'In what ways do you consider Twelfth Night to be more than simply an entertaining comedy?

action from beginning to end. The play is loaded with the imagery and vocabulary of love, all in the Italian fashion, which was a central and a popular force on the Elizabethan stage. Popular love clichés are embodied within the play, such as that the woman should be younger than her lover; that man loves more deeply than woman; that true love is jealous.                        Firstly, this play can be seen in the context of diverse types of love, as this is illustrated as love is publicized in its many different forms, but we see how the true love is what conquers in the end. Furthermore, Malvolio shows his justice and ‘will show his revenge on the whole pack’ of members, who he was deceived by. Moreover how Olivia is reunited with her beloved Sebastian and how Orsino resolves to becoming one with Viola as he declares to ‘see thee in thy woman’s weeds’. We can also notice how Olivia and Orsino appear to be the mourning lady and romantic hero, as the play develops we see they appear to show up as selfish, obsessive people, however this transforms to the genuine love towards the end of the play as Viola embodies the true and faithful love. She shows commitment to both Orsino and Olivia and wants to be with both people and as great respect for them. It is as if Viola had taken Olivia through the tough time of ‘mourning’ and Orsino through his ‘excess love’ he shows. Love plays an important role in the play we see that this wins in the end of the play as the couples are united with one another and everyone is left happy apart from Malvolio. This play can be seen about different types of love as this is expressed in many ways as stated.                                                                   Indeed this play can also be seen as a poignant and elegiac play as we can witness this where Viola speaks her poignant lines, ‘Hallow your name to the reverberate hills’. This is a moving part in the play, as Viola wants fulfilment, which we find out until the end of this play this is out of her grasp. The sad note running through the play surfaces with Feste the clown's final song where the players are all happily departed following the grand grouping of the final act, and Feste, on an empty stage, sings of the wind and the rain, of being a boy and then having to face ‘man's estate.’ He reminds us that these overly joyous, overly sentimental, and overly unrealistic characters have been too concerned with loving, spending, and getting, and that actually the more serious things of life are still there. Concluding this we can distinguish that this play can be seen in the terms of being a sad and moving play with the actions and feelings we can identify and are left with.                                         This play also demonstrates trouble as we can immediately see that this play can be upsetting as its shows the darkness and harsh depths. This is exemplified when Malvolio criticises the men for being drunk that night and singing until late hours. Maria decides to play a practical joke on Malvolio, as they all want to seek revenge for the harsh comments Malvolio had made, ‘Have you no wit, manners, honesty but to gabble like tinkers’. We can see that Maria writes the letter in the form of Olivia’s handwriting stating her love for him. Furthermore, we can see her true dark side, as they all play a part in this and we see how they cleverly want to seek revenge to a high standard, which is deceitful. Ultimate this is consequently resolved towards the end where Feste confesses in taking part in the prank, however we see that Malvolio will ‘seek revenge’. Therefore, we can conclude that this is a uneasy play about outsiders who loose, and leave the play unhappy as Antonio is an example of someone who is left sad and unhappy along with Malvolio. The characters personalities are highlighted, as we can perceive Olivia and Orsino do not change and remain the same selfish people as they were in the beginning of the play. In addition, they are the characters, which learn nothing. This play is a cruel satire, which contains signs that Shakespeare’s dramatic thoughts were turning towards a tragedy as this play has many problems, which occur and do not look as though they would be solved towards the end, as in fact some are resolved. Overlooking this we can identify this play being a comedy, which contains many conflicts, which can be seen, as very harsh and others as conflicts, which make up this play.                                                Twelfth Night can finally be seen as an elusive play as it is impossible to grasp, as it seems to always be taking different shapes and meanings. This makes it sometimes humorous and sometimes upsetting, as when we see the consequences Malvolio faces this can be seen as upsetting as his treatment goes too far. All of the characters show the idea of having another side to them, as we learn that characters like Feste and Maria are deceitful and other characters like Olivia and Orsino seem to selfish and wrapped up within themselves as Orsino seems to be worried about his ‘sweet love’. This play contains both romance and revenge, and is an open to leave the audience thinking whether love is triumph or whether revenge and uncertainty will follow.                                                                                         Concluding this we can see that this play raises the certain questions of the different types of love we are left with as Viola’s, Malvolios and Orsino’s. We can see the different types of play we can interpret this to be as it is a play which his on the different types of love, a play about the sadness and moving moments we experience. Concluding this we can see that this play invites the audience to think about what they would believe the play to be, a comedy or a play about other aspects as mentioned. This play is more than ‘a comedy’ as its complexity and interpretation makes this a play, which is successful as we are left to think about its true themes and understanding.