The Outcome of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

The Outcome of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

The ‘Twelfth Night’ written by William Shakespeare in the Elizabethan

era, is a dramatic comedy enriched with a great deal of hurt to

accompany scandalous behaviour and shocking deceptions.

The comical elements of this play are those which contribute to

Elizabethan humour. The principal characters are of a high social

status, making any disruption to their life humorous. The main

characters are part of the whirlwind of unrequited love and mistaken

identity, which when together are hazardous.

Viola pays the largest contribution to this play, as she is persistent

throughout the scenes. The deceptions and mistaken identity she

contributes supplements the play by means of interest, with a string

of unrequited love triangles and dramatic irony, of which only the

audience observes. The dramatic irony among Viola makes the audience

omniscient, as they know something that the characters do not, such as

she is a woman dressing herself to be a man, this allowing humour to

pass through. Her character is mysterious, as she has no background

due to loss of her brother at sea and the death of her father, which

made her an orphan at a young age (taken from the film by Trevor

Nunn). This holds interest through anticipation to the audience of any

time (modern or Shakespearean), making them curious about whom she is.

Viola unintentionally manipulates everyone during the play, as she

deceives each person through her disguise as Cesario. As Cesario, she

misleads Olivia, as the charm and charisma she portrays overwhelms

her. Viola realises this love for her as she says to herself;

“She loves ...

... middle of paper ...

...ying to an audience of any time, as the passions they

portrayed were excellent. The love then blended harshly with

deception, misunderstandings, farce, dramatic irony and unrequited

love made each of these more powerful. The strong comparisons between

the elements made the comedy and hurtfulness dramatic and unexpected.

The anticipation of what is to happen next, gave the audience greater

depth into the film, keeping them captivated.

The revenge given to the arrogant characters such as Sir Toby and

Malvolio was comical, as well as being unexpected. The love and

comparisons given to the ‘good’ characters, was tearful to see, making

it even more so ‘fairy tale’ like. The outcomes were what was deserved

by the characters, making the audience, of any time, fulfilled

with the ending, making them satisfied with the play.