Northrop Frye's A Natural Perspective

Critical Response Paper #4 (Create a Better Title) Northrop Frye’s concept in A Natural Perspective discusses a peculiar, yet often seen, occurrence within Shakespeare’s comedies, which is the alienation of minor characters. Typically, the minor character’s isolation is emphasized in the play by the prominent contrast of the other main character’s joy during a celebration, and Frye further explains how the audience should pay close attention to these characters by stating,“there is always a part of us that remains a spectator, detached and observant, aware of other nuances and values” (125). The alienated minor character adds a darker element to Shakespeare's comedies; and in Twelfth Night, the playwright uses Antonio to convey this theme by having him be excluded from the others. More specifically, Antonio’s exclusion is brought to the audience’s attention because he does not end up in a relationship by the end of the final act, unlike the majority of the characters. Due to his harmless infatuation with Sebastian, Antonio is unnecessarily alienated by the new world formed at the end of the play.
Antonio is completely left out of this narrative. To an even greater extent, Antonio is not even recognized by Sebastian after being married to Olivia. However, Sebastian did show concern for the servant by stating, “How have the hours racked and tortured me / Since I have lost thee” before him and Olivia officially are wedded (5.1.216-217). Despite showing concern, Antonio does not end up or remain in a meaningful relationship (both in a romantic and a platonic sense). Antonio’s friendship with Sebastian has been taken away because he has been reunited with his sister and now has a new lover. The alienation towards Antonio in the play is unjust because the new world that is formed at the end of the play seems to discredit his loyalty as a bad