Faults of Love in Twelfth Night

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Faults of Love in Twelfth Night Human emotion is a very fickle and ever changing thing that can range from fury to jubilance to depression depending on the situation the person is in at any point in time. These ever changing emotions shape the person and their identity both psychologically and physically. A person who generally resides in a more hostile environment would be more prone to having negative emotions, sometimes even in calm or benign situations. Vice versa, someone who generally resides in a benign or joyful environment can have a calmer or more positive reaction towards a hostile situation. These traits, coming from average emotions, eventually show on the person physically. Laugh or smile lines appear on people who show positive emotions; while anger lines can show on people who experience more negative emotions. People also dress according to their mood. On a more cheerful day, a person might dress in brighter, more aesthetically pleasing colors. On a negative day, a person might dress in darker, less aesthetically pleasing colors. Eventually, emotions shape the identity of the person experiencing said emotions. Situation also has a profound effect on identity as adaptations must be made to survive in life. As stated by William Hazlitt, “There is a certain stage of society in which people become conscious of their peculiarities and absurdities, affect to disguise what they are, and set up pretensions to what they are not” (Hazlitt, 1817), meaning that sometimes people change themselves to fit in and survive better. In Twelfth Night or What You Will, Viola "attires herself in the disguise of a page, as the best protection against uncivil comments, till she can gain some tidings of her brother" (O'Connor). ... ... middle of paper ... ...re’s Characters: Viola (Twelfth Night).” The Works of William Shakespeare 16: n. pag. Shakespeare Online. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . Porter, Williams, Jr. “Mistakes in Twelfth Night and Their Resolution: A Study in Some Relationships of Plot and Theme.” PMLA. Vol. 76. N.p.: MLA, 1961. 193-99. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. . Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. N.p., 1602. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Web. 5 Feb. 2014. . Slights, Camille. “The Principle of Recompense in ‘Twelfth Night.’” The Modern Language Review 77.3 (1982): 537-46. JSTOR. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .

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