off at the Duke’s palace, where we, as the audience, are introduced to the duke, who is thinking to himself. Next, it is revealed that the Duke is listening to music, and is in love, as indicated by “O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,” (I, i, 9). However, suddenly, he decides that he does not want to listen anymore, as indicated by: “Enough, no more!” (I, i, 7). After this, we are introduced to a character named Valentine who tells the Duke that Olivia “Shall not behold at face for ample view;” (I, i, 28) for 7 years, due to her mourning her brother’s recent death. This does not sadden the Duke, however, as he enthusiastically says that

Cinderella found Prince Charming on her first try. Ariel found her prince easily as well. The same is true for Belle, Princess Aurora, and Snow White. Duke Orsino thought it would be the same for him. He thought that he wouldn’t have to look for love nor figure out if he really loved who he thought he loved. Duke Orsino was wrong. In Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare proves that love is not always where a seeker first looks through Duke Orsino’s statements about love in the beginning of the play, the end of the play and how his statements change throughout the play.

I believe that excessively relying on others is another lesson to be learned in Twelfth Night. Relying on others excessively is a lesson to be learned in Twelfth Night because Orsino never went to confront people that he loved. He said to Cesario “Thou know’st no less but all. I have unclasped / To thee the book even of my secret soul. / Therefore, good youth, address thy gait unto her; / Be not denied access, stand at her doors, / And tell them there thy fixed foot shall grow / Till thou have audience. (I.iv.13-18)”. Eventually when he asked Viola to woo Olivia for him she fell in love with Cesario instead. Leaving him without the love of his life for the time being. Moreover, relying on others excessively is a lesson to be learned because

Fools, ever since their inception these figures have been well known to be able to spread laughter like a plague in the 14th century through 'blissful ignorance.' A fool, however, is not always a fool, for in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the fool is the mastermind. Feste, the court jester, plays a pivotal role in the play, so far as breaking the stereotype of the average buffoon and actually portraying a man with a razor sharp wit, through his skillful word play, unsolicited yet wise advice, and good ole humor.

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”-Malvolio act III, Scene V. Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy entailing the life of Viola post-shipwreck in Illyria, during this play she assumes that she has lost her brother, Sebastian. In order to make a living, she disguises herself as a man and becomes a servant for the Duke, Orsino. In the end, Orsino and Viola marry, and all are united -living happily ever after. One important character to the development of the subplot of the play is Malvolio, he is the antagonist and without him, the storyline would be rather flat. Malvolio is an underappreciated character, who is vital to the story as he provides a contrast to the other servants, is the central cause of the conflict in the sublot, and teaches readers that arrogance is one’s greatest downfalls.

In William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, Olivia and Viola (Cesario) have a meaningful conversation about love. Olivia really loves Cesario, but there is a problem that she does not know, Cesario is really Viola, who is a woman. The quote “Love sought is good, but given unsought better” (Shakespeare 3:1 line 147), can be interpreted in many different ways. All and all it really means that going after your love is good, but having your love come after you, is better. Either way having love is superior to to not having it at all.

When Act 2 begins, we meet Sebastian, who has washed up on shore and been taken care of by a man named Antonio. Sebastian is understandably upset, due to the fact that he thinks his sister Viola is dead, and has decided to go traveling, stopping at Duke Orsino's court first. Because Antonio has grown attached to Sebastian, he decides to follow him there.

The main focus of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Twelfth Night is, fittingly, love. Despite the fact that the play ends in happiness, and marriage, the characters are not always this happy throughout the entire play. Love seems to be a curse in this play rather than a blessing, and it may seem that love causes more problems than it solves most of the time. All of the characters in Twelfth Night are affected by love in some way, and most of the time it is not the “right” love. For example, the main plot of the play is the love triangle between Olivia, Violet, and Duke Orsino. This love triangle causes mass chaos and confusion for the characters, mainly because of the misunderstandings. At the start of the play, Orsino is in love with Olivia, who is mourning her brother, and has no interest in the duke. In turn, Viola, who is in disguise as eunuch named Cesario is in love with Orsino. To round out the triangle, Olivia is in love with Viola, who she believes is really Cesario. The misunderstandings love causes for Orsino, Olivia, and Viola may even cause more suffering than happiness, despite the fact that the play ends in marriages.

In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night the statement “The day the power of love triumphs our love of power that is the day we can find peace,” supports the central theme that those who seek power instead of true love, often end up hurting people because they have no one to turn to. This emphasizes the theme that when authority is over true love then there can be no peace. This statement specifically relates to the relationship between Malvolio and Olivia. The statement specifically analyzes Malvolio’s love of power when he finds “Olivia’s” letter, and when he reads the letter for the first time he seems bewildered. Despite him being bewildered he begins to realize how much power, nobility ,and class marrying Olivia can bring to him.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a widely known romantic comedy that was first published in 1623. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s finest works and it tends to have an affinity to modern romantic comedy films and stories. The play has love triangles, unrequited love, lies and deceit, playful comedic relief, and obstacles that interfere with characters’ goals. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were turned into film adaptations and many were used very loosely as source material. Hamlet had Lion King (very loosely), Romeo and Juliet had Romeo and Juliet (the DiCaprio version), and Twelfth Night has She’s the Man. She’s the Man is similar to Twelfth Night in three ways, the plotline, the names of the characters, and the humor. Despite the

The Twelfth Night was a religious festival held during the Elizabethan Era. It also 

celebrated the concept of the reversal of normal order, where the lower and upper class had the 

chance to experience each other’s roles in society. It was a day of celebration in which enabled a 

time of foolishness for each class. This religious festival seem to have influenced Shakespeare’s 

play, Twelfth Night in relations to the concept of the foolishness celebration of switching the 

roles of upper and lower class. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, he utilizes Feste’s role as a clown 

to be the figure who functions as a blur for class distinction and to also show that words hold 

power regardless of ones status in society. Malvolio functions as the fool who hopelessly

Throughout Twelfth Night, or What You Will, Shakespeare challenges the notion of the heteronormative social standard of 1601, when the play was performed. The comedy is Shakespeare’s only play to have two titles, and is titled in reference to the Elizabethan nativity, or the twelfth night of the Christmas celebration. Circa 1600 during the reign of Elizabeth I, this holiday was celebrated as a festival in which everything was turned upside down, much like the innately chaotic world of Illyria, in which the play takes place. The main character and protagonist, Viola, is continuously met with instances of mistaken identity, romantic frustration, homosexuality, and the overall foolishness that the play is intended to exude. In implicating

In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the theme of same-sex desire plays a significant role in the play. Shakespeare’s comedy was written around 1601 and during these times, women were not allowed to perform on the English public stage, therefore female roles were written to be performed by trained youthful boys. In this play, Viola is a female character that has the ability and skills to transform herself through character, voice, and gesture into a young teenage boy, whose name is Cesario (Shakespeare 1187). Because of the characters of Viola and Cesario, they are able to explore emotional territories of both men and women and same-sex desire as well as cross-class marriages (Shakespeare 1187). Due to same-sex desires, this provides more stability and meaningfulness to the overall play by falling in love with those whose inner beauty shines more than physical appearance.

‘Twelfth Night’ focuses on the conventions of Comedy itself. Comedy has to have a resolution, usually with all the characters ending up happy, but not before the audience are taken on a journey of twists and turns through trickery and wit as well as many complexities before tying everything up in the end in a final climax. Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ is a prime example of this. In ‘Twelfth Night’, there is the main plot – a love triangle, disguise and misinterpretation- which provides some Comedy but more importantly, there is the accompanying subplot featuring Maria, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Malvolio which brings the focus of Comedy directly to them. Maria’s ties and connections with the main plot are important as it gives her insight