Twelfth Essays

  • Love in twelfth night

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    Love in twelfth night In the play twelfth night, Shakespeare covered three types of love : Lust, true love and brotherly love. Love is one of the most confusing and most misunderstood emotions that we as humans posses. Love is an extremely diverse emotion which is why it was used as the main topic in twelfth night. Lust, which is probably one of the most confusing types of love was an apparent subject in twelfth night.There are many reasons why one would lust, one could be because you are attracted

  • Othello - Compared To Twelfth Night

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    the darkest side of love. In stark contrast to the dark and tragic "Othello," is one of Shakespeare’s lightest and funniest comedies, "Twelfth Night." The theme of love is presented in a highly comical manner. Shakespeare, however, once again proves himself a master by interweaving serious elements into humorous situations. "Twelfth Night" consists of many love triangles, however many of the characters who are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their emotions and

  • The Fools in Twelfth Night

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Fools of Twelfth Night 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

  • Wisdom in Twelfth Night

    2734 Words  | 6 Pages

    Beyond Seriousness to Wisdom in Twelfth Night Shakespeare seems preoccupied with madness and folly in Twelfth Night. The word "fool" and its variants ("foolery," "foolish," and so forth) appear eighty times in the play, and the word "folly" occurs seven times. There are, in addition, other means of indicating foolishness such as Maria's "Now, sir, thought is free" (1.3.67). As Feste suggests, "Foolery ... does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere" (3.1.39-40). Robert Armin

  • Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    1769 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare's Twelfth Night A study of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, showing how Shakespeare's choice of form, structure and language shape meaning Wit, and't be thy will, put me into good fooling! Those wits that think they have thee do very oft prove fools; and I that am sure I lack thee may pass for a wise man. For what says Quinapalus? 'Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.' Shakespeare's plays were written to be performed to an audience from different social classes and of

  • Twelfth Night

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Twelfth Night “Twelfth Night is a comedy of light and shade. Its characters are not unreservedly happy and the events are not unreservedly humorous.” Discuss. As a comedy, Twelfth Night is obviously intending to not only entertain its audience but also point out problems in society. It is imperative to entire merit of the play not to be realistic but to allow for empathy. Therefor to have a comedy of complete lightheartedness there would be no balance and hence no avenue for audience interaction

  • Essay on Love and Gender in Twelfth Night

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    Love and Gender in Twelfth Night 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

  • Twelfth Night

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night there are numerous relationships that form and develop throughout the course of the play. The play itself is deeply rooted in the interactions and misunderstandings of both Viola and Duke Orsino. Their genuine and at times confusing relationship adds to the meaning of the play through the gradual escalation of their relationship from strangers to friends, and then to lovers. Their relationship adds to the meaning of Twelfth Night through the complexity and various

  • Twelfth Night

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Twelfth Night, a play written by William Shakespeare, morals are a highlighted part of each character’s temperament. In the play, some characters - for example, Malvolio, have weak morals, they are treated poorly. An imperative part of a personality is one’s morals; morals isolate people from being obedient and disobedient. There are four humours that the characters’ are categorised into, they include: phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric, and sanguineous. The characters who represent three of the

  • Twelfth Night

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    An emotional roller coaster, between three people, also known as Twelfth night. In the play Twelfth Night by William shakespeare, one of his famous comedies, is based on a simple love triangle. Not your ordinary love triangle though, when Viola one of the main characters has shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and decides to disguise herself as a boy named Cesario that leads to many love complications. When Voila arrives to Orsino’s court for a job she is sent to Olivia, to give a message of his

  • Twelfth Night

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night or What you Will, the characters are involved in a plot complete with trickery, disguise, and love. Each character is defined not by his or her gender or true identity, but by the role they are forced to take because of the complicated situation that arises. Unlike their gender, the speech the characters give an insight to their true personalities. In the Twelfth Night, the character Duke Orsino uses flowery and over-dramatic language, long poetic sentence

  • Twelfth Night

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    had presented themselves the same way in all the situations. The comedy, Twelfth Night or What You Will, by William Shakespeare, tells a story of deception as it follows the protagonist, Viola, who disguises as a man who goes by the name Cesario. The theme of disguise and deception is seen throughout the story in many forms by characters such as Maria, Feste, Sir Toby, as well as others. In William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth

  • The Fool as a Playwright in Twelfth Night

    2845 Words  | 6 Pages

    Feste, the fool character in Twelfth Night, in many ways represents a playwright figure, and embodies the reach and tools of the theater. He criticizes, manipulates and entertains the other characters while causing them to reflect on their life situations, which is similar to the way a playwright such as Shakespeare interacts with his audience. Furthermore, more so than the other characters in the play he accomplishes this in a highly performative way, involving song and clever wordplay that must

  • Gender Roles in Twelfth Night

    2141 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stratford-upon-Avon, England, William Shakespeare is considered by many to have been the greatest writer the English language has ever known. His literary legacy included 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and five major poems. Among his many plays is the notable, Twelfth Night, a romantic comedy, placed in a festive atmosphere in which three couples are brought together happily. The play opens with Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, expressing his deep love for the Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, the shipwrecked Viola disguises

  • The Foolishness in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Foolishness in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night William Shakespeare used a unique device to explain how foolishness is an unavoidable part of everyday life.  He employed many specific examples of foolishness in his comedy titled Twelfth Night.  Each of the characters he created were all foolish in one way or another.  Not only do the characters entertain the audience, but also educate the audience as they portray mankind avoiding obvious truth. Shakespeare takes a humorous

  • Use of Disguise in Twelfth Night

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    Twelfth Night, "there's something in it that is deceivable". Disguise is very important as a theme in the Twelfth Night.  In fact, disguise is a crucial plot to the play.  It is the thread which runs through the play from start to end and holds it all together.  Yet, paradoxically along the way there are many problems, deceptions and illusions, providing a comment on human behavior and creating comedy. Women's parts were played by boy actors in Shakespeare's day, so the audience would have found

  • The Importance of Olivia in Twelfth Night

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Importance of Olivia in Twelfth Night Olivia, in Twelfth Night, is the character who unifies the play by her involvement in each of the three plots.  Olivia is loved by Orsino, but she loves Cesario.  Olivia plays a vital role in the plot to gull Malvolio, although she is unaware of it.  Olivia also has an active role in the plot to dupe Sir Andrew because he is jealous of her attention towards Cesario. In conlusion Olivia is the one who inifies the play the best. Olivia is involved

  • Plethora of Fools in Twelfth Night

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plethora of Fools in Twelfth Night Folly is one of the main weaknesses in Twelfth Night with a number of characters portraying their own strange foolish ways. Feste is the professional fool; he is the most noticeable fool and is very quickly recognised by the audience as an intelligent man. Orsino and Olivia are really foolish because of the decisions they make but they are regarded as intelligent. The biggest fool of all is Olivia's steward, Malvolio. Feste was obviously the most

  • Analysis of "Twelfth Night"

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    quickly became one of the most popular playwrights in the city of London, and a favourite of the monarch, the powerful Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare wrote thirty-eight plays. "Twelfth Night" was written near the middle of Shakespeare' career, around 1601, and most critics consider it as one of his greatest comedies. "Twelfth Night" is about illusion, deception, disguises, madness and the consequences of love. In the final scene of the play, all the confusion and complexities that have occurred are

  • Delusions In Twelfth Night

    1717 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the play Twelfth Night, the main theme that drives the plot is delusion. Many characters in this play experience a form of self-delusion, and this allows them to be fooled by others. As Lydia Forbes states, “...those who know themselves have an advantage over those who do not” (476). As Elias Schwartz describes it, “Everyone in the play is to some degree foolish, and everyone is to some degree fooled” (510). Self-delusion from the main characters is dominant throughout this play, and these characters