Critical Evaluation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
The play I read is called “Twelfth Night”, and was written by William
Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is known for his brilliant
playwriting skills, “Twelfth Night” is no exception. “Twelfth Night”
was branded as a comedy when it was written in the 1600s, I am writing
this essay to see if “Twelfth Night” can still be classed as a comedy
in the twenty-first century, or if the humour is too old fashioned for
modern tastes.
The main theme of the play is mistaken identities. The three main
characters are Orsino, a Duke, Olivia, a countess, and Viola, a woman
who dresses as a man so she can be a servant to Orsino. During the
play Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian turns up and everyone thinks he
is Viola, as she is dressing as a man. Viola is in love with Orsino
but Orsino is in love with Olivia and Olivia is in love with Viola,
this creates a love triangle. Also in the play there are servants and
two knights who produce a lot of humour.
In conjunction to the love triangle there are three additional plot
lines in the play, they involve Malvolio, a servant, finding a love
letter, a duel between Viola and Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Olivia
proposing to Sebastian, as she thinks he is Viola. I will discuss
these to see if they have any humour among them.
Malvolio is a servant who thinks he is more superior than he actually
is. Before he finds the love letter he is day-dreaming about himself
being married to Olivia.
Malvolio says “There is example for’t: the lady of Strachy married the
yeomen of the wardrobe -.”
This would be funny because Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and
Fabien, a friend of theirs, are hiding in the bushes listening and
watching Malvolio. While he is day-dreaming he comes across the love
letter. This is a joke as it was written by Maria, a maid, Sir Toby
and Sir Andrew to get revenge on Malvolio as he is so big headed.
are even made in the same way and from the same fabrics that were used
In Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, gender identity and alternative sexualities are highlighted through the depiction of different characters and personalities. In the play, Viola disguises herself as a man thereby raising a merry-go-around of relationships that are actually based on a lie rather than actual fact. Viola attracts the attention of Olivia since she thinks that Viola is a man but even more fascinating is the fact that Orsino is attracted to Viola although he thinks that she is a man. In another twist Viola is attracted to Orsino and has fell in love with him although their love cannot exist since Orsino thinks that Viola is a man.
The play "The House Of Bernarda Alba" gives an interesting portrayal of a middle class home consisting entirely of women. The plot is set in a small town, middle class house in a society dominated by men. It is believed to be set somewhere in Spain in the 1930s. The play was written in a time when the suppression of woman was still strong. The mother, the head of the household, does everything she believes is necessary to keep her house within a good social standing in the town. The mother had become the master of the house after her husband died, which makes her work harder to keep a good reputation for her house of women. Looking deeper into the story one might find two sides to the dilemmas that cover the house. There are protagonists, principle characters in a story, and antagonists, characters that act adversaries or opponents to the principle characters. In this play one of the maids, Poncia, is forced to be in the middle of much of the drama consuming this house. She, Poncia, can be looked at as both a protagonist and antagonist. One might say that she fits into a back up role; helping support the main characters' roles, in the cast of characters.
In addition, Maria plays the role of the lady in waiting who essentially doesn’t do anything for herself except take orders. Later on the reader soon realizes that, Maria is a strong witty character that takes matters in to her own hands. Maria developes a strategy, first she goes for the messed up drunken Sir Toby and her goal is to straighten him out. Maria confronts Sir Toby about his drunkenness, “That quaffing and drinking will undo you: I heard my lady talk of it yesterday” (1.3.128). Sir Toby begins to take notice in Maria. Maria begins to plot with Toby to bring down Malvolio (the condescending butler) as a practical joke. Through the process of plotting against Malvolio with Toby, Maria develops a back bone something she was not known for with Olivia. Maria took the lead in the plotting and Toby starts taking her orders, “Observe him, for the love of mockery, for I know this letter will make a contemplative idiot of him” (2.5.18-19) As a result of the jokes success, Mari...
The first major female character that is introduced in this epic is Penelope. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, and the mother of Telemachus. She is portrayed as a strong-willed widow, who even after not seeing Odysseus for twenty years, keeps her trust in her
After spending more than half of the play looking down on her employee, the madam decides that she wants to switch places with her maid as part of a game. It is rather ironic how much the play follows the story line of the princes and the pauper. Where two women of different social standing switches places with each other, in order to experiences how their other side lives. It is arguable comedic that the women are able to assume their roles without much effort. The madam really acts the role of the maid, she acts how she believes the stereotypical maid should be, she sits behind her employer and begins to pay more attention to her son. Whereas the maid, clearly states to her employer that it’s not her job to pay attention because she is a “lady”. She puts her the tanning lotion, sunglasses and begins to
Oryx, who makes subtle impressions in the novel, is a character who comes off as a soft, innocent girl who has had a hard childhood, but also very mysterious. Mia Wallace, who is Marsellus Wallace's wife, also leaves subtle impression on the viewers and comes off as very mysterious and very seductive. While she is not a major character she is vital to the plot to show the direct link between her relationships with both Vincent and
to 'feed' his love, and wouldn’t if it was real. "O, it came o'er my
"She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd, and I loved her that she did pity them" (Othello, I.iii 166-167). William Shakespeare’s tragedy "Othello," is pervaded by a dominant theme, one of love. Othello, the Moor of Venice falls madly in love with a woman named Desdemona. They marry and are very happy together. Othello and Desdemona face many trials during the course of their nine-month marriage. The most notable one occurs when Barbanzio, Desdemona’s father accuses Othello of getting his daughter with witchcraft. During a court hearing, Desdemona confesses her love for Othello and Barbanzio is forced to let her go.
Andrew is funny, it is not intentional. His faults include a lack of wit, a
to address Viola as if she were male, he says, "Boy, thou hast said to
In the play, the characters play a critical role in showing the theme as the ones inflicted with the pain and suffering of love that Shakespeare highlighted. Attacked with pain from the rejection of the one they love, each of the characters suffers from the rejection, linking the characters to the theme that Shakespeare presented in the play. These links to the theme also link the characters to one another at the same time. Characters, like Duke Orsino, Lady Olivia, and Viola/Cesario, along with the minor characters of the play, were the main victims, but also the culprits, of the pain and suffering that Shakespeare stressed.
The play centers on what is seen and what is believed. Orgon believes what Tartuffe wants him to believe—Tartuffe paints himself as a holy and virtuous man. Orgon cannot judge Tartuffe beyond the image he has of him in his mind even though he is cautioned repeatedly by several characters. His brother-in-law, Cléante, warns Orgon. Dorine, lady's maid to Mariane, outspoken not only as a woman, but also as a member of the hired staff—berates Orgon for not seeing Tartuffe for what he really is. Even Orgon's own son, Damis, is the most outraged by Tartuffe's behavior, reacting impulsively and threatening violence on several occasions. Even when Damis hears Tartuffe attempting to seduce his stepmother (Elmire) and tells his father, Orgon will not listen, throws his son
Humor in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the witty
William Shakespeare, born in 1594, is one of the greatest writers in literature. He dies in 1616 after completing many sonnets and plays. One of which is "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." They say that this play is the most purely romantic of Shakespeare’s comedies. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-with-in-a-play, which master writers only write successfully. Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer. Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" is a comedy combining elements of love, fairies, magic, and dreams. This play is a comedy about five couples who suffer through love’s strange games and the evil behind the devious tricks. This play begins as Theseus, the Duke, is preparing to marry Hippolyta. He woos her with his sword. Hermia is in love with Lysander. Egeus, Hermia’s father, forbids the relationship with Lysander and orders her to marry Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia, but she does not love him. On the other hand, Helena is in love with Demetrius. To settle the confusion, Theseus decides that Hermia must marry Demetrius or become a nun. In retaliation to her father’s command, Hermia and Lysander run away together. Amidst all the problems in the human world, Titania and Oberon, the fairy queen and king, continually argue about their various relationships that they have taken part in. (Scott 336) Titania leaves Oberon as a result of the arguments. Oberon is hurt and wants revenge on Titania. So he tells Puck, Oberon’s servant, to put a magic flower juice on her eyelids while she is sleeping. This potion causes the victim to desperately in love with the first creature that they see. Oberon’s plan is carried out, but the potion is also placed on Lysander’s eyes. Lysander awakes to see Helena, who is aimlessly walking through the woods, and instantly falls in love with her. She thinks that he is making fun of her being in love with Demetrius, so she leaves and Lysander follows. This leaves Hermia to wake up alone. Puck now has journeyed to the area where several actors are rehearsing. He uses his magic to turn one of them into a donkey, in hopes that Titania will awake to see it.