...The Question of Sexuality Shakespeare is known for being one of the greatest play writers of all time. Due to his clever use of language and rhyme, many people like to use his work when teaching literature or drama. He is also notorious for implying religious beliefs and suggesting themes that may not be well accepted during his time. One of these major themes in Twelfth Night happens to be the question of sexual identity throughout the play. From the beginning until the end of the play, Shakespeare shows how the idea of sexual identity can be questionable and how it affects the main characters throughout the play. As the play Twelfth Night begins, the reader gets a first glance at how Shakespeare suggests the idea of cross dressing through Viola, who poses as Cesario in order to work for Orsino. “For such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent,” here Viola tells the Captain her plans and asks him to keep quiet. Wearing her brother’s clothing, she disguises herself to be a man because she fancied Orsino and to get closer to him. In this scene Shakespeare raises the question of Viola’s sexuality because of her cross dressing. Even though the idea of cross dressing seems to be over stepping social acceptance bounds, it is also ironic considering that theatre at the time always contained cross dressing if a play consisted of female parts. Viola’s relationship with Orsino progresses rapidly in a matter of a few days which helps to understand how Viola...
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...Twelfth Night is a magnificent comedy written by famous writer William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night or What you will was probably written for performance on the Twelfth Night i.e. the last night of the Christmas holiday ,January 6th in the year 1601.it is also likely that it was first presented before queen Elizabeth I in a great hall of her palace of Whitchali ,just outside London. the play would suit such an occasion since it’s a delightful ,lighthearted comedy ,full of love and laughter ,and with only a cloud or two to pass across the happy sunshine. But what about the social background of the play? For many centuries Christian communities have celebrated the feast of Epiphany-the time when the infant Jesus was first presented to the Magi (wise men) twelve days after his birth on Christmas day .in Shakespeare’s time; this whole period from 25th December to 6th January was given over to ‘Yuletide revels’-a time of feasting and celebration which probably dates back to Roman Satumalin. During this extended partying, it was traditional to play tricks on people, and it was understood that, for a while the usual master-servant relationship were turned on their heads. Twelfth Night was a period of carnival in which typically: a. People might give away to bodily pleasures of all kinds (drinking too much, indulging in sex, over eating and many more). b. Language itself seemed to run riot (with jokes, nonsense and wit). c. The traditional hierarchies (the lord and lady ‘at the top’...
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...* Many thing’s make this the pivotal scene in the play, firstly the transition from the green world back toward reality, this is shown through a skeptical Aguecheek as he says “all is done”, but Toby insists that he and Aguecheek are not only awake at an "early" morning hour, but they also go to bed after midnight, which means they also go to bed "early”. This may link to the green world of carnival were no sleep and all night parties are part of the celebration however sir Andrew may be signaling the turning pointy and the end of carnival is near as he says “to be up late is to be up late” showing his rejection of the timelessly fun green world acknowlging natures bringing to an end the timeless fun. * Sir Andrew pipes up that all he and Toby ever really do is eat and drink, so Toby calls for another round of booze. Then Feste turns up and they greet each other by saying things like "Youths stuff will not endure”, feste always has a somber tone to his songs and this one has a element of foreshadowing of the future in the new world and the marriage were growing up has to occur and “youth” in the green world comes to an end. * Toby and Aguecheek give Feste a few more coins and demand a love song, which Feste obliges. The trio continue to fool around, singing and talking, much of it nonsense when Maria enters and tells them to pipe down before Olivia kicks them out. * Maria's chiding doesn't do any good, so Malvolio runs in to lecture them. Don't they have any sense...
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...“He is the wisest character in the play”. How far do you agree with this interpretation of Feste in Twelfth Night? This essay will explore the notion that Feste is the wisest character in the play. The definition of wise is “having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment: a wise precaution.” Feste is the epitome of irony, I think a modern day audience would the audience may believe a ‘fool’ to be purely someone to make you laugh and be an idiot. However Feste is very much the opposite; he fits the definition of wise, he speaks profoundly, questions high class characters such as Olivia and almost undermines her with his wit. He is very melancholic, especially about love whereas everybody else is almost controlled by it and the audience may see him to be wise because he avoids love to stay happy. Feste is a ‘licenced fool’ in “Twelfth Night” and this means that he is allowed to judge people whereas others would be punished for doing so therefore this gives him some power as he is allowed to speak the truth. Olivia, in Act 1, Scene 5, says “there is no slander in an allowed fool.” This suggests to me that Olivia doesn’t see him as a fool or a jester, she sees him as someone who will speak the truth because he is ‘allowed’ to judge people not to be cruel but to offer advice and this suggests that Olivia sees Feste as being wise otherwise she would not come to him to ask for his help or listen to what he says. Alan S. Downer of ‘College English’ says that ''Feste is...
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...Twelfth Night Coursework Introduction Q. ‘Comedy, like all drama depends on conflicts, in particular between weak and strong characters’. Explore how far you agree that Shakespeare uses conflict to create comedy in twelfth night? Shakespeare’s use of conflict to create comedy for the reader is very effective, as he makes the arguments themselves be based on misunderstandings and manipulation, providing humour for the reader because they are not really caused by any actual wrong doing by any of the characters. This shows that the characters that have been manipulated in this way, such as Sir Andrew, when Sir Toby gets him to fight Viola/Cesario, are weak characters, because as with Sir Andrew, he has allowed Sir Toby to cloud his judgment and cause him to believe that he has a good reason to fight Viola. In this situation, there is more humour because we learn that Sir Andrew dresses very well and has a respectful position, he seems at first like he should be a stronger man, but Sir Toby’s easy manipulation of him shows the reader that Sir Andrew is in fact more like an unsure, naïve child. Because of this we get the impression that Sir Andrew is one of the weaker characters, but we know that Viola is a stronger character, because although she is afraid to fight Sir Andrew when he challenges her, she tries her best, and stands up to fight despite being innocent and being a woman. This could be humorous for the reader too, because we see how Sir Andrew is afraid to fight Viola...
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...2. Viola's soliloquy in Act 2,scene 2, reveals the concept that the rest of the play will be about, a very complicated love triangle. In scene 2, Malvolio returns the ring from Olivia back to Viola, however Viola dismisses his action claiming that Olivia had accepted the ring and she must keep it. Malvolio frustratedly throws the ring because he is in love with Olivia. Viola then mistakenly believed this as a sign that Olivia was in love with her because she is "Cesario" and feels pity for Olivia because she is truly a woman, not Cesario. Viola says, " Poor lady, she were better love a dream" due to the fact that Viola thinks Olivia is unknowingly in love with a secret woman. Cesario and the Duke's conversation in scene 4 demonstrates that...
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...The last act of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is where the play brings all the subplots together and the play comes to a “resolution”, a typical convention in Shakespearian comedies usually signified by a wedding, in this case there are two marriages, one between Viola and Orsino and one between Olivia and Sebastien. One of the comedic aspects of the final act of the play is the ever present theme of false appearances and how that creates confusion and ambiguity amongst the characters but the audience as well. In the last scene, it is used by Shakespeare to bring the characters the together and it is very ironic that the source of confusion in the first place is the very thing that ends the confusion in the play. The false appearance of Cesario causes confusion once again as it introduces the theme of homosexuality in the final scene. Viola expresses her love for Orsino through Cesario saying that “more by all mores than e’er I shall love wife” despite the fact that no one knows that Cesario is in fact a women. The fact that Orsino does not deny this love, shows that he has similar feelings, especially because he says that he Cesario is someone that he tenders “dearly”. This is comedic because it shows the reversal of feelings that Orsino has in a very short space of time. Throughout the play he has been infatuated with the concept of a relationship with Olivia, yet now that he is rejected yet again, he turns to his more homosexual side and accepts Cesario’s love for him. This...
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...Ida Adibi Mrs. Osburn MYP-IB English 10 – 2nd Period 24 May 2013 “Nothing That Is So Is So” Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night focuses largely on the “nothing is as it seems” theme. This particular scene depicts a conversation between Feste and Sebastian. The fool is surprised that Sebastian is suggesting that he was not sent for Sebastian. Sebastian tells the fool to go away, calling him a “foolish fellow” (IV.i.2). Feste compliments Sebastian for holding out on him. He then sarcastically says that Olivia did not send him, that she does not want to speak with Sebastian, and that Sebastian’s name is not Master Cesario. The fool continues with a joke to emphasize the sarcasm: “nor this my nose neither” (IV.i.6). Sebastian instructs the fool to tell his nonsense to someone else and insists Feste does not know him. This fits the theme because it seems that the fool is speaking to Cesario, but that is not the case. Some words in this passage may be difficult to figure out. The fool says, “to bid you come speak with her” (IV.i.5). In this context the word “bid” may be confusing. Bid means to command or direct. Therefore, Feste is saying: to command you to come speak with her. Sebastian says, “I prithee, vent thy folly somewhere else” (IV.i.8). The words “prithee” and “folly” may be unfamiliar. Prithee means “pray thee.” It is a word that was commonly used in that time period and is frequently used in the play. Folly means the state of being foolish and lacking sense. Sebastian...
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...satire of the way in which men woo women his sincerity is reflected in a different relationship in Twelfth Night, that of Orsino and Viola. Although Orsino has not known that his ‘man’ Cesario is really a woman, the relationship they have is much more sincere and based on truth and friendship, which means that when he realises the truth of the situation he asks her to marry him. Both the love depicted in Sonnet 130 and the relationship of Orsino and Viola would surely have the approval of the narrator of Christina Walsh’s A Woman to Her Lover, who wants “"co-equal love"” based on truth, rather than any kind of idealisation that makes the woman into an “"angel"” or a “"doll"”. His real love and real interest is his own poetry, and the name he is making for himself. This (much more modern) poem rather reflects Orsino’s own character in Twelfth Night: he is more interested in listening to music and Feste’s sad songs than going to make Olivia marry him. Viola partly wins Olivia’s heart by saying what she would do if she were Orsino, the first thing being to come and make camp outside Olivia’s house. This speech draws the reaction from Olivia: “"you might do much"”. Typically in Shakespeare's comedies, the transforming and redemptive power of genuine (selfless) love is contrasted with the stagnant nature of self-seeking love. This contrast is vividly dramatized in "Twelfth Night," as the plot is entirely driven by the search for love. False love is reduced to absurdity in order...
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...People can be blinded from the truth by focusing only on appearance. In the play, Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, characters mistake other characters because they just look at their appearance. To begin with, Viola, survivor of a shipwrecked, disguises as a man and creates plenty of problems for her and for other characters as well. Moreover, Sebastian, twin brother of Viola and a survivor of a shipwrecked, is ignorant about a specific event due to his twin sister disguise. Not to mention, Feste, the clown, being disguised as a clown makes other characters think that he is a fool and cannot do anything intelligent. By looking at Viola’s disguise, Sebastian’s mistaken identity and Feste’s disguise; other characters are ignorant about the reality of these characters. First of all, Viola is ignorant about Sebastian is alive, since she thinks that he drowned. While being in the disguise, characters are going to mistake Cesario, Viola, with Sebastian, which the characters think it is Cesario since they look the same. When Antonio wants some of “Sebastian’s” money he says “I must entreat of you some of that money” (3.4.327) while Antonio is getting arrested by the officers, he asks “Sebastian” to give him some of the money he gives him earlier. Antonio sees Cesario thinks it is Sebastian, since...
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...William Shakespeare’s comedies are typically always entertainment. They have a lot of jokes and wordplay, singing and teasing, and a lot of love triangles and unrequited love. Shakespeare depicts most of the characters in Twelfth Night with these topics. However, Shakespeare depicts Malvolio’s character as if he is not meant to be in a comedy, but rather that he belongs in a tragedy. While most of the other characters in the plot of the play are given by Shakespeare a happier or at least similar ending to what they had at the beginning of the play, Malvolio’s character ends up unhappier in the end than he already was at the beginning of the play. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare changes Malvolio’s character from being the villain to constantly...
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...English Essay Task Characters often play a crucial role in constructing meaning in plays; How have characters been developed in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night? Shakespeare is world-renowned for his aptitude in writing plays, for a wide range of audiences, and one of these plays is Twelfth Night. In this play, Shakespeare takes particular care in the development of his characters in order to construct the meanings and messages embedded in Twelfth Night. Through the development of some key, central characters within the play, namely Olivia and Malvolio, Shakespeare showcases the chaos and hardship instigated by their pride, and is then able to reinforce the importance of order and adhering to the set, established, hierarchy of Elizabethan times. Shakespeare first portrays the character of Olivia as vain, superficially judgemental, and indulging in her own self-pity, neglecting her duties as the lady of the house. A secondary character, Malvolio, is depicted by Shakespeare to be overambitious and full of his own self-importance – attempting to overstep his position. Shakespeare manifests different forms of pride in different characters in order to show that whatever the facet of pride the character might possess, in the end, their fatal flaw will still result in chaos and misfortune, thereby emphasising the need of adhering to and attending to the duties of their positions so that order can be maintained. Through Olivia’s language and interactions with other characters, Shakespeare...
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...Act I, scenes i–ii Summary: Act I, scene i If music be the food of love, play on, . . . O spirit of love, how quick and fresh are thou. . . . In the land of Illyria, Duke Orsino enters, attended by his lords. Orsino is hopelessly in love with the beautiful Lady Olivia and pines away for her. He refuses to hunt and orders musicians to entertain him while he thinks about his desire for Olivia. His servant Valentine reminds him that Olivia does not return his love or even listen to the messages he sends her. We learn from Valentine that Olivia is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died. She wears a dark veil, and she has vowed that no one will see her face for another seven years—and she refuses to marry anyone until then. Orsino, obsessed with the woman who keeps refusing him, wants only to lie around on beds of flowers, listening to sweet music and dreaming of Olivia. Summary: Act I, scene ii Meanwhile, on the Illyrian sea coast, a young noblewoman named Viola speaks with the captain whose crew has just rescued her from a shipwreck. Although Viola was found and rescued, her brother, Sebastian, seems to have vanished in the storm. The captain tells Viola that Sebastian may still be alive. He says that he saw Sebastian trying to keep afloat by tying himself to a broken mast. But Viola does not know whether or not it is worth holding onto hope. In the meantime, however, she needs to find a way to support herself in this strange land. The ship’s captain tells Viola...
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...William Shakespeare was notoriously famous for the amazing stories he told through his plays, from Romeo and Shakespeare to Macbeth. Most of his plays have and element of Romantic Comedy associated in the story line. This is no different in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. Twelfth night was written around 1601-1602 and officially published in 1623. The first performance of the Twelfth Night is believed to occurred on February 2 1602. The Twelfth night is a romantic comedy for the ages, It revolves around a love triangle. But saying love triangle doesn’t even do it justice, essentially all the characters are in love with each other. it’s a story that I think could hold up in a modern day version. The story is about a girl name Viola who was in a shipwreck with her brother Sebastian, Viola is rescued by a captain and his ship. On the ship she is informed about a duke name Orsino, she learns that he is single and this intrigues Viola so she wishes to meet him and eventually marry him. So when she arrives she feels that in order to meet Orsino and get close to him she has to develop a disguise. So viola cuts her hair and becomes a young teenage boy name Cesario. Violas plan to marry the duke has one problem in it. The duke is madly deeply in love with lady Olivia. Lady Olivia is a pretty Nobel women, that every one has feelings for. The duke wishes to marry Olivia, but Olivia hates the idea and has denied the duke numerous times. And also chasing and competing for Lady Olivia’s...
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...After watching Shakespeare’s screenplay of Twelfth Night and She’s the Man, I’ve envisioned how She’s the Man can an adaptation and what makes it an appropriation to the original Shakespeare plot. Some of the plays script transfers the work into a modern setting and yet retains all the dialogue, character interactions and all similar details. While productions such as the modern screenplay Much Ado about Nothing for example, claims to being an adaptation when all they do is follow the basic plot points and names while only being somewhat vaguely related to the work in my opinion. However, I feel I have a better grasp on what the terms mean to me, and I will take one last look at two versions of the work as I analyzed Twelfth Night and She’s the Man. An adaptation of a work is merely an actual plot of the original play script. It doesn’t matter if certain scenes or a character in the screenplay is missing in action, as long as the plot is proportionate to what the playwright actually wrote. The words must be the same in terms of structure and display. In that respect the 1996 version is a real adaptation for me. It’s true that the screenplay was transported to a Victorian era setting; however it seemingly does not change how the overall story occurs. In the Twelfth Night, the era of the Victorian age displays the characters in an unaltered manner, in both roles and names following what was written by the playwright. In that respect to that, I feel it is safe to say that...
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