Feste is always playing with words and occasionally seems to talk nonsense like inventing and imaginary philosopher “Quinapalus, the old hermit of Prague”. There is often a lot of truth in what he says, Feste reminds Olivia that he has all the wits about him “I wear not motley in my brain”. This is a major theme of the play don’t judge by outward appearances as looks can be deceiving this can be seen with viola disguising herself as Cesario. Shakespeare is suggesting that Feste is actually no fool at all on stage as he brings comedy and dramatic irony, this is a device used where the audience knows something that the other characters on stage do not, as the audience begin to realize he is not what he seems and provides truths as an outsider looking in and knows everything, but when talking to viola he says ”send thee a beard” but we never know if Feste actually knows of her disguise. When viola says “I am not what I play”, Olivia is totally unaware of the full significance of violas words, whereas the audience understands what is really meant, namely that viola is female. The emphasis on disguise means that the play is full of dramatic irony with enforces great amusement.
Feste is able to provide us with song and is able to speak prose and verse and communicates with lower or higher status characters and so different from any other individual in twelfth night. Prose is usually the style for comic scenes and characters and verse, the style for lovers. Feste often uses verse in his songs and his final epilogue “with hey, ho, the wind and the rain” and prose is ordinary speech.
A contrast from Feste’s character is Orsino, Shakespeare’s presentation of a melancholy lover and in love with the idea of love itself. He is presented as being fickle and of very high status being the duke of illyria, so is very different from how Feste is presented. Orsino is a courtly lover, it is ’idealised love’ and places his lady of affection Olivia on a pedestal. However the love is not returned and remains as unrequited love still trying to win her heart.
The first line of Twelfth night is “If music be the food of love, play on”. This play begins and ends with images of music. Feste does not show love or compassion but provides us with song (the food of love). He does not talk about himself, his love or problems to any other characters, but conceals them or possibly reveals them in his songs “but when I came to mans estate, with hey ho the wind and the rain, gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate.” ,this could be showing he feels he is rejected in adult hood and also describes being tolerated in childhood. On the outside he seems to be the joker to mask the fact that possibly he feels lonely, but does appear emotionally stable unlike other characters, Orsino or Olivia who love the idea of being in love. Olivia vowed she would not fall in love for seven years while she mourned her brother but broke it when she set eyes on Cesario someone she has just met, this could show she is only interesting in good looking or charming men and falls for them shortly after the first meetings. This is unlike Feste as he does not even show love for any other character and keeps himself to himself and is on the outside looking on everyone else’s life.
Feste’s songs often set the mood of regret and he sings sad songs about growing up, being rejected in adult hood and unsuccessful in love and marriage, “but when I came ,alas, to wive,……by swaggering could I never thrive”. However when the play was performed in Shakespeare’s lifetime, Feste would perhaps have danced and sang in a cheerily manner to add to comedic value and in the nineteenth century it became fashionable to add musical scenes filled with festivity which would create an atmosphere where the whole cast would join in at the end..Do you think so , interesting idea perhaps compare it to a modern adaptation eg Trevor num. And indicate what this says about shakespeares writing.
Feste is often left in control showing the great influence that the fool has in the play. In many of Shakespeare’s comedies a song illustrates the end of the play. This song explains the fact that you begin life as children without any care or worries and as you grow up, life becomes more complicated and intricate. This play is about the loss of innocence and the serious responsibility about adult life places upon you. It is the story of life. The audience will remember Feste’s importance as he will be their last memory of the performance. Having the fool as the last character on stage also gives the audience the last humorous impression of the play. Except in this case Feste’s song is anything but funny, it is sad and melancholy, showing the sadness that is buried within the play, it also marks the end of the Twelfth night celebrations and life returning back to normal.