“Why, so I do, the noblest that I have.
O! when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purg’d the air of pestilence.
That instant was I turn’d into a hart,
And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E’er since pursue me.”
He turns the word for a male deer into the word heart and explains again his love for Olivia. He also explains that his love for Olivia has turned him into a hart and his desires (love from Olivia) pursue him like fell and cruel hounds pursue hart when hunting. Throughout the play there are a few instances, which influence the audience to believe his love is false. An example is in Act 1 Scene 1 when Valentine informs the Duke that no one is allowed to visit Olivia as she is mourning her brother’s death.
“O! she that hath a heart of that fine frame
To pay this debt of love but to a brother,
How will she love, when the rich golden shaft
Hath kill’d the flock of all affections else…”
Orsino is saying that if Olivia can show so much passion for only a brother then she will show even more to him. He shows no care for her in that she has just lost a brother and just reflects it on himself and what it means for himself. We discussed the topic of love in twelfth Night in class and agreed that the people that were open about their feelings were not in true love. However, the people that kept their feelings to themselves were truly in love. Viola is an example of someone who keeps her feelings to herself. She shows true love for her brother who she believes is dead. She scarcely mentions him and mourns him by herself. Maria is another person who truly loves. She loves Sir Toby Belch. She shows her love in a very subtle manner. She shows care to him but does not make it overly obvious to the audience that she loves him. I believe Shakespeare portrays true love when people don’t show it too often to make the play more exciting. If true love was obvious and it was obvious who loved who then the play would become tedious and boring.
Other characters in the play just claim to be in live and are not truly in love. Maria’s servant, Malvolio, has a trick played on him by Sir Toby, Maria, Feste and Sir Andrew. He is lead to believe that Olivia loves him in a letter disguised as having been written by Olivia. This trick adds one of the biggest comedy scenes in the play with Malvolio (someone who thinks he is better than other) getting completely humiliated. In Act 2 Scene 5 Malvolio receives the letter and then tells the audience his feelings:
“I will be proud, I will read politic authors, I will baffle Sir Toby, I will wash off great acquaintance, I will be point-devise the very man.”
He is excited at the fact that if he married her then he would be higher up than Sir Toby and would be able to get back at him. He is not truly in love with her. He is in love with what her love for him means to him.
Olivia is supposed to be in a house of mourning after the death of her brother and swears to mourn his death for 7 years. However, she does not love him as much as she pretends because when Cesario turns up at her household to bring messages from Orsino she falls in love with him almost instantaneously completely forgets about her brother and the fact that she is supposed to be mourning his death. She does not hesitate to unveil herself to Cesario when he asks to see her face. She therefore does not love him to the extent that she tries to show.
Olivia falls in love with Cesario but she does not realise Cesario is actually female and is called Viola. She is disguised to look like a man so that she could work for Count Orsino. She is disguised to most throughout the play and they only know that she is female at the end of the play when she reveals herself to everyone. Sebastian is the only person who knows Violas identity throughout the play except on the filmed version by Trevor Nunn where Feste knows about the true identity of Viola as he sees her on shore of Illyria. Feste being the clown and funny person adds more comedy to the already funny situation. In Shakespeare’s theatre there were no females so a male would have to dress up as a female (Viola) who is disguised as a male (Cesario). Making the lady being disguised as a man makes it easier for the performance because the male doesn’t have to dress up as a female and take on a female voice. Also, the disguise adds comedy to the play, as in Shakespeare’s theatre it would be funny to the audience.
In writing the play, I believe Shakespeare used Feste’s character to put across his character and Shakespeare’s thoughts and feelings are shown in the character. For example, Feste is very clever and wise and this is something that Shakespeare shows greatly. In the theatre Feste can be played in different ways with different interpretations of the character. Ben Kingsley’s filmed version in 1995 plays him as a rather grave clown. His only love is his devotion for his employer, Olivia. It is played as though he is an old family friend and that he knows Olivia very well. This version is played in the summer and there is a very bright and cheery feel to the play. Anton Lesser plays him very differently. It is set in winter so adds to the point that the play was named after the twelfth night of Christmas. In this Granada TV play he is much younger and sadder. He is made up to look as if he is sick with a disease of some sort (possibly sexually transmitted disease) and as though he has returned from ‘the wars.’ The fact that he may have a sexually transmitted disease and a broker heart from ‘the wars’ would explain why he is not really in love with anyone in the play. Feste is a very wise person in the play even though he would be classed as low down in social status as he is a clown. People who are supposed to be wise such as Orsino behave foolishly in the play. This is another point that shows normality being turned upside-down.
Some of the characters in Twelfth Night are in disguise but not in the literal meaning of the word. Olivia wears a veil at the funeral of her brother but she is truly hiding behind it, as she is not truly mourning her brother. She is just disguising herself to pretend to be in mourning. Malvolio takes the pose of a puritan so he can feel higher up and more holy than others. However, he is not truly a puritan. He is a fake and puts on this pose/disguise to make him feel better about himself. He despises Sir Toby’s drunkenness and takes the pose of a puritan to try and prove Sir Toby is in the wrong.
“…Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous. There shall be no more cakes and ale?”
Sir Toby tells Malvolio that just because he thinks he is virtuous he has no power over Sir Toby and Sir Toby can chose to do as he pleases due to the fact that he has much higher social status. Sir Toby says ‘cakes and ale’ but does not just mean literally cakes and ale. It means all fun and things he enjoys doing including eating and drinking.
Viola works for Orsino but soon becomes fond of him and falls in love with him. Obviously she cannot make a move because it would mean blowing her disguise.
Duke: What kind of woman is’t?
Viola: Of your complexion.
Duke: She is not worth thee, then. What years, I’ faith?
Viola: About your years, my lord.
She talks to him about her love for him but she explains it in such a way so that the audience know she is in love with him but Orsino believes that she is in love with a lady with looks similar to his and age similar to his. This again adds a comical factor to the scene because he doesn’t realise that the servant he is talking to about love is in fact a woman in love with him. To the audience he looks foolish and this is a man who is supposed to be wise being a Duke.
“But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.”
The last two lines of the play are in Feste’s song. He is telling the audience that the play is finished but he also explains that they will be acting everyday and he is inviting them to come again to the theatre for the fun and enjoyment. He is telling the audience that they can escape their lives for the time that they are in the theatre and get out of the ‘wind and the rain.’ For the audience this may make them feel that they want to come to the theatre again to see the same play or a similar one so it is almost advertising.
In this essay I have shown different points of view and different themes to suggest whether Twelfth Night is a joyous celebration of romantic love. I have discussed different characters, alternative interpretations, language, theatricality, and looked into the context of the play to help find an answer to the essay question. After writing the essay I believe that it is a joyous celebration of romantic love but that there is more to it. I believe that Twelfth Night is open to very different interpretations and no two people would have the exact same views on the play after seeing it. I believe Twelfth Night was not meant to be thought over and over but just to be enjoyed at the theatre and to let people free from the real world for a couple of hours and a bit of fun.
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