Shakespeare's comedy 'Twelfth Night' is mainly comedic due to the dramatic irony which is consistent throughout the play due to Viola, Sebastian's twin, pretending to be a man named Cesario. This is evident in Act 1 Scene 4 when Orsino is praising Cesario for how much of a woman 'he' looks. 'Diana's lip/Is not more smooth and rubious' would be highly entertaining to the Shakespearean audience as they would be completely aware that Cesario was in fact a girl, and therefore would obviously have a smooth lip. This would be even more dramatic to the Shakespearean audience due to the fact that at that time only men were permitted to act. This was one of the problems created within the play as Viola constantly had to hide her true identity. This therefore supports the idea that 'a comedy then is a problem-solving story, ending in resolution and order' particularly when looking at Act 5 as this is when the rest of the characters find out Viola's true identity when she says 'that I am Viola' and that she 'hath been between this lady and this lord'. It also supports that the resolution is often 'symbolised by marriage' as Viola goes on to marry Orsino.
The marriage of Orsino and Viola also resolved another issue within the play- Orsino's unrequited love for Olivia. We were first made clear of this love in Act 1 Scene 2 when the captain explained that 'he did seek the love of fair Olivia'. As well as this, in Act 2 Scene 4 we hear from Orsino himself that his love for Olivia is 'more noble than the world' portraying the idea that his love is true, and not just due to her status or wealth, however Olivia claims 'I think not of him' due to the fact that she is in love with Cesario. Despite this love that Orsino has for Olivia, he quickly directs that love to Viola in Act 5 when he asks Viola 'give me thy hand '. Throughout the play it is often made clear that Olivia is in love with Orsino, for instance when he asks her to declare his love for Olivia, Viola replies 'whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife' but due to her masked identity is unable to confess resulting in their marriage resolving her unconfessed love for Orsino as well as his unrequited love towards Olivia.
Furthermore, the separation of the twins is a major issue that needed to be solved in 'Twelfth Night' being the root also of Viola's hidden identity. During the entire play the audience are aware that Sebastian is alive and therefore great suspense is created as to when Viola is going to find out, which again, is Act 5. Viola claims that her 'father had a mole upon his brow', Sebastian's response of 'and so had mine' made clear to both of the twins that they were in fact related, as proven by this intimate fact. This certainly was a problem resolved, however in disagreement to the given statement indicating that resolutions to problems were 'normally symbolised by marriage' the uniting of the twins was not symbolised by marriage in Act 5.
When discussing the topic of unrequited love within 'Twelfth Night' it is also necessary to mention the love that Olivia has for Cesario, Malvolio for Olivia as well as the hinted homosxual admiration that Antonio has for Sebastian. Out of these three, only one of these cases are resolved, that being Olivia's love. 'Even so quickly may one catch the plague?', this quotation from Act 1 Scene 5 portrays how quickly Olivia fell in love with Cesario. The use of 'plague' being a quickly spread disease reinforces this idea of speed and unwillingness the love for him was due to his lower status. Due to Cesario actually being Viola, they could never be together as homosexuality wasn't accepted in that era. However, Olivia's marriage to Sebastian provides her with the resolved, happy ending symbolised by marriage.
In addition to the issues that have already been discussed, Sir Toby is a heavy burden to Olivia throughout the play and it is clear he is using her for her money and lifestyle. Despite Sir Toby being a knight, he is still a rather corrupt individual. His drinking habits are made clear multiple times in the play, one instance of this is in Act 1 Scene 3, Sir Toby says 'I’ll drink to her as long as there’s a hole in my throat and booze in Illyria' in reference to Olivia. Not only is he a burden to Olivia, the only reason he continues his “friendship” with Sir Andrew Aquecheek is to gull him out of his money. The fact that he can tease Sir Andrew is only his second purpose of him, the first being his money in order to be able to continue his drinking habits. This is another problem resolved in Act 5, also symbolised by marriage, as he leaves Illyria to wed Maria who had been well suited throughout the play due to their lack of morals shown in their sinister behaviour towards Malvolio.
Sir Andrew Aguecheek is another character who loves Olivia, and unfortunately is one who is left at a loss at the end of the play. This therefore indicates that a comedy isn't a 'problem-solving story, ending in resolution and order' as throughout the play we laugh at Sir Andrew Aguecheek as he is merely a foolish man, who is easily gulled by Sir Toby, and obliviously at that. Another reason why we laugh at him is due to the fact that he loves Olivia, for he is foolish to believe that such a woman of high status would consider Sir Andrew. He is also a coward throughout the play which adds to the comedy in the play, for instance when he is tricked into fighting Cesario. Sir Toby sums up Sir Andrew in Act 5 as 'an ass-head, and a coxcomb, and a knave; a thin-faced knave, a gull'. This, arguably, may have been harsh however portrays that Sir Andrew was left alone with no progression in his life apart from a possible realisation that he has been used by Sir Toby and stands no chance with Olivia.
In conclusion, I would agree with the idea that 'a comedy is a problem-solving story, ending in resolution and order and normally symbolised by marriage' in Act 5 as majority of the problems caused within 'Twelfth Night', particularly the major ones, were solved, and symbolised by marriage. At the end of the play; Olivia was married to Sebastian who was happy to be with her in return; Viola was with the man that she loved, Orsino, who supposedly loved her back and was therefore no longer longing for Olivia; Sir Toby had gone off to wed Maria and so was no longer using Sir Andrew or Olivia. Despite characters such as Malvolio, Sir Andrew, Feste and Antonio being left unmarried and also the resolution of the twins being reunited not symbolised by marriage, the main issues which the comedy within the play was based around were resolved by marriage.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night or What you Will, The characters in the play face a plot complete with love and trickery. William Shakespeare includes many examples of love and trickery throughout the play and it makes it very detailed and interesting.…
- 467 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Twelfth Night is a comedic play written by Shakespeare centered around two twins, Viola and Sebastian. Viola who disguises herself as a eunuch named Cesario falls in love with Duke Orsino, who is in love with the Countess Olivia. When Cesario meets with Olivia, Olivia begins to fall in love with him thinking that she is a boy. Meanwhile, Malvolio, the steward of Olivia’s house, is tricked by other characters into thinking that Olivia has fallen in love with him. The characters often declare their love for one another through monologues. Throughout the story, Shakespeare effectively uses dramatic speeches to demonstrate love as being uncertain through the characters; Viola, Orsino, and Malvolio.…
- 245 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
In Elizabethan comedies comic resolution is typically used as a device to address the problems faced by characters throughout the play, offering the audience their ‘happy ending’. As Alexander Leggatt states a comedy “... ends in resolution and order normally symbolised by marriage.” Resolution is used by Shakespeare in his comedies to reinstate social order after turning it on its head for the duration of the play.…
- 906 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
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.…
- 2073 Words
- 9 Pages
Better Essays -
In Shakespeare's uniquely constructed comedy, Twelfth Night, there are several paradoxes within the characters. Misinterpretations as well as false presentation of reality are both common occurrences within the characters. Nearly the entire cast of characters use or fall victim to some form of deceit. Both Andrew and Viola present themselves as people they are not, and Orsino and Malvolio are fooled themselves about who they are and where they want and can be. Also, on a historical note, both Olivia and Feste the clown step (by default or self-attainment) out of the socially imposed stereotypes of their biologically born person. The reasons for Shakespeare's contradictions of characters are unknown; however, it can be hypothesized, knowing the man and his style that he was poking fun at elements of the society, in which he resided, as well as the ridiculousness of higher class citizens and the ritual absurdity of the lives they lived.…
- 1285 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Like Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, TwelfthNight moves from personal frustration and social disorder to individual fulfilmentand social harmony by means of what Leo Salingar has shown to be the traditional comic combination of beneficent fortune and human intrigue.' This basic pattern, of course, takes a radically different form in each play. In comparison with many of the comedies, Twelfth Nightbegins with remarkablylittle conflict. The opening scenes introduce no villain bent on dissension and destruction, nor do they reveal disruptive antagonism between parents and children or between love and law. In contrast to the passion and anger of the first scene of A Midsummer Night'sDream,the restless melancholy or that pervades the beginning of TheMerchant Venice, the brutality and tyranny of LikeIt, the dominant note of Orsino's court and that precipitate the action in As You of Olivia's household is static self-containment. To be sure, both Orsino and Olivia…
- 5488 Words
- 22 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Viola’s pursuit at catching Orsino’s eye was easily done once her disguise abled her to get close to him. Without her disguise, she would be viewed as just another woman trying to compete for Orsino’s love, which he proclaims is only for Olivia. In act 2, scene iv, Orsino opens up to Cesario, his trusted confidant. He talks to Cesario and tells him all about how he views love. He explains to Cesario that, “For, boy, however we do praise ourselves, Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, Than women’s are,” (II, iv 30-34). This helps Viola, as she’s able to understand that men, especially Orsino, have wavering affections towards women, so she should not worry about his love for Olivia. Without her ability to get Orsino to confide in her, she wouldn’t really know what to do or how to act towards him. Gaining this information, she’s able to act on it in a way that completely alters the play.…
- 543 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Orsino can be seen at the beginning of the play pining in a melancholic mood for his inamorata, the gorgeous and virtuous Countess Olivia. She spurned every single one of his advances without much thought or hesitation, and it is these rejections that lead Orsino to lament the fact that "there is no woman's sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion, and no woman's heart so big to hold so much as they lack retention". His grumpiness does not stop there as he continued to wax lyrical over the differing perceptions both genders have of love. He egoistically declared, "Make no compare between that love a woman can bear me, and that I owe Olivia". As was the case in the opening scene, Orsino's metaphorical relation of love to food is noteworthy. He deems his love as an appetite; he is "as hungry as the sea and can digest as much". Paradoxically, he had espoused the exact opposite view earlier in the play, stating that men…
- 949 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
This is evidently demonstrated by Buttercup and Westley, as they understand that being with the other person is their ultimate objective. With this comes many challenges which they must overcome including status, family, marriage and many more. Shakespearean comedy combines multiple genres to put together a masterpiece that keeps the audience wanting…
- 981 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The comedy in both Midsummer Night's Dream and Lysistrata is portrayed through the comic characters suffering some pain. In Lysistrata the men were suffering from their wives refusing to have sexual relations until the war ends. Watching the men suffer physical pain over the sex strike brings more excitement and entertainment to the audience. Even now a days sexual content is considered humorous, especially when the men want it so much in this play but the women tease them and then refuse. Also whenever the women came together to scheme against the men was a great addition to the level of comedy in this play. Even in the Three Sisters when the sisters are sitting together, and one is serious, and Masha keeps humming and is unaware of her sisters desire, theres comedy in that. The women in the beginning of Lysistrata thought it was absurd and wanted to do anything else but refrain from sex, another form of comedy portrayed through suffering. Whenever there is a group of women together scheming there will always be comedy, because women tend to say funny things when they are together. The get together was a matter of personal stories becoming public. They were planning on taking over the Acropolis even though they did not have as many rights then. This has a comic element because the women disregarded their social roles as being a house to wanting to take over the Acropolis! In a Midsummer Night's Dream there is comedy that hurts because really strong feelings were messed around with. When the love potions were sprinkled on the wrong people, there's comedy in that because first both Demtrius and Lysander loved Hermia, and then because of the potion they both loved Helena. Hermia was upset and her and Helena got into a fight and Helena made fun of Hermia's height, this is all so comic. In addition, now a days most movies have a character like Puck, the guy who means well but cannot get it right and always messes things up. These characters always come to set the play…
- 395 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In Twelfth Night, most of the important relationships are based on the deception of Viola. Viola's chooses to disguise herself as a man in Illyria, thus driving the action of the play. "Conceal me what I am, and be my aid / For such disguise as haply shall become / The form of my intent" (Shakespeare (2) 50); with this decision Viola causes, not only the confusion in the play, but the final outcome as well. Viola's gender switch also illustrates the fact that relationships between women and men are ultimately unequal. The only relationship that existed between a man and a woman that appeared to be equal was the relationship between Olivia and Cesario / Viola. The fact that the only relationship that incorporated equality between a male and a female turns out to be a relationship between two women…
- 1697 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
It has been stated that comic characters always display a lack of self-knowledge, however within Twelfth Night to some extent this can be disagreed with. The subject of self-knowledge is presented as a theme throughout the comedic play as it adds to the image of love being folly. Orsino and Malvolio are examples of comedic characters within the play which display a lack of self-knowledge whereas Viola and Feste are characters which oppose this view.…
- 1244 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“Nothing that is so is so,” states the fool Feste while looking at Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, a double for Cesario (IV.i.9). This singular quotes embodies the idea that gender identity is fictional in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, and that homoerotic desires are natural to the human body and mentality. Throughout this play, many characters are introduced to having homoerotic desires: Orsino for Viola dressed as Cesario, Sebastian for Antonio, and Olivia for Viola dressed as Cesario. Most provocative is the homoerotic desire between Maria and Olivia. Olivia, the lady of her house, is the employer of lady-in-waiting Maria, who serves Olivia with her best intentions in mind. Olivia feels a dutiful comfort with Maria, proven through…
- 554 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Yet, in Orsino’s case, the reader feels sympathy for the poor guy, as though he is being tricked into doubting and second-guessing his instincts by Viola. While the ones around her suffer from being kept in the dark, Viola is certainly not immune to the effects of her deception. Along with keeping her safe, Viola’s disguise also hinders her from bringing her affection for Orsino into light. This inability to portray her true emotions only thickens the broth of the plot stew that Shakespeare has been concocting since “If music be the food of love, play on” (1.1.1.). After being plagued by darkness and deception for most of the play, the revelation of Viola’s true identity douses the fire of misconstruction and single-handedly overthrows the terrible tyranny of misconception that so violently ruled these humble people for far too many acts. Once her true identity is out in the open for everyone to gaze upon, Orsino wastes no time in having her hand in marriage. Although he knows her true gender, Cesario says to Viola “Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou never should’st love woman like to me” (5.1.260–261). This resolution would seemingly leave Olivia in the dumps, yet the joyous light cast by Viola’s ability to muster up the strength to shine calls…
- 1526 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
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…
- 868 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays