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Theme of identity and disguise in Twelfth Night
Nature of shakespeare comedies
How has Shakespeare presented the theme of love
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Shakespeare, known for his observations of humanity, creates the Twelfth Night story-line based on love. Regardless of whether love is blind or foolish, it gives humanity a purpose to live for. Akin to a wrapped up present eager to be opened, love is the cryptic feeling that motivates young doters to experience this emotion. However, this infatuation eludes the characters in Twelfth Night from seeing what dolts they have become due to this feeling. While the characters struggle through their quest to find love, the audience becomes aware of the foolishness and comedic nature of human struggles. This is why Shakespeare's “joyous plays” are “compounded with sadnesses of its characters”(Foster). In Twelfth Night, the theme of latent legitimacy accumulates into a complex quest to discover self-morality, resulting in a colossal confusion of identity and love formed by all characters who eventually benefit from their comical quest. Through the use of symbolism, metaphors, and irony, William Shakespeare attempts to emphasize the idea that love constructs identity as identity subsequently constructs morality, ultimately proving that love is blind therefore humanity is blind.
The quests to find morality through love occurs for all the characters, however it stands out for Viola, Olivia, Malvolio and Orsino. Symbols represented mostly by objects seen as gifts such as letters, jewelry, and eyes are used as a boon for these characters. Although the idea of gifts brings out a positive connotation towards the beholder, in reality, gifts can either improve or deteriorate the beholder much like love. The fake letter sent to Malvolio deceives him into thinking his mistress loves him. “This simulation is not as the former” Malvolio said “and yet...
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Schalkwyk, David. “In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:.” Love and Service in Twelfth Night and the Sonnets 56.1 (2005): 76-100. muse.jhu.edu. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
Shakespeare, William. “Twelfth Night.” VOLUME I BOOK XIV. Vols. 1 I. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. www.apps.cis-edu.dk. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
“’Twelfth Night’ and the Morality of Indulgence.” The Sewanee Review 67.2 (1959): 220-38. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .
The liminality in performing Twelfth Night lies in sexual ambiguity on the stage. It enables a boy actor to play viola's role and disguised as a boy who is wooing another boy who plays a female role . The audience sees no more than a p...
The characters in Twelfth Night each play an important and specific role, especially when it comes to interfering or setting fate for romantic interests. Not all characters get a happy ending, and a particular character’s husband turned out to be someone much different than who she believed to be marrying. Through dishonesty, confusion, and chicanery, each character had a helping hand in dishing out each other’s fate, but nonetheless, the relationships that resulted in a law binding marriage beat destiny and overcame every hardship standing in the way of love and happiness.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or What You Will. Ed. Kenneth Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1889. Shakespeare Online. 20 Dec. 2010.
Wadbrook, M. C. "Robert Armin and Twelfth Night." Twelfth Night: A Casebook. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1972. 222-43.
Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. "Twelfth Night, or What You Will". William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1998.
Schanzer, Ernest. "_A Midsummer-Night's Dream." 26-31 in Kenneth Muir, ed. Shakespeare: The Comedies: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1965.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
Night." eNotes to Twelfth Night. Seattle: Enotes.com LLC, October 2002. Ed. Penny Satoris. 20 February 2005 .
After Duke Orsino asks Cesario (disguised Viola) to make Olivia love him, although she had stated that she would not marry for seven years due to her sadness from her brother’s death, Cesario tells him “I’ll do my best to woo your lady.” Then Viola tells the audience “(Aside) yet, a barful strife—Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife,” meaning that she has to convince another woman to love the man she loves. The exchange of words in this scene exemplifies dramatic irony since the reader now knows that a love road that connects Duke Orsino, Viola, and Olivia has formed while Orsino is clueless about the situation. Situational irony can also be withdrawn from this conversation because it is shocking that Viola is in love with Orsino. Viola’s sudden love for Orsino illustrates a universal truth about life that sometimes people fall in love too quickly without thinking far ahead.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. N.p.: Rice University, 1982. 223-38. Vol. 22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Bradbrook, M. C. "Robert Armin and Twelfth Night." Twelfth Night: A Casebook. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1972. 222-43.
...ino. Viola is Orsino’s messenger, and has to spend time telling Olivia how much Orsino love her; but in reality she is heartbroken because the man she loves, loves someone else. On many occasions Viola cleverly hints to Orsino she loves him, but he never really understands.
Henze, Richard. "Twelfth Night: Free Disposition on the Sea of Love." The Sewanee Review 83.2 (1975): 267-283. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. New York, New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.
Shakespeare is a famous writer of many plays, such as Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy that takes place in Illyria and incorporates several songs throughout the play. Shakespeare normally assigns the singing roles to characters of lower class and minor personalities, such as servants, clowns, rogues and fools. Major characters never usually sing unless they are in disguise or in distracted mental states. In Twelfth Night, the Fool, who is also known as Feste is in charge of all the songs and he uses music to effectively portray the truth and reality beneath all the acting in the play. The songs are not a reflection of him, but are addressed to the protagonists themselves. Through his use of indirect speech and metaphorical