William Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night

People tend to judge others based on many aspects. Sometimes they may try to force people to act upon certain rules that define their place in society. They often try to meet expectations that society has made for them based on gender and social status. William Shakespeare reinforces these ideas in his play Twelfth Night, which introduces many meaningful messages about situations that still occur in society today. He clearly develops important themes worthy of analysis. A few of these strong themes are about stereotypes and society’s expectations and rules, which he proves to be irrelevant most of the time. Many situations in the play falsify commonly held stereotypes about gender and social status by showing how they are sometimes invalid. He also shows how these stereotypes can affect the way people behave towards and judge others.

Questions of love and lust have plagued the story of Romeo and Juliet, a romantic tragedy written by Shakespeare for years. However, the real question would not be whether what the two had was love, but what type of love it was. Romeo and Juliet had a short-lived relationship bursting with young passionate love, despite family quarrels disputing one another’s name. Some say love is purely a chemical reaction in the brain. Others say it is what separates us from love that shows it most, with some believing that love is life’s greatest blessing, never hurting. It is my belief that Romeo and Juliet had a passionate commitment that never hurt, though costing dearly, with obstacles that proved it stronger.

love when actually they just loved the idea of it. One such a man is

through his vanity is easily fooled into thinking it is he who she loves although

From a child’s first words to a grandparent’s last, the phrase “I love you” is a staple of the human vocabulary. Defined as “a passionate affection for another person,” love takes on many forms throughout life and literature (Merriam-Webster). Through its passionate drama and witty repartee, Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, explores the intricate, and often complicated, realm of interpersonal love. By tracing the intertwining storylines of four unique characters, Shakespeare communicates the futility of self-love, the desperation of hopeless love, and the immeasurable virtue of selfless love. An after-effect of human’s sinful condition, self-love manifests itself in the heart of a lowly servant, causing vanity and conceit. Hopeless love, bleak and austere, causes love-sick nobility to develop deep infatuation for unattainable partners. Lastly, selfless love aids an honorable woman in diligently serving her master. Throughout the entire storyline, all forms of love perform an integral role. In his play, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare demonstrates the complexity of love through the selfish ambitions of Malvolio, the romantic passions of Orsino and Olivia, and the self-sacrificing devotion of Viola.

Within the play ‘Twelfth Night’ it can be argued that the audience may be entertained by the outlook of Malvolio’s gulling. To start with his name means “ill will” within Italian which already suggests his attitude towards the other characters thus showing his place within the play as an “unpopular”character. He is a part of a religious order who sought to regulate forms of worship. In modern time the word “puritan” is often used to mean "Against pleasure" . Historically, the word was has been used degradingly to characterize the puritan group as extremists. This religious group was despised for its opposition to the theater, winter festivals, musical festivals and any forms of entertainment which is what ‘Twelfth Night’ "The evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking" actually stands for, as it is a festival in itself which further comical as he is incongruous with the play's title.

In Shakespeare’s play, an illustration of love and obsession is revealed even though the ending is contradictory. The facet of infatuation is usually exhibited as precipitous and inevitable; love utilizes an outward attack method that is equivalent to an ailment. Individuals who are in love are acutely arduous to liberate or even alleviate. Many people struggle immensely with love; however, it is not easy to distinguish if someone is suffering or not. Twelfth Night’s Orsino depicts love as an “appetite” that needs to be appeased. Also, love is described as an epidemic by Olivia. The character of Viola groans “my state is desperate for my master’s love” (line 35). If one is hurt by love, then he/she becomes overcome with a feeling of desperation.

In Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, there are quite a few characters that don't seem as important and generally irrelevant to the overall message of the story. Although it may seem that way while glancing at what the characters say and their frequency in the play, they are all deeply relevant. One in particular is the fool. The fool is one of the most impactful characters of them all by influencing other characters.

“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.

Finally, the strongest lesson that can be learned in Twelfth Night is having genuine friendships. I believe that Antonio and Sebastian have a great friendship. When Antonio saved Sebastian from drowning he wanted to be his servant so bad he was willing to beg for it even though he SAVED his life. Antonio said “If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your / servant. (II.i.29-30)”. Similarly, Maria and Sir Toby had a true friendship too. When Maria was setting up the letter prank for Malvolio, she wrote the letter by mimicking Olivia’s handwriting. Sir Toby was very happy with her and started to like her for who she truly was. Not for her looks which other guys usually do. He ended up eloping with her from something that made them stronger

William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, focuses on identity, love, and comedy. While we made our adaptation to this play, we chose to have a more modern approach. Because we decided on a modern adaptation, we had to come up with a modern storyline; therefore, there is still love and confusion about identity. Taking place in 2015 in Los Angeles, Orsino is the number one modeling agency in the state. Along with a new setting, we have also changed some actions with the characters, meaning some things that take place in the play are not a part of our storyline (for example Feste as the Clown). Our adaptation has the potential to be a real movie because it is realistic. The main purpose behind Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was to entertain, and

Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a classic play full of countless humorous encounters between couples and romantic happenstances between those who should not have romantic relationships. As one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, the play explores many problems that seem to be ahead of its time. Within the play, there are instances of cross dressing (Viola as Cesario), homosexual encounters (Sebastian and Antonio), and the ever-asked question of “what is love?”. Love is regarded in extremely different and confusing ways to the various characters of the play, especially Viola, Duke Orsino and Olivia. Focusing on these three main characters, this paper will discuss the problems each character has regarding love

Shakespeare wrote the romantic comedy play, Twelfth Night, in the year 1601. Despite being over 400 years old, people have been studying and performing the play continuously. Even though some may argue American audience now cannot understand the significance of social hierarchy in the play nor the lines written in Shakespearean English, Twelfth Night remains popular today as shown by New York Times’ publishing of seven reviews on different performances of Twelfth Night. At the same time, Shakespeare utilizes dramatic irony, created by Viola dressed as Cesario, and reversal of social hierarchy, created by the love struck Duke and Countess, the drunk knights Sir Andrew and Toby, and the brilliant maid Maria. This essay aims to analyze comedic elements in Twelfth Night, as well as explaining why it remains popular until this day. We will compare the original and several modern productions of the play that New York Times reviewers feature in the newspapers while integrating ideas from excerpts of William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction and Henry Bergson’s Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic.

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare 's most popular, lightest, entertainment and its staging continues to delight audiences all over the world which narrated the history of Viola, a young woman of aristocratic birth. Viola thought that her brother was dead, so she decided to make her own way in the world, and in the kingdom of Illyria she decided to disguise herself as a young man, calling herself “Cesario”. She becomes a page to Duke Orsino who is a nobleman lovesick for the Lady Olivia. Viola “Cesario” ends up falling in love with him even as Olivia. The women Orsino is courting, falls in love with Cesario. Viola have a dilemma; she cannot tell Orsino that she loves him, and she cannot tell Ollivia why she cannot lover her that make a miserable love triangle scene where Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario. In the Twelfth Night, the principal characters are confused by one character, Viola because she is in love with a man being a man, and a lady is in love with her being a woman. This is a confusing situation that is the central conflict in the play. It is a conflict of love, attraction, and gender roles between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola.

In Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night we are presented with an extreme love triangle that consists of the three main characters in the play, Viola disguised as Cesario, Duke Orsino, and Countess Olivia. Viola ends up falling in love with Duke Orsino who is madly in love with Olivia. Shakespeare presents various situations that allow the reader to determine the relationship before it is truly presented. Viola was put into a very tough situation when she had to put her feelings aside the help the Duke try and be with Olivia. She had to remember that her objective was to help the Duke regardless of what her feelings for him may have been. This is a difficult position to be in because having to watch the person you care about turn around and want to be with someone else is devastating. So in terms of love she had to put her romantic feelings aside and be a friend when it was needed most. The reader may feel as if Viola had put herself in this position due to her being masked as Cesario, DukeOrsino’s right hand man and closest