Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
word play exchanged by Viola and Feste, the bawdy humour of Sir Toby,
the foolishness of Sir Andrew, self-importance of Malvolio, and the
general confusion caused by Viola’s disguiseAn account of Humor in Twelfth Night.
The first major instance of humour found in twelfth night is in Act 1
Scene 3 when Maria and Sir Toby Belch engage in a banter which is
packed with puns. Following Maria’s telling off, sir Toby says,
‘Confine? I’ll confine myself no finer than I am. These clothes are
good enough to drink in, and so be these boots too- an’ they be not,
let then hang themselves in their own straps’
In this quotation sir Toby puns the word confine with fine the also
uses a metaphor saying that the boots should hang themselves with
their straps giving the word hang a double meaning as well. This is
humorous as he is using many forms of wordplay that the audience in
Shakespearean times would have found hilarious. This is very
constructive as for the first time in a comedy play there is an
instance where the audience can laugh following the tragedy of the
shipwreck. This talk between Maria and Sir Toby also brings about a
sense that perhaps there may be love sparking between the two
individuals
Later on in Act 1 scene 3 Sir Toby and Sir Andrew engage in bawdy
talk. After talking about hair Sir Toby mentions,
‘Excellent, it hangs like flax on a distaff; and I...
... middle of paper ...
... climax. The
audience feels extremely tense as the obviously know that sooner or
later either Orsino or Olivia will find out what has been taking place
but the question is, how?
In the last scene there is not much direct humour but most of the
misunderstandings in the play are later understood as a result of this
scene.
‘One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons!
A natural perspective, that is and is not!’
Orsino is perceptibly puzzled by this misunderstanding of twins who
have been mixed up in each others lives. The audience’s impression
over all this would be that they find it extremely funny because they
have known all along and Orsino’s character has just found out. The
text is given a finalising feel as all characters have now worked out
the lurking mysteries.
Text Box: WORD COUNT: 1234
Humor was added to Hamlet by two major scenes, along with Hamlet's use of his antic-disposition. These two were: the scene between Hamlet and Polonius in the library, and the scene with the grave diggers (the clowns).
One of William Shakespeare’s best remembered plays for its comical and ironic tone is A Midnight’s Summer Dream. There were characters designed to be humorous and that alone. Puck and Bottom behave very much alike, and have similar roles for different people. Both Puck and Bottom are comic relief characters in one way or the other. Both of them are needed for the play, because Puck’s spirits controls the whole story, which sets the tone for it, and Bottoms comic relief for the audience and play.
upon her. She knew she had fallen in love with Duke Orsino and had the
One way that Shakespeare uses humor in this play is by using plain humor that
Feste, the fool character in Twelfth Night, in many ways represents a playwright figure, and embodies the reach and tools of the theater. He criticizes, manipulates and entertains the other characters while causing them to reflect on their life situations, which is similar to the way a playwright such as Shakespeare interacts with his audience. Furthermore, more so than the other characters in the play he accomplishes this in a highly performative way, involving song and clever wordplay that must be decoded, and is thus particularly reflective of the mechanisms at the command of the playwright. Feste is a representation of the medieval fool figure, who is empowered by his low status and able to speak the truth of the kingdom. A playwright speaks the truth by using actors and fictional characters, who are in a parallel low status in comparison to the audience, as they lack the dimensionality of real people. Thus, the role Feste plays in the lives of the characters in the play resembles the role the play itself plays in the lives of the audience watching the performance. This essay will explore this comparison first by analyzing similarities between the way in which Feste interacts with other characters and the way the playwright interact with the audience, and then focus on the similarities between the aims and content of these interactions.
Andrew is funny, it is not intentional. His faults include a lack of wit, a
characters, and is by far one of the most humorous. While Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is
nbsp;   ; Humour plays a very significant part in the play as it allows Shakespeare creates a lot of contrasts and moods, as and when he wants to. In Romeo and Juliet, humour occurs in three forms. The first being, humour. by the use of puns, irony and jokes.
After Olivia has her very first conversation with Cesario (Viola), where he tries to woo her for Duke Orsino, she immediately falls in love with him. After Cesario leaves her palace, Olivia says to herself ‘Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast; soft, soft. Unless the master were the man. How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?’ Here Olivia states that Cesario’s external features are what attract her to him. Her metaphor contains a s...
The perfect lives that make up the routine of the Illyrian citizens portrays a society in which enjoyment, and personal gain are held in utmost priority. Shakespeares mocks the passivity of the Illyrian lifestyle to explain to the audience that excess of such festivity has negative side effects such as ego and lack of true love. He expresses that the pursuit of expression and truth in itself invokes enjoyment. Sir Aguecheek mirrors the uncertainty of a person through lack of self-confidence and the desire to openly reveal his true self when lamenting “Is it a world to hide virtues in?” (1.3.131). While uncovering aesthetic and emotional mysteries, the Illyrians find that disport restrains them from actual enjoyment and love. The play follows the audience to motivate them towards dissemination of feelings and expression of passion as a “locus of growth and self discovery” (Logan 223) and to obtain true happiness by ridding themselves of excessive, meaningless fun.
The.. In conclusion, Twelfth Night is full of lighthearted moments and this. is expressed through both the main and the subplots, in which the fool. is the one to control comedy and humour in the play. Feste's role in the.
The humor in Hamlet can most easily be broken up into Hamlet’s wit and acts of minor characters. Much of this play’s humor comes from the intelligent quips Hamlet so often delivers. Hamlet’s first line in the play offers much insight into his clever character and into his family problems:
In Act 2 scene 5 the mood is very lighthearted and is full of theatrical comedy, we find Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and their friend Fabian hidden away as they await Malvolio to stumble upon the letter supposedly written by Olivia. Even though they are hidden the audience can still see their reactions and hear their comments, which adds to the melodramatic aspect of the scene. The audience is anxious to see what unravels next as they know Maria purposely wrote the letter in order to fool Malvolio.
Shakespeare's comedies can be recognized in terms of plot, structure and characters. We can see that Shakespearean comedies follow the same structural pattern, a basic plot on which the play is based. For example, a key feature of all comedies is that they depend upon the resolution of their plots. However, Shakespeare's comedies are distinguishable, as some are classed as comic dramas and others as romantic comedies. In comic drama, there is usually a motif of a place where reality and the unreal merge, the roles of characters are reversed and identities are mistaken or lost. This place may take on the form of a feast or celebration, or it may be presented as a place segregated from the normal society, such as the wood in A Midsummer Night's Dream. When scenes are set in this place, the ordinary rules of life and society do not apply. There is always an experience of chaos, which must be resolved in order for the play to become a true comedy.
Shakespearian comedies have some common characteristics which are found in The Tempest. The first characteristic of Shakespearian comedy is that there is a struggle of young lovers. They have to go through many adversaries to achieve their love. Miranda is a passive character and Ferdinand is also not the hero of the play. But they are the important couple of the play. Miranda is shown as a meek lady who is very faithful to her love when she says, “I am your wife, if you will marry me; / If not, I’ll die your maid” (III.i.83–84). Along with the struggle of the lovers, the protagonist also is shown going through several adversaries. The exile theme is one of the major themes in Shakespearian comedies. For example in Just like Prospero, in “As You Like It”, Duke Senior was exiled by Fredrick. Rosalind’s adverse journey starts from here. Rosalind is portrayed as a strong lady; hence she becomes the real hero of the play. But in The Tempest, Miranda’s character is portrayed as a weak person. Unlike Rosalind from As You Like It, Miranda is not the influential lady in the play.