The Importance of Madness as a Theme in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Madness is a very important theme that is present in the whole course
of the play Twelfth Night. Firstly, we have Malvolio almost turning
mad because of the cruel joke the other servants play on him. They
make him think he is mad and they also make Olivia think he is mad
because of the funny way in which he is acting. There is also the
theme of mad love. Some examples of this are Orsino being madly in
love with Olivia, Olivia being madly in love with Cesario/Viola and
Viola falling madly in love with Orsino. This mad love makes Orsino
mad from “a savage jealousy” when he realises Olivia’s love for
Cesario/Viola. Another very important aspect of madness present in the
play is confusion and chaos which lead to madness. A very good example
of this is everyone mistaking Sebastian for Viola and viceversa which
creates very confusing situations for the characters. Also, Feste
acting as a “corrupter of words” can be quite confusing and
maddening, as Malvolio experiences in the play.
Madness can be easily appreciated in Twelfth Night thanks to the
situation Malvolio is put in. Apart from making Olivia think “he’s
much distract” and that he suffers a “very midsummer madness” the
servants also try to make him think he is mad and possessed by saying
“how hollow the fiend speaks within him” and how a “hyperbolical
fiend” vexes him making him talk “nothing but of ladies”. Malvolio
gets imprisoned as if he was a real madman of the time making him
believe he might be mad. The servants reach a point when they act so
much as if Malvolio is mad that they think they “shall ...
... middle of paper ...
... Sebastian enters and everyone sees “one face, one
voice, one habit, and two persons- a natural perspective, that is and
is not!” Feste also creates much confusion when he acts as a
“corrupter of words” specially when he pretends to be a priest – Sir
Topas – and confuses Malvolio almost to the point of madness when he
talks about “windows transparent as barricadoes” and clerestories “as
lustrous as ebony” which of course makes no sense at all. He also
plays with words to laugh at other people’s actions such as Olivia
mourning for her “brother’s soul being in heaven” which makes them
seem mad.
Madness is a very important theme in Twelfth Night as it is constantly
present in the characters’ feelings (anger, jealousy, love), in
confusing situations which are vital to the play and in making other
characters seem mad.
sneak off with Piper to find the rest of the cousins. After a week, Daisy and Piper decide to
“I plead guilty by reason of insanity,” is Hamlet’s plea if he was sitting in a modern courtroom. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it is evident that Hamlet himself is indeed out of his mind. The reader understands the reason for his anger and frustration, but how he “fixes” the situation is beyond a sane mind. To be fair, his madness deals more with emotional instability referred to as melancholy or madness than a person who is incoherent. Hamlet’s madness becomes clear in his actions and thoughts, in his erratic relationship with Ophelia, and in the murder of Polonius.
Here we can see that Hamlet had told Ophelia earlier in the scene how deeply he
Intelligence is often mistaken for brilliance, and conversely genius is mistaken for madness. Some of the greatest minds have been misconstrued in there time, and it is not until their whole life is taken into observance from the outside looking in, that their genius is realized and appreciated. Websters dictionary defines madness as "the act of being foolish or illogical." Ironically this form of thought has prompted some of the greatest advancements in government, science, and technology. It was the thought that every common man and woman should be included in his or her respective governments that prompted Democracy, a form of government unheard of before the signing of the Magna Carta. It was scientists and inventors thinking outside of the lines that inspired the cure for Small Pox and the invention of the computer. It can clearly be seen that serious thought is often the by-product of irrational thinking, this is also true for literature. It is while in madness, both feigned as well as sincere, that the characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet are able to practice true mental clarity and express themselves in a manner free of treachery and falsehood.
A popular topic of discussion for Shakespearian critics is whether or not Hamlet is sane at various points in the play. Usually, this digresses into a question of at what point Hamlet crosses the fine line which marks the bounds of sanity into the realm of insanity. This is a confusing matter to sort out, due to the fact that it is hard to tell when the prince is acting, and when he is really and truly out of his mind. The matter of determining the time of crossing over is further complicated by the fact that everyone around him is constantly speaking of madness. At the end we must either conclude that Hamlet is an extremely talented actor capable of staying in character under the most trying circumstances, or that he is human and as a result his sanity gives way to the many external emotional barrages coming his way. The more likely conclusion is that Hamlet is at some point insane. What is left to discover is at what point does this crossover occur, and second, what are the main contributing factors in his mental collapse. I will ignore the issue of the point of crossover, and let another paper consider that point. Rather, I propose that Hamlet's religious beliefs, acquired at the University of Wittenberg, heavily contributed to the loss of his sanity.
tell his aunt Ellen the following: "All I want for David is that he grow up to be
One of the most analyzed plays in existence is the tragedy Hamlet, with its recurring question: "Is Hamlet’s 'antic disposition' feigned or real?" In truth, this question can only be answered by observing the thoughts of the main characters in relation to the cause of Hamlet real or feigned madness. In the tragedy Hamlet, each of the main characters explains Hamlets madness in their own unique way. To discover the cause behind the madness of Hamlet, each character used their own ambitions, emotions and interpretations of past events. Characters tried to explain Hamlet's "antic disposition" by means of association to thwarted ambition, heartbreaking anguish, and denied love. In the workings of their thoughts, the characters inadvertently reveal something about their own desires, emotions and experiences to the reader.
Andrew is funny, it is not intentional. His faults include a lack of wit, a
make him sound completely innocent, yet the audience knows that Gerald did get a sexual return from his mistress.
In Lewis Carol’s, Alice in Wonderland, he tells of the meeting between two of his characters, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. Carol writes about the struggles the young girl Alice has with him due to the fact that he appears to be entirely crazy, though the question stands if there is some method to his madness. Playwright and actor, William Shakespeare, uses this controversial connection between real madness and loss in his play Hamlet, portrayed in his characters Hamlet, and his crazed actions towards his loved ones, in Ophelia and her reaction to the death of her father, and lastly, in his character Laertes and his quick, rash reaction to act upon his desire for revenge.
Hamlet's public persona is a facade he has created to carry out his ulterior motives. The outside world's perception of him as being mad is of his own design. Hamlet is deciding what he wants others to think about him. Polonius, a close confidant of the King, is the leading person responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. The idea that Hamlet is mad centers around the fact that he talks to the ghost of his dead father. He communicates with his dead father's ghost twice, in the presence of his friends and again in the presence of his mother. By being in public when talking to the ghost, the rumor of his madness is given substance.
The theme of deception runs very strong in Act One. Almost all the characters seem to either be deceiving someone, or being deceived themselves.
I think that Olivia was the only one who really did not mistreat him I
Hamlet, knowing that he will get into difficulty, needs to feign madness for the purpose of carrying out his mission. He rehearses his pretended madnesss first with Ophelia, for even if he should fail there in his act of simulation, that failure will not cause him any real harm. The manifestations of insanity that Hamlet will show become predictable - a sure sign that it is a simulated and not a real insanity.
Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.