In 'Twelfth Night,' Shakespeare explores themes of love, identity, and confusion through the character of Feste, who serves as a clever commentator and a bridge between the characters and the audience. The play highlights the complexities of love and miscommunication, particularly through Viola's disguise as Cesario, which leads to romantic entanglements and misunderstandings. Ultimately, the narrative weaves together humor, irony, and poignant insights into human relationships, emphasizing the impact of disguises and societal norms on personal connections.

1. Twelfth Night Essay
Although he doesn't seem to learn or develop much through the duration of the play, Feste is no dull
character. In fact, Feste is known as one of Shakespeare's greatest, most interesting and well–written
characters. The complexity of Feste's speech and each of his interactions with other characters reveal
multiple important perspectives and roles that help contribute to the play. In Twelfth Night,
Shakespeare puts a spin on the importance of Feste's role by casting him as Olivia's licensed fool, the
play's commentator and a connection joint towards the reality of the audience as well as for the
play's storyline. Through his frequent witty comments, Feste's extensive intelligence of the other
characters shines through as he pinpoints their...show more content...
Nearing the end of the play, it is Feste who brings the two together as he enters with Malvolio's
letter, delivering his release which he notes with slight irony, "Look then to be well edified, when the
fool delivers the madman." (5.1.291–2). By doing so, Feste prepares for the story's ending by
connecting the two main halves of Twelfth Night's plot and concludes the play as a whole.
Another perspective of Feste as the play's "connector" include bridging the gap between the
audience and the characters they see or read about in the play. As part of his job, Feste often
entertains through song whether it be about love, death or the meaning of life. However the songs
he sings offer more insight and meaning than they appear to have at face value. For example the
song he sings for the Duke, "Come away, come away, death,/ And in sad cypress let me be laid..."
(2.4.51–66) laments the sorrow and heartache of unrequited love; so much that the ballad's
heartbroken lover wants to be buried in secret so that his lover will not weep or mourn his death .
Although he sings this song for the Duke, the emotions expressed can also apply to Viola in her
concealed love for the Duke, as well as to Olivia in her desperate pursuit for "Cesario's" affections.
Despite the play being a comedy, Feste manages to add a touch of solemnity and melancholy where
appropriate to help bond and connect with the emotions of the audience through that of the
characters, while still giving the audience a sense of
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2. Twelfth Night Essay
Twelfth Night Essay Twelfth Night is a comedy and a marvel. This play conveys many messages
that are seen by the audience, but not seen by the characters in the play. There are many points
involving love, friendship, conflicts and confusion. Twelfth Night displays characters that are mad,
in love, and desperate for love. Twelfth Night has many conflicts that occur because characters fail
to listen to messages. Viola is a character who has just thought that her brother has died in a
shipwreck that they were both in. Viola disguises herself as a man to seek employment under the
Duke Orsino's court. The confusion occurs, when Viola tells Orsino that she loves someone
(Orsino), when she tells Olivia that she cannot love a woman, and when...show more content...
She also speaks in a different manner than most men around her, which makes her a bit different.
She does not like to fight, and does not act like a drunk. Viola/Cesario also speaks to Olivia about
not loving a woman. Viola admits to Olivia that she is someone who cannot, and will not love
another woman. Olivia, having fallen in love with Cesario/Viola, is blinded by love and does listen
to Viola's important words. As Viola tries to tell Olivia that she cannot love her, Olivia just falls
even more in love, which creates much more confusion between them. Viola, being annoyed with
Olivia's stubborn character, says something that snaps Olivia out of her dream world. "Then think
you right. I am not what I am." (III.I. 145–150) Viola hints to Olivia, as she did to Orsino, that she is
different from her actual appearance. These characters, such as Olivia and Orsino, have gotten so
caught up in their love, and search for love that they have caused confusion for all. Olivia's and
Orsino's behaviour affects them personally. Olivia tries to convince Cesario/Viola to love her, but
Viola, being intelligent, replies to Olivia. "I pity you." (III.I. 125–130) Viola explains her pity for
Olivia, because she sees, how desperate Olivia is for love. No man would have responded this way
to a lady such as Olivia, which shows some more of Viola's true personality and character. Viola has
told Olivia her true feelings towards
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3. twelfth night Essay
Twelfth Night Essay While many will agree that Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed
to be one of the most entertaining and well–liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a
discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of
gender roles. After reading James C Bulman's article over the Globe's more recent performance of
Twelfth Night and Shakespeare's original written version, I realized that there are many ways that
this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons. Shakespeare's Twelfth
Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. The play centers
on the lead female role and protagonist, Viola, who...show more content...
I honestly don't believe that one's opinion on same–sex couples has any importance when it comes to
transvestite versus traditional role–play on stage. An author or director's utmost goal is to
successfully present his/her work in a way that makes the audience members feel as if they are
apart of the show like they were one of the characters themselves. In other words, it is all about
believability. If the play calls for a young female character then I am more likely to follow along
when a female actor is playing that role. On the contrary, I would be distracted focusing on the
male actor trying to portray a female role. In all versions of Twelfth Night, however, the roles are
so convoluted that it is difficult to say which would be more believable: Viola/Cesario played by a
female actress or male actor. For example, in Nunn's film, the scene where Orsino is in the tub and
asks young Cesario to help him bathe, it wouldn't make any difference in believability whether the
actor was male or female since our minds have already had to entertain the thought of Viola
representing both a man and a woman. Others may disagree and say that the sex of the actor
/actresses would not have an effect on their acceptance of the play. As previously stated, it is
entirely a personal matter. If it were up to me to direct this play I would do traditional casting, like
Nunn had done, with men playing male characters and women playing female
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4. Analysis of "Twelfth Night" Essay
William Shakespeare, arguably the most important writer in all of English
Literature, is certainly the most influential playwright of the English Renaissance. Born in 1564 in
Stratford–upon–Avon in rural northern England, he was the son of a middle class glove maker.
Competing against such illustrious company as Christopher Marlowe and Ben Johnson, Shakespeare
quickly became one of the most popular playwrights in the city of London, and a favourite of the
monarch, the powerful Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare wrote thirty–eight plays. "Twelfth Night" was
written near the middle of Shakespeare' career, around 1601, and most critics consider it as one of
his greatest comedies.
"Twelfth Night" is about illusion, deception, disguises,...show more content...
He twisted Olivia's words (from a fake letter) around to make it sounds like she will admire his
yellow cross–gathered stockings, when she really despises them, considering him as a mad. Feste,
the clown, said: .".Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal, and you smile not he's gagg'd:
and thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenge", and by doing so, Feste criticizes Malvolio's
overestimation, when at their first meeting Malvolio said: "I marvel your lady takes delight in such
a barren rascal." Through doing this, he shows himself to be a man who condescends to those that
he believes to be lower than him, acting on his own personal belief of superiority. Thus, this
self–inflated sour character is brought to his knees, unlocked in darkness, because he was
considered as a "madman", and he "holds Belzebub at the stave's end as well as man in his case may
do." This was done through a fake love–letter written by Maria, and when Malvolio appears, he
shows the letter arguing that it set off his madness, which he signed as: "The MADLY–US'D
MALVOLIO." Thus, self–love, pride, desire to climb the social ladder, and to burn the social class
boundaries, all these factors drove Malvolio to a state of madness, as a consequence he was
humiliated, leading to his downfall. By humiliating him, even Puritanism is mocked. Malvolio
symbolized Puritanism (strict values, no fancy...), and due to the fact that the joke was around his
new dresses for Olivia, yellow socks, smiles, the
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5. Twelfth Night Essay
In Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night or What you Will, the characters are involved in a plot
complete with trickery, disguise, and love. Each character is defined not by his or her gender or true
identity, but by the role they are forced to take because of the complicated situation that arises.
Unlike their gender, the speech the characters give an insight to their true personalities. In the
Twelfth Night, the character Duke Orsino uses flowery and over–dramatic language, long poetic
sentence structure, and melodramatic metaphors to display his overemotional romantic nature
despite the different emotions in his various speeches. Duke Orsino's repeated usage of poetical
verse and poetic devices to describe his woes from love set him...show more content...
Enough no more!" (1.1.6–7). He accentuates his original metaphor by personifying music and
comparing it to a breeze that carries the flowers odor with it. Until line 8, Orsino does not mention
his love explicitly. Instead, he establishes the feeling of yearning by referring to symbols of love
such as music and flowers. Orsino ends his long speech with, "Even in a minute, So full of shapes is
fancy./ That it alone is high fantastical." (1.1.14–15). By stating that love is a wonderful figment of
imagination, Orsino reinforces the previous metaphorical and vague language he uses in the
beginning of the speech. "That it [love] alone is high fantastical" (1.1.15) also shows that he is a
true romantic because he is in love with the concept of love rather than the person themselves.
Furthermore, he line, "...Enough no more!" (1.1.7) contradicts with the previous line, "Give me
excess of it, that, surfeiting," (1.1.4) which proves that Orsino is very dramatic in character because
he constantly vacillates in his actions and desires. He is emotionally unstable at times in the play and
thus acquires a dramatic behavior.
In Act 5, Orsino delivers a speech to Olivia in order to express his broken heart and pine over his
unreciprocated feelings. However, by drawing out the speech with allusions, excessive language, and
metaphors, Shakespeare portrays Orsino as an overemotional and romance–driven character.
Compared to Orsino's first
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6. Twelfth Night Motifs
William Shakespeare presents a multitude of motifs in his comedy, Twelfth Night. The play reflects
on the dangers or risks of messages and exposes character conflicts and motives. The repetition of the
motif through characters' speeches and actions allows Shakespeare to capture the different facets of
human emotion and interaction. The outcome of communicating messages to others differ, as the
response can either be freeing or destructive. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night integrates the dynamics of
communication into the play in order to display the power of messages over human emotions,
disguises, and motives.
Shakespeare reveals that communication has the power to both warn of the dangers of messages
and the power to reveal the truth. Orsino's poetic allusions lead Viola to fall in love with him. He
says to her as Cesario, "Thou know'st no less but all. I have unclasped / To thee the book even of my
secret soul" (1.4.14–15). Orsino's use of literary symbolism of allows Viola to utilize her ability to
see a person's true character to connect Orsino's emotions to a "book." Comparing his emotions to a
"book" suggests that literature is the strongest power over humans. In the three days she has been
his messenger, Orsino has confided in her his most internal thoughts and revealed that she opens the
"book" of his "secret soul." Soon after, Viola tells Olivia...show more content...
The poems in Twelfth Night symbolize both the values and the concealed risks of messages.
When that form of communication is composed from the heart, it has the power to bring a
character closer to falling in love. Messages in the form of objects can easily mislead and confuse
a character, thus adulterating the true meaning of the message. Olivia's message foreshadows
Viola's internal conflicts, as she soon realizes that Olivia's trick places her in a miserable love
triangle where she loves Orsino, but he loves Olivia, and Olivia loves
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7. Twelfth Night Love Essay
William Shakespeare has written a number of romantic comedies. Twelfth Night is one of the
finest comedies of the author. Shakespeare is driven by Viola's decision to voluntarily conceal her
identity and go to work as a servant for the lovesick Orsino.This disguise and gender confusion are
there in the beginning of the play and finishes with happy ending. This paper tries to ascertain how
Viola in Twelfth Night perform her disguise and become an ideal woman of Shakespeare's own
concept. There may be many reasons why, he keeps his female characters in disguise position.
Shakespeare's subjectivity can easily be seen at many places in the play. Viola disguises her identity,
self–involved behaviour, beauty, nobility, sincerity, and loyalty
...show more content...
Through it alters the identity of an individual (frequently female character, though not always)
and uses this disguise to heighten irony, develop theme, and enhance the character of the play.
This is not the only way in which disguise is used in Twelfth Night. It is also used to create
comedy. In Twelfth Night, disguise takes many different shapes from physical disguise to mental
disguise. Disguise is one of the main topics of the play and helps to create the plot. It brings in
confusion and comedy as well as the darker and sadder side of the play which is disguised as fun
and happiness. Disguise is evident from the very beginning of the play.
A supposedly noble Duke Orsino is suffering due to his unrequited love for the Lady Olivia. Viola is
shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a captain. She lost
contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believed to be drowned. Disguising herself as
a young man under the name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino through the help of
the sea captain who rescues her. Duke Orsino has convinced himself that he is in love with Olivia,
whose father and brother have recently died, and who refuses to see charming things, be in the
company of men, and entertain love or marriage proposals from anyone, the Duke included, until
seven years have passed. Duke Orsino then uses 'Cesario ' as an intermediary to profess his
passionate love before Olivia. Olivia, however,
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