The Different Types of Comedy Employed by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night

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The Different Types of Comedy Employed by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare wrote 'Twelfth Night' in 1914 as he was

commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to write a comic play for very

important Italian courtier. The play included themes of love,

confusion, disguise and other particularly funny topics from

Shakespearean time.

The title 'Twelfth Night' fits in well with the comic play for a

number of reasons. 'Twelfth Night' is the name used for the Twelfth

Day after Christmas. On this day (6th January), decorations are taken

down, pranks are made and the servants and masters inverse. Two

characters that appear in the play, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, would

like this period of time as they love to drink, joke and have loud

fun. Their dancing, singing and drunkenness would most probably make

the audience laugh. In contrast to Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, Malvolio

is a puritan. A puritan is someone who believes getting drunk is

immoral and they must also live by the principles of the bible. His

character would also be funny towards the audience because of his

sensibility, stubbornness and other exaggerated beliefs. Another

comical character in the play is Feste. Feste is Olivia's fool. Feste

plays with his words and by using comical language appeals to the

audience.

Before explaining the comic devices in 'Twelfth Night' Act II Scene V,

it is necessary to know what has previously happened in the play.

Malvolio is deeply in love with Olivia who is head of the house and

has also been mourning for her dead brother for a long time. Malvolio

is her servant and would love to raise his social status. In Act II,

Scene V Sir Toby a...

... middle of paper ...

... by playing with his mind, hopes and dreams.

In my personal opinion, it was a good idea that William Shakespeare

placed Malvolio, who was both a puritan and very proud, as the central

comical character as he was easy to make mock and the audience would

have loved to hate him. The play due to its many comical devices is

quite humorous and the appearance and attitude of the main character,

Malvolio, and the contrast toward Sir Toby and Sir Andrew made it more

amusing for the audience in Shakespearean times to laugh. In

comparison to Shakespearean times, today we are very different and

William Shakespeare wouldn't receive the same amount of laughter now,

as he would have done in his own life. All of William Shakespeare's

comical devices would have made his selected audience laugh which was

the effect he was looking for.

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