Twelfth Night

Final Paper A0981150??? Compare Twelfth Night with The Rivals, both of them are comedies evolving around several couples. The two plays contain the device of disguise and mistaken identity. In Twelfth Night, Viola disguises herself as Cesario, which attracts Orsino and Olivia; while in The Rivals, Jack Absolute disguises himself as Ensign Beverley, who fascinates Lydia. Speaking of similarities, both the disguises lead to the characters’ affairs, and they are proved to be true love at the end of the plays.

On the other hand, as for differences, in Twelfth Night, Viola disguises herself as a man, and that results in her complex situation, a love triangle. Instead, in The Rivals, Jack takes the disguise as an ensign, which does not alter his real gender as a man; therefore, his situation is purer, that is, earning Lydia’s heart only and not drawing other admirer. Both the plays mention the communication of mails. In Twelfth Night, Maria writes letters to Malvolio, which purports to be from Olivia.

The function of letters in this play is to trick Malvolio, who is such a fool that believes the countess Olivia, a woman of a higher rank than his, would fall in love with him. In The Rivals, the function of letters is simpler, that is, Jack writes to Lydia to court her under the mistaken identity of a poor Ensign in order to win her affection or some other sentiment. In The Rivals, Jack Absolute’s line “Pho! man, is not music the food of love? is an allusion to Twelfth Night. In the beginning of Twelfth Night, Orsino says “If music be the food of love, play on……” Nevertheless, these two characters utter such statement in very different situations. Orsino, at that time, is melancholic and insanely in love, by contrast, Jack says his line when his friend, Faulkland, is getting crazy since his lover’s merriment during his absence irritates him. Thus Jack plays the role of a calm, reasonable, and comforting friend.

Compare the situations the two characters Orsino and Jack are in, their state of mind is completely different. The former stands for sentimental emotion, while the latter represents rationality. The two plays also involve the same element, duel. In Twelfth Night, Sir Andrew demands a duel with Cesario in order to have Olivia as lover. In The Rivals, encouraged by Sir Lucius, Acres writes a challenge note to “Beverley” to a duel.

However, these two fights are in vain, the disturbers cannot achieve their goals to win the girls they want. These plots seem unimportant, but the duels actually help the meant-to-be couples to assure themselves that they have chosen the suitable ones for love and marriage. On account of the duels, the couples either reunite or get to know each other’s true identity. Generally speaking, the duels add much entertainment to the plays. Most important of all, they elicit the happy endings.

However, Olivia does not return this sentiment and has sworn off marriage while mourning the death of her dear brother. Under the orders of the Duke, Viola goes to Lady Olivia in pursuit to convince her to marry Rosin, though she herself has grown to love him. After the visit, Olivia sends her serve ant after Corsair, otherwise known as Viola in disguise, in order to return a ring that he had supposedly left at her manor. In her soliloquy, Viola is trying to come to a con occlusion as to why Olivia had sent the ring, knowing for a fact that she had not worn one.

Fate r processing the events that occurred in their discussion and the ring predicament .NET, Viola realizes that the Lady has fallen in love with who she believes to be Corsair, a ND that he ring is a sign of her affections towards him. Completely unaware that Ices aria is not really a man, but a woman impersonating one, this adds more complication a ND conflict to the Story. By the end Of the soliloquy, Viola is left overwhelmed and unable to find a solution to the unfortunate love triangle she currently finds herself in.

In the soliloquy, Viola uses logos to attempt to understand their hopeless situation and pathos to express her pity for Olivia. Viola uses logos when she begins to make connections as to how Olivia acted during their meeting. Viola uses logo s when she says, “She made good view of me; indeed, so much. That sure method her eyes had lost her tongue, For she did speak in starts distractedly’. The quote shows how Olivia had repeatedly gazed at her and seem d distracted, which can only mean that she is in love with Viola/Corsair.

This appeal proves to be effective because it leads her to finish off the speech by discuss Eng Olive’s misplaced love. As for pathos, in lines such as, “Poor lady, she were better love dream”, and, “What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe”(696), Viola implies Olivia is chasing a fantasy and that since the man that she thinks she loves do s not exist, the only outcome will be her sorrow and misery. This can be seen as pat hose because it compels not only Viola, but the reader as well to feel compassion t awards Olivia.

Also, when Viola begins to rant about how frail the hearts of women AR e and “how easy is it for the propellers / In women’s waxen hearts to set their forms! “, she begins to understand Olivia and how she is not to blame for her misguided love for Corsair. This is both pathos and logos because not only is she feeling pity for women, such as Olivia and herself, but she is also using false 10 gig by eying that misguided love is caused by women having weak hearts.

By the en d of the speech, Viola understands Olive’s love for who she believes is Corsair and empathetic with Olive’s feelings. Viola uses many rhetorical and literary devices throughout her speech as well in order emphasize and/ or make a point. She used examples of apostrophes such as “Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness” and “O time! Thou must UN tangle this, not l; / It is too hard a knot for me to untie! “. When she states “Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness”, she blames her disguise for making Olivia fall

I in love with her. As for “O time! Thou must untangle this, not l; / It is too hard a knot for me to it is used to show how complex their situation is and how she can’t fix it alone. The apostrophes show how Viola eagerly wants to avoid the conflict a ND have it resolved. This is shown through how she pins the blame on a simple disguise and wishes that time will resolve the matter on its own. There is also alliteration in the speech such as “Fortune forbid” and “she did speak in starts”. The alliteration I s used to emphasize and show importance.

For instance, in the sentence, “Fortune for id my outside have not charm’s her! “, the alliteration is used to show the reader r that Viola is worried about Olivia falling in love with her disguise, as well as to amp hassle Viola’s wishes to prevent more conflict and heartbreak to the reader. The sent once, “For she did speak in starts distractedly”, also shows the reader that Viola ha s come to the conclusion that Olivia is in love with Corsair, and catches the readers Tate notion to this fact.

In my opinion, I think it is important to read and utilize rhetorical strategies in order to make conclusions about Shakespearean writing. I believe this is crucial I because in order for the reader to comprehend the speech itself, they must get a sense e of what is occurring prior to the speech. Because of this, the reader must analyze the re theoretical situation in the speech in order to understand the main problem, purpose, an d who the speech is really targeted for.

Without knowing the situation, the reader would be lost and unable to fully comprehend why the speech is of importance. Therefore, it is one of the key points in understanding the speech. Also, if you’re unable to come to conclusion as to why Shakespeare included devices such as logos, pathos and ‘or ethos n the speech, you would not know whether he was trying make a logical point t, show the credibility of a character, or make the reader feel pity or emotion.

Love is desirable, everyone is in search of it, but some take it too far. Some let it control you, and reveal characteristics that ought not to be revealed. Orsino, in the twelfth knight for example let’s love control him revealing aspects of his personality that reveal is obsession with love. Some Notable Characteristics of the Duke of Illyria are his moodiness, selfishness and how he is a fool for love.

Orsino is a gentleman who is in search of love, and while eagerly searching; his moodiness and foolishness is revealed. Struggling to find love, Orsino’s temperamental moodiness is revealed. His moodiness is revealed early in the play when Orsino interrupts his own musicians while they are playing to satisfy his needs. Orsino has musicians playing around him in hopes that it will distract his thoughts from how bad he wants to find love. Orsino says, “Enough; no more: ‘Tis not so sweet now as it was before. (Act I, Scene I) This reveals Orsino’s moodiness because the musicians were only trying to cheer him up, and Orsino deliberately and rudely interrupts them because the music was doing no good in hopes of cheering up his lonely heart. Also, later in the play Feste even points out Orsino’s moodiness. Feste compares Orsino’s erratic moods to a gemstone when he says the Duke’s “mind is very opal. ” (Scene II, act IV) An opal is a gemstone that shimmers and shifts in colors.

Although, this is not meant to be a compliment by Feste, Feste is rather implying that Orsino is temperamental and unstable, like an opal constantly shifting in colors. Although, for Orsino, unlike an opal constantly shifting in colors, what shifts constantly is his moods. Orsino is a man who is more fixated with the fantasy of love than the reality of love, which portrays his selfishness in just wanting to fulfill his own desires. Orsino seems to be a man who is in love with the idea of being in love.

The play begins with Orsino saying, “If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour! ” (Act I, Scene I) Orsino is very fixated with love, willing to do whatever it takes to satisfy his own needs. He is so willing he even attempts to find love in a woman in which he knows doesn’t feel the same about him.

Orsino fights to have Olivia love him back, in fact the more Olivia rejects him the more it seems Orsino tries t pursue her. Orsino doesn’t care that she has no love for him back, he just wants to find love, and that’s the selfishness within him. Orsino is a man in search of love, so determined to find it he makes a fool of himself. Based upon the opening scene we know Orsino is a passionate man who is out in search of the love of Olivia. Orsino says he is in love for the countess, but Orsino doesn’t truly know her, he just knows of her.

When Orsino describes one of his fantasies, you can determine from it that it has nothing to do with the countess. The first time Orsino saw Olivia he describes, “That instant was I turn’d into a hart; And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E’er since pursue me. ”(Act I, Scene I) Orsino says he was turned into a “hart” (a male deer and also a play on the word “heart”) and that he was chased or hunted by his own desires, which were like “hounds. ” So, Orsino doesn’t imagine his pursuit of Olivia so much as he fixates on his pursuit of himself in a fantasy that is all about him.

He is a fool for love, fixated so much around it that he tries to make himself believe he is in love with someone he truly doesn’t even know. Orsino’s moodiness, selfishness, and foolishness all revolve around what means the most to Orsino, love. His moodiness flares up when dealing with the problems he faces when trying to find love. Orsino’s selfishness is revealed in the way he pursues a countess that doesn’t love him back, yet doesn’t even know him. Foremost, his foolishness is revealed by the way he tries to find love in general.

Revolving so much around trying to find love, that he goes to extreme measures that makes him look foolish. In fact, anyone trying to find love as hard as Orsino should be looked at as foolish too. You cannot force love upon anyone, and you should never force it upon yourself, or you will be compelled as selfish in the fact that you want love so bad you do extraordinarily selfish things to do so. Like trying to love a woman who doesn’t love you back. Love is something that cannot be forced, that Orsino apparently doesn’t know, causing him to be moody, look selfish, and be a fool for love.

Love vs. Lust and Desire (The Twelfth Night) Love and lust can often be mistaken for each other by unsuspecting and naive characters. In William Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night a majority of the characters experience learning the difference between whether lust is the same as love or if they are merely enjoying someone’s looks only. The question of desire being overpowered by love is something that has been deeply looked at by literary critics to try to decipher. The beginning of the story starts out with Viola and her twin brother Sebastian getting into a shipwreck where Viola believes that her brother has drowned and been lost at sea.

She shows an enormous amount of love in those first few moments when she realizes that he is gone. No love is ever greater than family love because it is the most pure form of love. Viola, out of self-preservation, takes a job in the house of the Duke Orsino and becomes his messenger to his love Olivia. Olivia is a vain woman who is also mourning her brother’s death and refuses to see Orsino or listen to his marriage proposals. As a different tack, Orsino sends Viola, dressed as Cesario, to try to court Olivia for him. This is not love that Orsino is feeling. Unrequited, melancholic love intensifies this process: it is self-consuming, as Orsino is pursued and consumed by his own desires. ” (Eagleton) As Eagleton alludes he is merely attracted to Olivia’s beauty and power. The way he acts towards her does personify that he loves her, but he only compliments her beauty and virtue in his poems. He alludes to only wanting her because she is what is seen as the most desirable woman around his land. “Irrationally, Orsino would love a woman who he knows loves herself. But whereas he shrewdly guesses the true condition of his lady’s affection, he is blind to the similar makeup of his own passion. (Hunt) This showing of lust is counteracted by the showings from Viola of love for Orsino. She chooses to do as he asks and help him court Olivia despite the fact that she is a woman in disguise and loves Orsino herself. This is a sacrifice that could easily be shown as a sign of true love for Orsino. Viola’s showing of love is something to be examined closer. She has not known Orsino for more than a day when she begins to love him, yet she is willing to sacrifice her own happiness to help create a marriage between Orsino and Olivia.

She could be seen as naive and hopeful, but she seems wiser than that if examined closer. “Viola is then drawn within this illusion, through her adoption of an illusion of disguise to further her real aim of serving Orsino; she is made to act the part of one actor (Orsino) to another actor (Olivia) in a way which conflicts with her own genuine identity (her love of Orsino). ” (Eagleton) Orsino also trusts Viola, as Cesario, completely. He entrusts her with his hopes and his most intimate errands. “Orsino is caught at a transitional moment in love’s metamorphosis. He secretly enjoys Viola’s feminine beauty while the page identity–“Cesario”–gives him an excuse for not recognizing the threatening natural opposite to himself–an opposite that in truth complements him. ” (Hunt) Orsino sees Viola (Cesario) as someone he can trust and feel strangely drawn to. This could be a sense of lust compelling him or the nature of true love in its purer form. Through the beginning of the story Viola’s love for Orsino grows only to see Orsino’s love for Olivia continue steady. This is all disrupted when Viola’s brother, Sebastian, is revealed as alive and in the same city.

Olivia, who has been courting Cesario (Viola), mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and convinces him to marry her. This can only be another example of the feeble yet strong importance put on physical attraction between two strangers to create a feeling of love that is deeply rooted in lust. Olivia found Cesario’s cool demeanor to her to be refreshing and the slightly feminine build to be attractive. “The consequence of Viola’s entering the reciprocal illusion of Orsino and Olivia is the creation in Olivia of a reality—her love for Viola—which breaks beyond the illusion and yet is similarly illusory—she does not know that Viola is a woman. (Eagleton) Olivia’s love for Cesario is a little more sincere than Orsino’s love for Olivia because Olivia enjoys Cesario’s company and demeanor as strictly opposed to his looks. When Olivia learns that Sebastian is her husband and not Cesario, she is still happy despite the mix up. Orsino’s switching of his love from Olivia to Viola so easily and efficiently is a sign that he may not really know the true nature of love at all. Orsino may only really know the way of desire and lust.

Viola overlooks this and marries Orsino without any hesitation because she loves him. Orsino refers to Viola as “his fancy’s Queen” implying that he really cares for her on a level deeper than merely her looks which he has not been able to see in her manly disguise. The ending of the story regards every couple marrying the person they seem the most happy with, but it’s highly questionable if they love the person they have chosen or if they merely have chosen someone they like. ? Work Cited

Eagleton, Terence. “Language and Reality in Twelfth Night. ” Critical Quarterly 9. 3 (Autumn 1967): 217-228. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Dana Ramel Barnes and Marie Lazzari. Vol. 34. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Hunt, Maurice. “Love, Disguise, and Knowledge in Twelfth Night. ” CLA Journal 32. 4 (June 1989): 484-493. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 92. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

Twelfth Night: Interpretations through the Directors Staging Antonio: I could not stay behind you: my desire, More sharp than filed steel, did spur me forth; And not all love to see you, though so much As might have drawn one to a longer voyage, But jealousy what might befall your travel, Being skilless in these parts; which to a stranger, Unguided and unfriended, often prove Rough and unhospitable: my willing love, The rather by these arguments of fear, Set forth in your pursuit. (Twelfth Night, 3. 3. 6-16)

For hundreds of years people from all over the world have seen the works of William Shakespeare performed by thousands of actors. Twelfth Night or What you Will is but one of the many comedies written by William Shakespeare that have been produced in many formats, from theater, television and even several feature films. So many different productions of the same works have opened the door to directors adding their own twist to the original script to make it their own. One play can be performed countless different ways, from very conservative or to unconventional depending on the director’s interpretation and intentions.

So all writings are open for creative interpretation thus being for this paper I am going to focus on the directorial staging of this play and how the staging and direction brought the focus of the subplot of Antonio and Sebastian into a homoerotic relationship opposed to other renditions of Twelfth Night that were homosocial. Directors have creatively reconstructed these plays pulling from the era, the popular ideology of the community and political correctness at the times the different styles and interpretations so that Shakespeare can be adapted to the current times.

My most recent exposure to the Shakespeare is Twelfth Night as it was performed in Ashland, Oregon, during the 2010 Shakespeare Festival, directed by Darko Tresnjak. The design and style of the set design and costumed was reminiscent of the movie Mozart in the play bill the director did mention that this movie did give him some inspiration for these choices. The white costumes of the Dukes court. The season was summery with no hint of the holidays, no Christmas ornamentation. The actors who played Sebastian and Antonio with the direction from the director acted out the relationship between them as overly homosexual, as if they were lovers.

Antonio was far more feminine and flamboyant (similar to the role played by Johnny Depp in the movie Pirates of the Carrabin) and Sebastian was more masculine. I think the director used this opportunity to emphasize this aspect of our modern American homosexual subculture. I think the director wanted to reflect upon homosexuality in America currently instead of the over emphasized the traditional comedic element of cross dressing and mischievous misrepresentation of the sexes that has been a popular and humorous way to perform Shakespeare’s plays.

True this play has homoerotic elements in it that hundreds of years ago were considered humor, cross dressing, falling in love with a “perception” of what is not what you perceive. This was recreated in several comedies during this time. At the time this was written for popular entertainment to be funny and absurd. A romantic comedy where someone falls in love with an illusion and is made to look foolish is an underlying theme in many comedies of the time.

The director in the Ashland example defiantly imposes the ideology of modern homosexuality into this version of Twelfth Night. This becomes evident in Act 2, Scene 1 (2. 1. 1-52); “… ANTONIO: If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your servant. SEBASTIAN: If you will not undo what you have done, that is, kill him whom you have recovered, desire it not. Fare ye well at once: my bosom is full of kindness, and I am yet so near the manners of my mother, that upon the least occasion more mine eyes will tell tales of me. I am bound to the Count Orsino’s court: farewell.

Exit…. ” Because the director in the Ashland production had the actor playing Antonio over emphasize his lines in this part of the scene and seam to beg Sebastian as a lover. I would like to introduce two other performances of Twelfth Night that I have selected for this paper, on top of the live performance in Ashland, two other performances of Twelfth Night to exhibit the different ways directors can creatively interpret Shakespeare through the staging and direction to intertwine modern ideas and ideology through their direction, making it relevant for today.

I am using a BBC television performance and an American film and I have decided to focus on the characters of Sebastian and Antonio in all three performances to compare the director’s style and depiction of this relationship, of these two, and to see the effect on the whole production. Second I want to introduce an example from the American produced feature film of Twelfth Night or What you Will (Nunn) from Fine Line Features Presents a Renaissance Film, directed by Trevor Nunn run time 134min.

The actors who played Sebastian and Antonio, under the directors guidance, created a relationship between these two men that suggested a fatherly bond as if Antonio, who saved Sebastian from the ocean, became a surrogate father to this young man Sebastian, who has lost his sister and father. Of all the versions this particular depiction made the most sense and really brought the words to life between these two. Antonio in Act 5, reaction became so believable first the betrayal and confusion with Cesario (Viola) response of not knowing him and then later when Sebastian enters onto the stage, Antonio’s comments on both of them.

Act 5 (5. 257-277) “…ANTONIO: Sebastian are you? SEBASTIAN: Fear’st thou that, Antonio? ANTONIO: How have you made division of yourself? An apple, cleft in two, is not more twin than these two creatures. Which is Sebastian?… ” I found the performance of the actor who played Antonio as a genuine caring father type to be accurate and in this moment the film captures the disbelief of a man who is seeing a mirror image of his own child. This is what made the words of Shakespeare come alive and gave a hint of truth to this unbelievable tale.

This is why I believe that this particular twist is more believable and follows more closely to what the original production would have suggested. The third performance I am introducing is the British production by a Renaissance Theatre Production of Twelfth Night or What you Will A&E, Thames Television in association with the BBC television production directed by Kenneth Branagh run time 165min. the setting of this production was late 1800’s in depth of winter with snow and wind and barren trees, almost on the brink of spring.

The director kept in pace with the title of the play by having a Christmas tree, and other holiday novelties. The actors who played Sebastian and Antonio in this production, were staged and directed in the relationship between them as “sportsmen”, as if they had become best sportsman like friends “Good Chaps” in the intonations the director has obviously instructed the actors to play down the dialogue that leave a hint of homosocial relationship. This is evident in the way that the end of ACT 2 (2. 1. -52); “SEBASTIAN: If you will not undo what you have done, that is, kill him whom you have recovered, desire it not. Fare ye well at once: my bosom is full of kindness, and I am yet so near the manners of my mother, that upon the least occasion more mine eyes will tell tales of me. I am bound to the Count Orsino’s court: farewell. Exit (this was spoken up beat and as if he was going to a sporting event. ) ANTONIO: The gentleness of all the gods goes with thee! I have many enemies in Orsino’s court; else would I very shortly see thee there. This was spoken with a challenge and boisterous. ) But, come what may, I do adore thee so, (this phrase was almost whispered as if it was a second thought. ) That danger shall seem sport, and I will go. Exit” (the last statement before his exit was stated as if he was embarking on an adventure. ) the way that this was performed by the actor who played Antonio played up the masculine and down played the tenderness. This being a British production the topic of homosexuality has been downplayed and not openly addressed, because it is improper etiquette.

The idea of still being a man in the public and not projecting your personal preferences is a very real behavior, where as in America it would be acceptable to be “Out of the closet”. In Europe men’s sexual preference is not something of polite conversation and is not labeled as it is in America because in England the perception of “man” doesn’t lose their manly hood by having male relations. So this being a British Television production the director would have never broached the subject of homosexuality.

In America we have grown accustomed to labeling relationships and categorizing everything where in Europe they have grown beyond that and do not need to push labels I believe this was touched on in Manliness Before Individualism: Masculinity, Effeminacy, and Homoerotic in Shakespeare’s History Plays Rebecca Ann Bach points out that “…all of which depict England in disorder, are profoundly interested in how manliness is constructed and maintained. Because gender roles and the social order were deeply intertwined in Renaissance England, masculinity surfaces constantly as a point of tension…. (Bach) and she goes on to discuss “…Today we live in a world in which men and women are, by definition, separate kinds of people; our culture expends enormous energy from the birth of a child creating and maintaining the distinctions between men and women…” showing the separation of the perception of the rolls of men and women in the very different eras. This seems to be what draws so many to Shakespeare is that he interweaves this idea of separation into a comical theme and makes light of this need to separate and label. This may be why today in England the separation seems to be less than in America.

From the evidence I have discovered I surmise that in the time of Shakespeare, the rolls of men and woman were quite different, and to have a young man play the role of a woman was common place due to no female actors, as they do today. To reverse the reversal is somewhat funny for the time, it can also be ironic, or homoerotic. The debate will continue through my time and for eons as to what was really intended by the words of Shakespeare. I do believe though that is the directors who project modern ideologies into the plays, not the writer.

I believe it is the director’s drive to personalize and to modernize the work and bring it up to date. The desire to connect the past on a deeper intimate level that makes this director inject such modern ideas into these classics. Humans have a deep seated need to connect with the past and to interpret the past on a personal level and to be able to see ourselves in the past. I believe that the modernization of Plays actually pull us farther away from the past. So even though I may have thought that the staging of Antonio and Sebastian were homosexual and I thought it took away from the whole of the play.

The director injected his views of this performance of Twelfth Night to reflect on today’s society and to touch the audience of today, not of yesterday. Directors have always brought the past to life and this is another example of the modern interpretation of Shakespeare. I have to wonder though, what would William think about this production? Work Cited Page: 1. Bach, Rebecca Ann. Manliness Before Individualism: Masculinity, Effeminacy, and Homoerotic in Shakespeare’s History Plays. Online October 14, 2010. http://www. blackwellreference. com/public/tocnode? id=g9781405136068_chunk_g978

Shakespeare portrays Feste as a well-drawn, wise, cunning, adaptable character. His character is used in to reflect on the actions and emotions of the others by keeping himself at a distance from the other characters and not becoming emotionally involved in any of the plots at the beginning of the play. Feste subtly conveys his messages and thoughts through his songs to the audience about the other characters in the play. He reveals in his songs that Orsino is “roaming” after the wrong love in his pursuit of Olivia.

Feste somewhat becomes the narrator of the play by commenting on actions that occur within the play and foreshadowing events. When Feste first enters into the play he has been absent from Olivia’s court a long time and must now return into her favour. He does not want to listen to what Maria says to him and using his quick wit manages to answer her. Feste demonstrates his quick wit and ability to juggle words effectively when he says: Let her hang me; he that is well hanged in this world needs to fear no colours.

This remark reveals that Feste does not fear Maria’s threats and also reveals his intelligence and his philosophical side for he would rather be hanged than be in a war, “needs fear no colours”. Shakespeare portrays him as a wise man although the Elizabethan audience might consider him a coward and unpatriotic for not wanting to protect and defend his country. Feste carries the stigma of stupidity, which previous fools in literature have inflicted upon all fools but Shakespeare created Feste as an intelligent fool who would change the audience’s perception of the role of fools.

Shakespeare displays Feste’s skill at juggling words as an example of the differences between Feste and other fools as traditionally fools are considered to be ignorant buffoons who are there to entertain using jokes and juggling objects to create amusement. However, Feste displays his insight about the people surrounding him instead while also offering his thoughts about which ruinous condition he would rather be in, “many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage”.

Here he hints that a bad marriage may take place and that death is better than to be unhappy in life. Feste is not loyal to his mistress like Malvolio is to Olivia and Viola is to Orsino for he wanders through the different courts always in search of favour and money. In Orsino’s court he sings of love and how it can kill, “I am slain by a fair cruel maid” man’s folly and man’s deceitful nature while in Olivia’s court he sings to Sir Toby and Sir Andrew he sings more joyful and careless songs but still reflecting on the characters’ actions.

When he sings the type of song Sir Toby selected he adds on to it when he sees they like it and makes the song relevant to what is happening and sings about what he has seen as an outsider watching the scenes that are happening. Even when he uses music he acts in his capacity as the fool for the house and is secretly wording the advice he would give to certain other characters in the play should he be allowed to tell them. This illustrates his perceptiveness and ability to adapt to any situation no matter what he is supposed to do.

Feste’s perceptiveness is used as a device to remember what has happened in Twelfth Night without becoming too involved in the play and not seeing the bigger perspective. Sir Andrew is revealed as even more ignorant than Sir Toby has already portrayed him as Feste uses his skills at juggling words to make up new words, which seem real and genuine to Sir Andrew. Feste uses his role as the fool to poke fun at Sir Andrew and sets him up for further humiliation later on because Sir Andrew stores the words Feste uses in his memory and later uses them in any context to try and convince everyone of his intelligence.

As Twelfth Night is a play all about foolery and based on the Feast of Fools it is fitting that Feste should make fun of the lesser characters of the play, which somehow make the audience laugh at them as well. Feste is the centre of amusement and merriment in every situation, providing the entertainment for the others and he does this in many ways. Sir Toby enjoys Feste making fun of Sir Andrew and Feste knows this so he does it to please Sir Toby and Sir Andrew being the person he is doesn’t realise this and pays Feste as well.

Feste demonstrates his cunning in managing to get money out of two people for different reasons. In Act 4 Feste reveals he is ready to become part of the play and take an active role. The others have tricked Malvolio agrees to dress up as Sir Topas, a curate. He thoroughly enjoys his new role as he is making Malvolio madder and without Malvolio in the way he is more important to his mistress, Olivia. In his role as Sir Topas he is more appealing to Sir Toby as Sir Toby hates Malvolio for his puritan-like ways.

Feste’s disguise convinces Malvolio that Feste is a real curate and Feste undermines his own character being reluctant to join in and always being himself he is now pretending to be something he is not although he is adapting to this new role he is putting on a different face, which he has never done before. Feste reveals one of his flaws through his disguise when he does not know where is a safe place to stop teasing Malvolio and juggling words. In this way he goes over the top with his role and needs someone to keep him in check but has no one to do this for him.

Feste’s final song seems to be a perfect ending to Twelfth Night. While this song contains many silly words and phrases designed to make people laugh, it does have a serious side to it that suggest that love and marriage are not the only things in life and that there is not always a happy ending. The song goes through the life cycle from a “little tiny boy” and reverts all the way back around again to when the “world begun”. It seems to be about Feste’s life in particular and his choice to become a fool.

He is saying that becoming a fool was his only way to survive because he could not have succeeded any other way. Shakespeare uses Feste as someone to reflect and a way to end the play fittingly. In Twelfth Night, the fools are the ones that control the comedy and humour in the play. They assist in the make believe game and fool around with characters who “evade reality or rather realize a dream”. This makes Feste a pivotal character in Twelfth Night as without him many other things could have happened and a lot less humour and jokes would have occurred.

Examine the ways in which Shakespeare uses structure and language to dramatise the comparisons between different kinds of love in Twelfth Night focusing on Act 5, Scene 1 and one or two other scenes of your choice.  Twelfth Night is thought to have been written in 1601, near the middle of Shakespeare’s career. The play looks at deception, disguise, illusion and probably most significantly the amazing things that love can cause us to do. Shakespeare does this successfully through clever use of language and structure.

Act 1, Scene 1 of the comedy begins with a nobleman named Orsino, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia, a noble Illyrian lady. Shakespeare uses imagery to represent love:

“If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting

The appetite may sicken, and so die.”

Orsino’s language contains images which recur throughout the play such as music, death, love and food while expressing his love. Orsino doesn’t mention Lady Olivia until his discussion with Curio soon after, this leads us to suggest that Orsino is in love with the idea of being in love itself, therefore being selfish. Consequently the reference to food can be perceived as Orsino’s hunger for love. This hunger we are told leads to sickness and pain, again the imagery of sickness symbolises Orsino’s extreme feelings towards love. The idiom ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ has become part of British language and has become a frequently used expression.

However, Olivia does not desire to be with Orsino and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage. On the return of a message from Olivia’s household, Orsino is told that Olivia has vowed to mourn for her brother for seven years. Orsino accepts this refusal contentedly and is proud of Olivia for paying the ‘debt of love’ to her brother. This love towards a sibling is the third love to be found in the scene and indeed Twelfth Night, however despite this seemingly kind act of respect it can also be seen as selfish to shut herself from others especially with the high status and position she has in Illyrian society. The first type of love identified was unrequited love, established and maintained through selfishness and the second type being melancholy love as seen by Orsino’s sadness and misery. Despite the differences in the kinds of love Orsino’s language remains the same using imagery with the semantic field of flowers, life and death:

“Hath killed the flock…

That live in her; when liver, brain and heart…

Away before me to sweet beds of flowers”

Throughout the scene there has been little change in structure, Orsino has spoken verse throughout, while acting the conventional romantic hero, and through the three kinds of love identified there has still been the use of caesura which is generally used to give a dramatic effect. However, whilst Orsino was thinking of his own love at the beginning there was much more caesura used. Shakespeare would have done this to exaggerate Orsino’s melancholy love further and also to convey his mood and emotions much more easily. There is also a difference in rhyme. The beginning speech contains two rhyming couplets: ‘more’ and ‘before’ and ‘there’ and ‘soe’er’. While the final speech only contains one: ‘flowers and bowers’. The varying use of structure between the two references to love highlights the difference between a falsified, sentimental, dramatised love and a more relaxed and genuine love towards a sibling.

The second scene of Act 1, also establishes the love between siblings as Viola, a young lady of Messaline assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian has died in the ship wreck while she was brought safely to shore. Rather than being glad and rejoicing her own deliverance Viola began to lament her brother’s loss:

“My brother he is in Elysium.

Perchance he is not drown’d: what think you, sailors?”

Again the use of caesura conveys the emotion and panic felt by selfless Viola, particularly by the way the colon hurries on her thoughts to the question directed at the sailors. Viola decides that she must survive in Illyria asking the captain for help. She can not work for Olivia as she in mourning so instead she asked the captain to disguise her as a male using the feigned name Cesario in order for her to work as a page for Duke Orsino. Subsequently, Viola’s appearance and disguise as a young male in Illyria causes complication and confusion between both Orsino’s and Olivia’s household and Viola becomes the main protagonist. Consequentially a complicated love pattern emerges which seems to revolve entirely around Olivia. This identifies an obvious link between the two characters who’s names bear quite a resemblance, while both are grieving for their lost brothers they are also both lead the main plot to continue, Olivia continuing the theme of love and the many forms it can take, while Viola upholds the theme of concealed feelings and identity.

Duke Orsino takes favourably to his new page, unburdening his heart to Cesario telling him about his love towards Lady Olivia. Act 2, Scene 4 sees the Duke neglecting the company of his probable associates and lords who he would have almost certainly been associated with due to his high position. However, instead he listens to soft, romantic music, as in the first scene:

“Give me some music. Now, good morrow, friends…

That old and antique song we heard last night:

Me thought it did relieve my passion much,”

Orsino blindly leads himself into a lifestyle of wallowing in his own misery and self pity, while once again using images of music and illness. This is significant since this language technique is only noticeably used throughout the comedy when Orsino’s melancholy love is present. Viola, a selfless lover also begins feeling sorrowful as she is also suffering for the love of Orsino, who she has a deep genuine admiration for even though she is unable display her affection since her entrapment in male guise. She does however, gently hint:

“Say that some lady, as perhaps there is,

Hath for your love a great a pang of heart

As you have for Olivia: you cannot love her,

You tell her so; must she not then be answer’d?”

Viola questions the Duke enquiring whether he could love someone who felt as strongly about he as he does for Olivia, whether he would return the love and if not what he would tell her. Orsino denied that it was possible to love as much as he did:

“There is no women’s sides

Can bide the beating of so strong a passion

As love doth give my heart…”

To an audience this would be ironic as they would know of Viola’s love for the Duke and her true identity while he wouldn’t be aware of the real situation or circumstances. Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony provides wit and humour while the character is still talking truthfully. The emphasis on disguise in Twelfth Night means that the comedy is full of dramatic irony. The image of passion violently beating someone is evoked by the metaphor ‘can bide the beating of so strong a passion’ this is not a true description but works by making us imagine the painfully strong feelings Orsino believes he has for Olivia.

The Duke sends Cesario to deliver Olivia a message however, Olivia is instantly attracted to Cesario which leaves Viola once again in a difficult situation as she is entrapped in her disguise. This completes the love triangle as Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia and Olivia loves Cesario/Viola.

The sub plot of Twelfth Night or What You Will contains more humorous and comical scenes involving characters whose status is less than the likes of Olivia and Orsino and also two knights who seem to act foolishly despite their positions. For the play to be a good comedy it has to show human weaknesses, Shakespeare has done this particularly in the sub plot by varying the level of compassion and self control in each character leaving their weaknesses easily identifiable.

Firstly, we meet Maria, a chambermaid of Olivia, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle and his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek, two rowdy drunkards. Sir Andrew hopelessly attempts to court Lady Olivia but to no avail, again we see representations of unrequited love and also courtly love. The conversation between Maria and Sir Toby is playful and dim-witted, despite its purpose to instruct and lecture Sir Toby, for the sake of Olivia. Sir Toby replies:

“Why let her except, before excepted.”

The light-hearted wordplay can be seen as flirtatious as Sir Toby uses his wit to entertain and charm Maria, although not explicitly told, through Toby’s tone and language usage he can be clearly seen to have feelings for her. However, puzzlingly he advises Sir Andrew Aguecheek to accost Maria. Andrew is left puzzled at the meaning of accost, the focus on wooing and courtly love is another apparent type of love. As Sir Andrew plays with the words of Maria the friendly, humorous conversation begins to include sexual references, as Maria says ‘It’s dry’ she gains the answer:

“…I can keep my hand dry.”

Bawdy, sexual references would have been gladly accepted by the audience in Elizabethan theatres particularly by the men, as in today’s society. The use of a metaphor leaves the context in which this is meant to be decided by the audience. The flexibility of perception is also true of the relationship between the characters involved in the sub plot as they are able to communicate in different tones and about different subjects without actually announcing any true feelings they may have about one another. Maria and Sir Toby can openly flirt with each other and Sir Toby can insult Sir Andrew Aguecheek as he did when we were first introduced calling him ‘Agueface’, Sir Toby in fact only wants to use Sir Andrew. This suggests how fragile and false relationships and friendship can be.

Malvolio is a character who seems to be unloved throughout the play he is neither loved as a friend or lover and the other characters show no compassion in evilly tricking him. His love for Olivia, is kept only as a fantasy. Malvolio is seen as a vain and pompous character whose only true love lies with himself. This self-love is seen by Olivia:

“O you are sick of self love, Malvolio”

This accusation sums up the view felt by the audience as he regularly spoils the fun of the other members of the households in order to satisfy himself. A letter forged by Maria, supposedly from Olivia soon leads to more deceit in the play as Malvolio tries to earn her favour by following the suggestions of dressing in yellow stockings and crossed garters, acting arrogantly, smiling constantly and refusing to explain himself to anyone, it is his own self-conceit that causes him to easily fall into the trap.

The sub-plot eventually intertwines with the main plot as a result of the appearance of Antonio and Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, who is still alive but believes that his twin, Viola is dead. Sebastian’s friend Antonio seems to care deeply about Sebastian, possibly passionately and sexually, leading us to believe that he may well be homosexual as he follows his friend to Illyria, despite being enemies with Orsino. Sir Andrew and Sir Toby, seeing Olivia’s increased attraction to Cesario decide to challenge Cesario to a duel. However, they mistakenly duel with Sebastian. The entrance of Olivia during the confusion causes further bewilderment as Olivia proposes to Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario, Sebastian is baffled since he has never even met Lady Olivia before. However, he accepts.

Since separating from Sebastion, Antonio is arrested for an old crime he committed, he begs Cesario who he thinks is Sebastian for his purse that he had gave him. However, Cesario is confused at this and denies knowing Antonio, which is true. Antonio cries out that Sebastian had betrayed him giving Viola new hope that her brother may be alive. These scenes are laden with dramatic irony, obviously because the audience are the only people who understand that both of the twins are alive, and by the apparent confusion that the other characters are suffering, that no one can tell them apart. This perplexity causes the comedy to be as bewildering as it is, possibly projecting the moral that nothing is as it seems. This can also be interpreted by the alternative title ‘or What You Will’

To have five acts in a play was conventional of Elizabethan playwrights, Shakespeare has followed this convention in the play as we see the fifth and final act of Twelfth Night which reveals true feelings and identity, resolving each problematic situation.

Feste’s behaviour at the beginning of Act5, Scene 1 indicates that he has still not forgiven Orsino for dismissing him and replacing him for Fabian, a less witty and clever entertainer. His cheeky exclamation when being addressed as a friend by Orsino is evident of this:

“the better for my foes and the worse for my friends”

This expression signifies that reality can be different from what is expected; again one of the key morals of the play, a further example of this is Feste’s sharp wit in contrast with Orsino who is more placid and plain despite his aristocratic status.

The entrance of Antonio escorted by Orsino’s officers sees an almost different Orsino to the previously sombre character. As the Duke recollects the sea-battle, this reveals Orsino to be a more fierce and influential individual, he recognises Antonio:

“besmeared as black as Vulcan in the smoke of war”

this simile makes Antonio sound wicked since black is an evil colour and also the metaphoric link to Vulcan, a vulgar, vicious God presents Antonio as a vicious immoral creature like Vulcan. Orsino now speaks with more thought than his inattentive and egocentric speeches seen throughout the comedy. When Olivia admits her love for Cesario, Orsino becomes angry accusing his page of betrayal and surrenders Cesario despite loving him:

“I’ll sacrifice the lamb I love”

Again the issue of homosexuality rises as Orsino professes his love to a person he believes to be a man before the issue of sexuality can be dwelled upon the play quickly advances. There is a great deal of dramatic irony in this final scene which adds tension to the reunion of the twins. The audience is aware that both twins are alive, yet, there is still anticipation present from the audience to discover whether the truth that Viola is female will finally be known to the characters of the play. Also, Olivia has married Sebastian, which the audience also know, however, Olivia is claiming that she has married Cesario, which Viola genuinely knows nothing about, this situation is humorous and ironic. Shakespeare had mixed the elements of a tragedy and comedy. Shakespeare also used this situation, in order to illustrate the powerful feelings felt by the characters.

Inevitably, the twins are reunited this resolves the theme of concealed identity. Viola regains her name as she discards her disguise, and is no longer trapped. This enables her to take action on her love for the Duke.

Malvolio vengefully reappears, and is soon to be made angrier by the clown who mocks him. Malvolio remains the same throughout the play unloved except by himself. The trick played upon him had failed in punishing him for his vanity and arrogance. Antonio also does not gain anything at the end, although he may be forgiven for his past crimes. We are never told whether Sir Andrew and Sir Toby regained their friendship after Sir Toby quit Sir Andrew’s company.

Whereas, the Orsino and Viola had maintained their love for one another as had Olivia and Sebastian. The resolution for the two couples held true, romantic love for each of them. Orsino confirms with an optimistic statement:

“Golden time…

But when in other habits you are seen

Orsino’s mistress and his fancy’s queen”

This rhyming couplet shows the real happiness that Orsino has found in contrast to the selfish, melancholy lover, Orsino, until the final scene. It was usual of Shakespeare to make the formal, traditional characters speak in rhyming couplets, until now Orsino’s high status had been shadowed by his sadness. Now he fills the role of the stereotypical character we would have first expected we can see his language adapts to the role.

Conversely, the clown’s final song suggests that the future may not be as happy as is hoped or assumed:

“for the rain it raineth every day”

The reference to rain suggests that the future may be stormy and not as sunny as expected. Shakespeare would have intentionally ended the play with music, the same way as the play had started. Almost certainly as an ironic message of hopeful happiness in light of Orsino’s beginning expression ‘if music be the food of love, play on’.

Conclusively, we can see that Shakespeare used language techniques such as metaphors, similes and rhyming couplets to express different types of love. Generally those characters relating to love spoke in verse while comical characters such as Feste and the two foolish knights spoke in prose.