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Shakespeare's theatrical comedy ‘Twelfth night’ follows a plot full of tricks and lies leading it to effectively represent the theme of trickery in many ways. This is an important theme in this play as most of the action revolves around trickery and its outcomes. There are three main characters that represent the theme of trickery and its many forms; Malvolio - who shows how trickery can lead to madness, Maria - who exemplifies the art of lies and deception, and Viola - who demonstrates how some are unaware of the amount of confusion their tricks can cause. Through these three characters, we can see how trickery is a dominant theme in ‘Twelfth Night” and how it remains relevant, even today.
When discussing the theme of trickery, Malvolio is
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Viola requests of the captain who rescued her “I prithee, conceal me what I am.” showing that she does intend to trick others, but did not plan for all the consequences. Confusion breaks out when people start mistaking her for her brother. Quotes that represent these moments include, “Why do you speak to me? I never hurt you.” and “Hast thou forgot thyself? Is it so long?”. The former, spoken by Viola, relates to a point where her brother punched someone leading them to accuse her of this act. It shows that she is confusing people in many ways she never intended to. The later was said by Olivia, referring to the marriage viola’s brother was a part of. This example represents a worst case scenario that is the result of a trick. In both of these cases, viola never intended to offend or confuse anyone. Her reason for the disguise was merely to gain easier access to a job. She ended up leading people on, being held responsible for her brother's actions and wreacking havoc. This aspect of trickery, again, is universal and some may say timeless. Young audiences now days can relate and will always be able to. Violas character presented warning to think about the consequences of your tricks and actions. She revealed the more innocent side of trickery where not all that happens was intended.
‘Twelfth night’ is an amusing play filled with hidden warnings and tricks. Trickery is a key theme and it’s consequences and the unintended outcomes are represented through many of the characters. Trickery is timeless and audiences, even contemporary ones, can easily find a way to relate. Overall the theme of trickery is a constant, relatable, presence throughout the play and its importance should not be
The liminality in performing Twelfth Night lies in sexual ambiguity on the stage. It enables a boy actor to play viola's role and disguised as a boy who is wooing another boy who plays a female role . The audience sees no more than a p...
Hamlet makes use of the idea of theatrical performance through characters presenting themselves falsely to others – from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spying on Hamlet to gain favor with the King, to Hamlet himself playing the part of a madman – and through the play within the play, The Mousetrap. This essay will discuss the ways in which Hamlet explores the idea of theatrical performance, ‘acting’, through analysis of the characters and the ‘roles’ they adopt, specifically that of Hamlet and Claudius. The idea, or the theme of theatrical performance is not an uncommon literary element of Shakespearean works, the most famous of which to encompass this idea being As You Like It. This essay will also briefly explore the ways in which Hamlet reminds its audience of the stark difference between daily life and dramatization of life in the theatre.
In the book “Much Ado About Nothing” trickery and deceit are central themes that happen throughout the story. The characters find it amusing to trick others into falling in love with one another making them understand that they have always been in love but too stubborn to admit they are. In other cases there are characters that rather see heart breaks instead of happy endings, in some forms trickery was used to harm those who love each other. Trickery takes a huge importance in “Much Ado About Nothing” without it there would not be much of the romance that the characters share in the novel. Without it the characters would not understand what true love truly feels like.
An exploration of Shakespeare’s presentation of trickery and deception in his play ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’
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
In stark contrast to the dark and tragic "Othello," is one of Shakespeare’s lightest and funniest comedies, "Twelfth Night." The theme of love is presented in a highly comical manner. Shakespeare, however, once again proves himself a master by interweaving serious elements into humorous situations. "Twelfth Night" consists of many love triangles, however many of the characters who are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their emotions and feelings toward other characters are untrue. They are being deceived by themselves and/or the others around them.
I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you. Disguise is the main plot in Twelfth Night and without it the storyline would not have been possible as disguise was needed in order to create the Orsino, Viola, Olivia love triangle.
Viola is a very pragmatic, shrewd woman. She does not deceive her self in the way Orsino does. After the Captain tells her that her brother may be alive, she rewards him with gold, and then goes on to question the Captain about the land she is in. She realises that she must do something to survive, and instead of morning about the death of her brother, she takes practical steps.
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...
Two characters that express themselves differently but, through their use of disguise and similar affect on the audience, manage to successfully portray the depth of a drama by connecting with the audience and acting as a channel for the cathartic moment, which marks a drama. These two women represent the same character but portray her in different ways. Viola’s portrayal is directed toward the fantastical, comedic setting of Twelfth Night, whereas Blanche is a much harsher, real, relatable character where the true fight with these emotion can be felt in an authentic way.
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.
William Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night has many themes, but appearance vs. reality is the theme that illustrates a different picture from two perspectives, there are many characters behind their masks and disguises. Some are hiding love behind these disguises and some are trying to show their love through a different disguise. They both still being servants are using disguise differently. Malvolio, servant of Olivia, falls in love with the trap (the letter) thinking his lady likes him, and to show his love he uses a different appearance to express it. Viola, servant of Orsino, falls in love with him, but secretly, not wanting to express her love for him, because of her disguise as her barrier for that case. Viola/Ceasario is wearing a disguise and secretly loves Orsino. Malvolio, on the other hand, is also a servant but still changes his appearance to express love for the great lady Olivia. This essay will prove that disguises and appearances are symbolic of the characters named Viola and Malvolio and are differently used for both.
Twelfth Night or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. It has been performed hundreds of times and adapted into a number of modern films. The main plot of the play follows Viola, a girl who is rescued from a shipwreck and enters into the service of the Duke Orsino disguised as a man. Rising quickly in his estimation, Viola begins delivering messages of love on his behalf to Olivia, a noble woman who has no interest in Orsino’s advances. Over the course of the play Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola, Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, who supposedly died in the shipwreck, returns. Following Sebastian’s return the twins are mistaken for each other, leading to both misunderstanding and marriage in the final scenes of the play. Alongside the main plot of Twelfth Night is an almost equally prominent subplot involving Malvolio, a servant of Olivia, who falls in love with her and who falls prey to a prank planned by the other members of the household who despise his abhorrence of fun. In the article “The Design of Twelfth Night” by L.G. Salingar, Salingar examines the plot and structure of the play and addresses the significance of the subplot. The purpose of this essay is to examine both evidence from the play and articles from other authors, with a focus on Salingar, who have written on the subject in order to determine the purpose of the subplot. In his article, Salingar comes to the conclusion that the purpose of the subplot is to provide a comic mirror of the main plot while amplifying the main themes of delusion, misrule and festivity. Salingar presents a solid argument, however he has neglected another lesser but significant element of the sub-plot which illustrate...
Mistaken identity and disguise are important aspects of comedy in Twelfth Night that stand at the forefront of the play’s comedy. Not only are mistaken identities and disguise evident within the main plot of the play but also in various other situations. Sexual confusion amongst characters, subversion of gender roles and farcical elements through stagecraft all effectively contribute to the dramatic comedy genre. However, it can be suggested that certain elements of Twelfth Night are not interpreted to be purely comedic; Shakespeare has incorporated serious and controversial subjects such as the idea of genuine love, the patriarchy of the time and the cruel gulling of Malvolio. Therefore, disguise and mistaken identity are not solely for the purpose of comedy and it could be inferred that it even borders on the genre of tragedy.