The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

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The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

The Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's most delightful comedies. It

lets us laugh and appreciate the foolishness of everyday human beings

and teaches us that the obvious fools are indeed not the fools but the

wise ones. To never take anything for granted and to always keep hope

that things will work out in the end.

Shakespeare takes his exaggeration to the limit, aiming for ludicrous

rather than ridiculous. His talent is well displayed when he turns

people's much misfortune into this absurdly hilarious comedy.

Two major themes in Twelfth Night are disguise and deception. These

means of disguise and deception are illustrated by Viola, who when

thought she lost her brother to the boisterous sea, feared for her

future on the unfamiliar country of Illyria. Through her worry, her

prompt mind went t+o work of a plan that would save her from the

suspected dangers of being discovered. Accordingly she disguised

herself as her brother deciding that it would be safer and easier to

become a Duke Orsino's servant for men than women. Viola's father

spoke of Orsino's same years before, mentioning "He was a bachelor

then. So with that information in mind, she sets out as a man named

Cesario. This begins the theme of disguise. Orsino believes her as a

man and takes a liking to her. Within a short amount of time, Orsino

sees Cesario has trustworthy servant. Viola meeting Orsino is a very

important for the rest of the play to take place.

It is quickly knowledge that Duke Orsino is hopelessly in love with

Lady Olivia because of his passionate comments throughout the play

such as "Why so I do, the nobl...

... middle of paper ...

...by, Sir Andrew,

Feste and Maria were singing and joking around. The scene lightens up

the seriousness of the play and makes you laugh at how unlike nobles

Sir Toby and Sir Andrew actually are.

This play made me think about how simple love can really be, whether

it is love for your siblings or real love to someone. There could be

many complications in your circumstances but as long as there is that

love then everything can be made simple.

The last scene was a particular triumph because everything was closed

up, all the complications straightened out and everybody was left

happy-except from Malvolio.

I have seen the play live and I found it extremely humorous. It was

very remarkable to watch and I tremendously enjoyed it.

There is a single quote to sum up this play and that is:

"Nothing that is so, is so"

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