Twelfth Night Theme Analysis

In “Twelfth Night”, disguise is a key theme in order for the play to take shape. Within the first three scenes, we have several examples of characters deliberately deceiving others in order to achieve a selfish goal. An example of this is seen through Viola’s decision to disguise herself as a eunuch in order to find favour with the duke.

In studying William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will, it becomes clear that the theme of “Inside/Outside” is visible at many different levels. One of the comedic methods applied is the mistaken identity of Viola and Sebastian. Another case is Malvolio’s sudden change of character and clothes. Furthermore, Feste, who acts as a professional fool in the play, turns out to be a bright and wise character, against the expectations of the readers. Without these important elements where the characters show to be entirely different on the outside than on the inside, the play would be less intriguing, and moreover, they are essential to develop major scenes.

She’s the Man is a modern adaptation and interpretation of The Twelfth Night but the

This week in class, we presented our revised challenge statements. I was extremely glad to have someone critique my revised challenge statement, as I was unsure about the changes I had made.

In Twelfth Night, the protagonist of the story, Viola, is displayed as a rational, sacrificial, sincere, strong, witty woman, who disguises herself as a man, to become a faithful attendant of Orsino. Viola is one with sacrificial and patient love, willingly loving Orsino, and attending to his every need. Orsino, on the other hand, is shown as an emotional man, who has superficial and transient love for Olivia. This love is very abruptly shifted to Viola at the end of the play, when Viola reveals her true identity. Through this contrast of these two individuals, we can see that Shakespeare makes a distinct different between genders, and allows to draw a contrast between characters to think deeper into their characters and purpose in the story, beyond their surface appearances.

Throughout history there has been a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. A person may go through life without anyone understanding the true reality of their character. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, understood the relationship between appearance and reality and often gave characters two sides to their personality.

Throughout literary history, different themes have proven to be consistently popular for audiences. The desire to present an accurate reflection of reality has proven to be a major source of inspiration for both authors and readers alike. Reality as a theme is prevalent in literature, and the numerous ways that reality and illusion intertwine. In William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the illusory world which the characters inhabit is enhanced by the supernatural. The relationship between Oberon and Titania contributes to the development of the play’s theme of reality and illusion; they are the catalyst by which the play’s action occurs, and their spontaneous natures are countered with human flaws, further

Deception and disguise are two key themes in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. As in most comedies, Twelfth Night celebrates different forms of disguise and deception in order to make the play more entertaining. It also develops a strong connection between the main plot (with Viola, Orsino, Olivia, and the others) and the sub-plot (involving Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, Malvolio, and Maria). Disguise and deception appear in many different ways throughout the story.

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

Viola’s first words that lay out her gender defying scheme are “Conceal me what I am and be my aid for sure a disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent” (Shakespeare 1.2.53-56). Throughout Twelfth Night Shakespeare plays with the idea of gender and its role in society. The audience sees Orsino, the duke, trip over his words in his misogynistic contradictions of his opinions on women and their ability to love. Surprisingly, Viola also shares in such contradictions. However she is far from being misogynistic in modern terms. Viola’s outward duality is Shakespeare’s means of contrasting her with Orsino and reinforcing her disguise. (maybe: commenting on the nature of disguises)

Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an “appetite” that he wants to satisfy and cannot, at another point; he calls his desires “fell and cruel hounds”. Olivia more bluntly describes love as a

Twelfth Night Danial Naseem Society today is full of examples of people who are deceiving each other by appearing as someone they are not. William Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night,” conveys many acts where characters are deceiving others. He illustrates how disguises impact others emotionally causing one to feel downed. Shakespeare has shown how disguises are very easy to fool people and that from this it could ruin one’s life.

A center motif in Twelfth Night, Is Identity and Mistaken Identity(Deceived identity). Shakespeare relays use of mistaken identities to show people are not always what they are initially perceived to look like (that is if you are an attractive man, it doesn’t mean you are careful or sensitive or helpful in situations, but some people are perceived as being handsome--trustworthy--helpful). Viola shows this point by discussing the fantasy of appearances in the first scene of Twelfth Night, when we first meet her/hear from her/read her first lines. In act i, scene ii, Viola reflects that the character of the sea captain who rescued her is just as a good, as his looks are standard, as apparently he is perceived as a somewhat sexy man. Viola contrasts

Critics call Twelfth Night one of William Shakespeare’s most poetic and musical plays. Shakespeare writes poetic lines for the major characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, and gives the Fool, and other minor characters, songs to sing throughout the play. The particularly romantic lines of the play make it seem as if the characters are professional poets themselves. Shakespeare also uses the music and poetry in Twelfth Night to foreshadow what is going to happen for the rest of the performance and to reveal major themes in the play. Music and poetry become major characters in the play themselves.

Our group proposed, presented, and directing the stage performance for the Twelfth Night. In the beginning of the semester I had no clue of what to expect from this course, and reading the syllabus made Shakespeare’s Plays seem complex. I am somewhat familiar with William Shakespeare’s plays stemming from a Shakespeare course that I had taken at Harold Washington (City College of Chicago). My professor (Hader) informed the class that if we were looking to go on to a four-year university as an English major that we will have to take another course, and it will be taught from a different perspective or angle—quite frightening. As a person who had not connected or have read anything that the playwright had ever written, I was afraid that I