Analysis Of The Social Norms In Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare
“Twelfth Night challenges the social norms of Elizabethan society by exposing its folly of using ‘class’ as a means of defining a person’s true value. It portrays class as superficial.”
I agree with this statement. Shakespeare seems to mock the class system of Elizabethan society by the fact he believes a person should not be defined by their “class”.
In Twelfth Night class is shown as an unreliable indicator of one’s true intelligence. In the play Orsino sees women as unable to show passion. This shows that he lacks intelligence about women even though he is of a higher class. Viola defends women by saying, “Too well what love women to men may owe in faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man, it might be, …show more content…
In Elizabethan society people who were regarded as “attractive” were considered “classier”. A character such as Antonio is considered as lesser characters in Shakespearean society. However he is proper, polite, kind and noble, making him appealing to the audience. A character who is of a higher class but is not attractive is Sir Toby, who is a drunk. He even admits that he has a drinking problem as he says, “I'll drink to her as long as there is a passage in my throat.” .According to his class he should be very noble and attractive, while in fact he is the opposite.
Shakespeare also mocks class by showing how easy it is to change your ranking by simply changing your appearance. In the play Feste puts on new clothing and pretends to be Sir Topas who is a priest (who is of a higher class than Feste). No one recognises Feste as the poor fool. Not even Malvolio when he begs the “priest” for help, “Sir Topas, Sir Topas, good Sir Topas, please go find my lady Olivia” .This quote show Malvolio believes Feste’s disguise. This shows you could easily change your class by changing the way you look in Elizabethan Society.
In Twelfth Night Shakespeare challenges the “norms” of Elizabethan society by mocking and exposing the shallowness of the class structure. I believe that Shakespeare portrayal of the class structure and the chain of being is highly accurate on how we view the Elizabethan society
I agree with this statement. Shakespeare seems to mock the class system of Elizabethan society by the fact he believes a person should not be defined by their “class”.
In Twelfth Night class is shown as an unreliable indicator of one’s true intelligence. In the play Orsino sees women as unable to show passion. This shows that he lacks intelligence about women even though he is of a higher class. Viola defends women by saying, “Too well what love women to men may owe in faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man, it might be, …show more content…
In Elizabethan society people who were regarded as “attractive” were considered “classier”. A character such as Antonio is considered as lesser characters in Shakespearean society. However he is proper, polite, kind and noble, making him appealing to the audience. A character who is of a higher class but is not attractive is Sir Toby, who is a drunk. He even admits that he has a drinking problem as he says, “I'll drink to her as long as there is a passage in my throat.” .According to his class he should be very noble and attractive, while in fact he is the opposite.
Shakespeare also mocks class by showing how easy it is to change your ranking by simply changing your appearance. In the play Feste puts on new clothing and pretends to be Sir Topas who is a priest (who is of a higher class than Feste). No one recognises Feste as the poor fool. Not even Malvolio when he begs the “priest” for help, “Sir Topas, Sir Topas, good Sir Topas, please go find my lady Olivia” .This quote show Malvolio believes Feste’s disguise. This shows you could easily change your class by changing the way you look in Elizabethan Society.
In Twelfth Night Shakespeare challenges the “norms” of Elizabethan society by mocking and exposing the shallowness of the class structure. I believe that Shakespeare portrayal of the class structure and the chain of being is highly accurate on how we view the Elizabethan society