Essays on Twelfth Night

Shakespeare portrays Feste as a well-drawn, wise, cunning, adaptable character. His character is used in Twelfth Night 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 …

“Feste is an observer. He sees through people. Though he’s a kind of entertainer, who will only perform for money, what he chooses to sing to people is intentionally relevant. People find the truth very hard to deal with: ‘…Peace, you rogue…here comes my lady’. …

In William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night the character of Feste is a solitary wit surrounded by fools. His occupation is that of Olivia’s paid fool, which she inherited from her father, ‘Feste the jester… a fool that the Lady Olivia’s father took much pleasure in. …

Malvolio’s character and the misfortunes he encounters though out Twelfth Night provide a lot of the play’s comedy scenes. His haughty and pretentious demeanour makes him easy to dislike, yet the treatment he receives is at times a little undeserved and leads to the issue …

All or most of Shakespeare’s plays contain playfulness and foolishness and within ‘Twelfth Night’ there are many examples of this. All these examples of folly add to the overall humour of the play. Throughout ‘Twelfth Night’ the theme of foolishness links the plot, characters and …

In this essay I will be exploring Twelfth Night and focusing on the extent at which folly is used to create humour. The word folly means “a silly person” or “one who uses folly for the entertainment of others” etc. In William Shakespeare’s comedy, Feste …

1. How does Act one, scene 1-3, serve as an effective opening to the play? Comment especially on the way in which Shakespeare establishes the overall atmosphere, main characters, important relationships and key elements of the main plot and subplot. In Act 1, scenes 1-3, …

What does Shakespeare convey about the nature and variety of love in this play? Shakespeare explores a great variety of themes in this play, the main one being love and its many different natures. The aim of this essay is to examine the text to …

Your lord does know my mind; I cannot love him; Yet I suppose him virtuous, know him noble, of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth; in voices well divulged, free, learned, and valiant; and in dimension and the shape of nature a gracious person; …

Twelfth Night is the merriest of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, it is also the saddest. The Christian associations of the title suggests the carpe diem theme which runs through the play. Epiphany, according to Christian mythology, is the time when the shepherds recognized the birth of …

The fluidity and ambiguity with which Viola presents gender is central to the drama of Twelfth Night. But to what extent are Viola’s gender roles essential to the comedy of the play? The arrivals of Viola and Sebastian in Illyria serve as the catalysts for …

In the opening to this scene Shakespeare creates a comic atmosphere by the use of jovial characters; Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. They are carousing in a drunken, noisy celebration and are shortly joined by Feste. However the merry atmosphere is cut short by the …

Almost all of Shakespeare’s plays have a clown character. Clowns were popular and amusing, and were simple characters that the lower class audience members could relate to, amidst all the royal people plays were populated with. But the clowns in Shakespeare’s plays served a dual …

Sex and Desire The nexus of gender, desire and sexuality have long been a source of considerable interest, but no more so than in the plays of William Shakespeare. Specifically, in their original production and for some time afterwards, common practice dictated certain roles for …

Secrecy is an important element in any plot. It creates irony and sometimes situational comedy. The way in which a character keeps or reveals a secret affects the plot and adds to the main theme of the work. Viola, a character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, …

Twelfth Night is a major site for homoerotic discourse in queer studies. However, the play is largely concerned with the idea of love, like many of Shakespeare’s comedies. In order to investigate his subject further, Shakespeare periodically uses homoeroticism in order to represent various forms …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

When he speaks to Cereals (aka Viola) he says “And one more thing that you never be so hardy to come here again. ” This shows us that although he strives to be as “Puritanical” as possible, there are some things that he does have …

Twelfth Night is a comedy and a marvel. This play conveys many messages that are seen by the audience, but not seen by the characters in the play. There are many points involving love, friendship, conflicts and confusion. Twelfth Night displays characters that are mad, …

The play Twelfth Night explores many different types of love between it’s characters. With so much love and so many different levels and kinds, love easily appears to be the central theme of the play from the complex love triangle between Viola, Oliva and Orsino …

Biographical information about the author: William Shakespeare, born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, was an English poet and playwright. Shakespeare was believed to have been educated at the King’s New School in Stratford about a quarter-mile from his home. At the age of 18, …

British Literature: Concealment in Twelfth Night Throughout Twelfth Night, concealment influences each character’s life because it’s essential to portray how falsehood can be amusing or agonizing before they can discover their identity in life. Therefore, the concept of concealment not only affects the characters’ mistaken …

When one considers the convention of the Elizabethan romantic comedy, a light-hearted tale of love in which obstacles are overcome- often to resolve with a marriage, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night certainly challenges the convention. Although the resolution of the joining of three couples: Orsino and Viola; …

5. “Conceal what I am” Explore the theme of disguise and deception in “Twelfth Night” William Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ is based around disguise in the form of deception. In ‘Twelfth Night’, disguise takes many different shapes from physical to mental disguise. One of the major …

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 …

Michael Nodurft English 208 Mrs. Walter Twelfth Night, 3. 1. 1-26 Jan. 30 2007 True Lies Reading this conversation between Viola and Feste the clown there is definite multiple meanings to each of the words that they both say. You can tell that Viola’s wit …

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 …