Twelfth Night: Which is more engaging – the main plot or the sub-plot? Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night‚” is considered the last of the true comedies‚ his final light-hearted play before the venture into the darker‚ more sombre tragedies. As with many of his comedies‚ the basis of the story is the two intertwined love plots‚ which are sometimes separate‚ and occasionally come together and directly affect each other. This considered‚ questions have been raised as to whether it should be classed
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The sub-plot of Twelfth Night‚ the gulling of Malvolio by Sir Toby Belch‚ Maria‚ Feste‚ and Aguecheek‚ is justly famous as one of Shakespeare’s funniest experiments in New Comedy‚ that is‚ in a style of comedy which is basically quite different from the pastoral romantic style of the main plot. The basis for the sub-plot is one of the oldest and most popular subjects for New Comedy - the unmasking of the hypocrite‚ a satiric exposure of apparent virtue so as to humiliate the hypocrite and make him
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Twelfth Night: Comedic Techniques Elaborate the Nature of Love The infamous Shakespeare comedy “Twelfth Night” uses a variety of techniques to depict humor and comicality but‚ manages to develop the nature of love in doing so. Literary devices such as puns‚ dramatic irony and scene layout are used to provide comedy but‚ characters are what represent Shakespeare’s personal thoughts on the broad topic of love. Characters in every type of literature give life to the story and are a gateway of expressing
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Act 3 begins with an interesting conversation between Viola (Cesario) and Fool (Feste). In The Twelfth Night‚ Feste is portrayed as a clown who is skilled at wordplay. In the conversation‚ however‚ Viola figured out that Feste is not just a folly clown and his behavior is based on the deep wisdom. Viola says of him “This fellow’s wise enough to play the fool; And‚ to do that well‚ craves a kind of wit: He must observe their mood on whom he jests‚ The quality of persons‚ and the time; And‚ like the
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Even though Feste role is to be a licensed fool‚ his main role is to play the wise man in the play the Twelfth Night‚ which makes him a wise fool. Feste makes the personalities and secrets of the characters oblivious. People would assume that he is a fool because of his title‚ yet it made it oblivious to everyone that he is very wise and that he used this potential throughout the story. Furthermore‚ he sees traits in characters that the audience and the characters cannot see during the play. He
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Malvolio; the puritanical‚ entertainment-despising character‚ who undoubtedly contradicts himself and his beliefs‚ provides Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with a comedic‚ yet somewhat disheartening aspect‚ but nonetheless contributes to the enjoyment of the readers. Malvolio is presented as a stereotyped Puritan figure‚ who is quick to judge supposed sinners‚ such as the other aristocratic‚ frivolous servants. Additionally‚ he isolates himself from the merriment between the other servants of Lady
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intimately. Maria is strong-willed and does what she thinks needs to be done. I contain the same determination and resolve that Maria does. I am loyal to my friends in the same way as Maria‚ and I value the lives of my friends over my own. Maria has an inherent belief in the aristocracy surrounding her. Comparable to Maria’s belief in the authority figures of her time‚ I believe in the authority figures around me. The character in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that I identify with most is Maria
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plays‚ most prominently Twelfth Night. A sailor named Antonio falls in love with a man of noble birth named Sebastian‚ whom Antonio rescued from a shipwreck. However‚ Antonio’s love only brings him grief‚ as the straight Sebastian views Antonio’s homosexual advances merely as gestures of friendship‚ and eventually marries a countess named Olivia. Shakespeare manifests himself in his character of Antonio‚ conveying a warning against being blinded by love‚ especially homosexual love‚ in Elizabethan England
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Twelfth Night is one of William Shakespeare’s so-called transvestite comedies that features a female disguising herself as a young man. This concept might be difficult to grasp by today’s audience but during Shakespeare’s time it was not unusual for female roles to be played by young boys. Every character in the play is involved in a situation where they think one person is someone else. These situations lead to turmoil and humor in the play. The many instances of mistaken identity and uncertainty
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Shakespeare was a man that established his name in history books as a great writer. One of Shakespeare’s many sparks of innovative genius which laminated these pages was his use of masks. Masks are used throughout Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” as a character would choose to wear their selected mask to fit in to the particular situation. Shakespeare uses this imagery of a mask in many of the characters in his play‚ but mostly in two: Viola and Feste. These masks are used throughout
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