Twelve Nights Of Failure: Would Sir Andrew Succeed in 2014?

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” (Winston Churchill). Truth be told, Sir Andrew’s equation does not consist of enduring enthusiasm. But Sir Andrew is a man who is very well acquainted with the people of Illyria and the modern readers of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night as an unintelligent, craven and arrogant fool of a knight who would absolutely not find any success if he were to live in 2014. It is very clear to anyone that Sir Andrew Aguecheek was put in Twelfth Night to comically please Shakespeare’s audience. His foolish, yet leech like attitude and personality towards others would not prove this otherwise. Like a leech sucks blood, Sir Andrew sucks up attention and converts it into something that would want to make the reader laugh at his failures. If he were transported to the modern day 2014 he would fail to succeed, but the real question is how?

To begin, Sir Andrew would not have any success if he were to live in 2014 because he is unintelligent. He lacks the knowledge to understand the circumstances he is put upon. This is most evident throughout the story as he constantly gets used by Sir Toby, both Sir Andrew’s money and dignity are being drained down the sink. Sir Andrew’s highly noticeable foolishness had even drawn Fabian to wonder if he is “a dear manikin to….Sir Toby” (3.2 49)? Sir Toby reveals that he had just “been dear to him...some 2000 strong or so” (3.2 50) indicating how Sir Andrew is unaware he is being tricked, but someone of a much lower status and education (Fabian and Feste) can easily understand what is going on. Constantly overlooking the most simplest of situations will not allow Sir Andrew to be successful in 2014 because he will cons...

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...n and arrogant. As Winston Churchill had said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. Unfortunately for Sir Andrew he just goes on from failure to failure with a continuous loss of enthusiasm. He would try to do something good in 2014, but he would just attract negative attention, just like blood attracts leeches. Sir Andrew is extremely lucky that he lives in a time where his hilarious yet upsetting qualities do not harm him as much as it would if he were to live in 2014. Nonetheless if he did live in 2014, he would beg god to “have mercy upon” (3.4 161) his soul.

Works Cited

Churchill, Winston. "Success Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .

Twelfth Night. Habrace Shakespeare. 55 Horner Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M8Z 4X6, 1990