William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

1140 Words3 Pages

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

The use of genre in any literary work assist the responder in

understanding the text, as prior knowledge and past experience are

used by composers to construct certain expectations due to

characteristics that are recognised. Shakespeare, in his play 'Twelfth

Night' uses the Romantic comedy genre and it's conventions of strong

themes of love and a series of obstacles and misunderstandings

concluded with a harmonious union of the lovers to explore gender

issues, particularly those of women in society. This is explored

through the two main female characters: Viola and Olivia. Viola, who

spends the majority of the play masquerading as a man, and Olivia, a

seemingly independent noblewoman, are used by Shakespeare to explore

the topic of female independence in society in comparison to that of

men.

The romantic comedy as a genre is ideal for discussing issues of

gender, as the conventions common to it promote interaction between

characters of both sexes. In addition to these common conventions of

love as a major theme, a series of obstacles and a union of the lovers

at the end, the romantic comedy also may make use of devices such as

mistaken identity, separated twins and gender-crossing disguise, all

of which Shakespeare took advantage of in order to explore the

position of the female in society. (Playing The Wo/Man's Part

http://www.satexas.com/~smootsg/genderroles.html) As a romantic

comedy, the Shakespearian audience of 'Twelfth Night' would have

readily accepted unusual occurrences such as Viola disguising herself

as a man, as it was expected, and added to the humorous concept of the

play. T...

... middle of paper ...

...stacles and a harmonious ending,

all of which are features of the romantic comedy, combined with the

audiences preconceived expectations of the genre create an ideal

situation to explore the gender issues in Shakespearean society.

Bibliography

------------

ClassicNote on Twelfth Night.

http://www.gradesaver.comk/ClassicNotes/Titles/twelfth/fullsumm.html.

20th April, 2004

Hotson, Leslie.The First Night of Twelfth Night. London: Rupert

Hart-Davis, 1955.

Playing the Wo/Man's Part: Gender Roles in Shakespeare.

http://www.satexas.com/~smootsg/genderroles.html. 20th April,

2004-04-29

Tamed Shrews and Twelfth Nights: the Role of Women in Shakespeare.

http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/172.php. 24th April, 2004

White, R.S. Shakespeare and the Romance Ending. Newcastle:Tyneside

Free Press, 1981

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William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

The Song of Roland and Ywain