Discuss the different types of love presented in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Discuss the different types of love presented in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In this essay intend to examine the theme of love in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The theme of love is the main part o the play and is portrayed in many varying forms. For example, unrequited love, excessive love, true love, physical love, which fall under the category of romantic love. The other types of love, for example, friendship love, filial love (love for family), avarice (love for money), self - love (and also true love) fall under the category of Platonic love. I will also intend to explore the influences of time on the play and analyze Shakespeare's language in the play. First of all I will start off by examining the different types of romantic love in the play. In Act 1,scene 1 the opening lines of Twelfth Night suggest that the play will be much about love as Orsino, the Duke of Illyria expresses his love throughout the play. You can tell that Orsino is not really in love with anything accept the thought of love. You can tell this by the way he speaks. For example in line 4, Orsino asks for the musical refrain to be repeated, 'That strain again', but in line 7 when he demands, 'Enough; no more', he has already had enough and tells the musicians to stop playing. Just by looking at these sentences we have already seen the quick change of mood in Orsino and more is yet to come. In this
The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
. The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare The Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's most delightful comedies. It lets us laugh and appreciate the foolishness of everyday human beings and teaches us that the obvious fools are indeed not the fools but the wise ones. To never take anything for granted and to always keep hope that things will work out in the end. Shakespeare takes his exaggeration to the limit, aiming for ludicrous rather than ridiculous. His talent is well displayed when he turns people's much misfortune into this absurdly hilarious comedy. Two major themes in Twelfth Night are disguise and deception. These means of disguise and deception are illustrated by Viola, who when thought she lost her brother to the boisterous sea, feared for her future on the unfamiliar country of Illyria. Through her worry, her prompt mind went t+o work of a plan that would save her from the suspected dangers of being discovered. Accordingly she disguised herself as her brother deciding that it would be safer and easier to become a Duke Orsino's servant for men than women. Viola's father spoke of Orsino's same years before, mentioning "He was a bachelor then. So with that information in mind, she sets out as a man named Cesario. This begins the theme of disguise. Orsino believes her as a man and takes a liking to her. Within a short amount of time, Orsino
Drama Log.
Drama Log Tuesday, 24th September '02 On this day we decided who would go in a group with whom. We then chose our favourite scene, Act II scene V, the box hedge scene when Malvolio discovers the letter. After we had decided on this scene we decided that the whole scene was too long for four so we cut it down, starting at Line 21 when Malvolio enters and finishing when Malvolio opens the letter from Maria. The casting was decided upon; Vicky was to play Malvolio as we agreed that she was the best actress among us and was the main character in this scene and probably the hardest character to play too; Katy played Sir Andrew as he was her first choice; Cate was to play Fabian as she thought he had the smallest part and she does not enjoy acting; and I was to play Sir Toby as nobody else wanted too and I did not mind! When we had given out the parts we read through the scene a few times. Apart from this we did not really discuss anything more to do with how we might act the scene or anything of this nature however we may have discussed how we might speak our parts. Wednesday, 25th September '02 Today we rehearsed our scene - on the stage as it were. We rehearsed in the upstairs area of the centenary building, i.e. outside the dance studio on the landing. This may not have been the most ideal and suitable place as there were two groups downstairs in the two lobby/foyer areas
how Shakespeare uses disguise to suit his comic purpose
Discuss with close reference to the play, how Shakespeare uses disguise to suit his comic purpose. Twelfth Night was written by William Shakespeare in 1600 and was performed at the Royal Palace on the 6th January 1601. Shakespeare's men who were also known as the Lord Chamberlains men performed it for Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare wrote the play for the Queen herself so that on the 6th January, which is the Christian feast of the Epiphany, Twelfth Night, she could celebrate it with some entertainment at court. The play was commissioned to please Elizabeth and was to be shown for her enjoyment. Twelfth night is traditionally about when everything gets turned on its head like masters waiting for their servants and this is what happens in the play. Many of Shakespeare's plays were written for comedy, a bit of a laugh and a joke but they all have different types of comic purpose. Shakespeare's comic purpose in Twelfth Night is all based around the theme of disguise, and the problems it can cause. The disguise plays a big part in the play. This is seen when Viola pretends to be Cesario to work for Orsino in order to find her brother. This disguise plays a big part in the comedy of the play. Orsino says " Who saw Cesario,ho?" and Viola replies " On your attendance, my lord here." This shows us straight away that disguise will play a big part in the play because Olivia is
Throughout Twelfth Night deception caused confusion between many characters, but the one character that remain in the centre of this confusion was Viola. The deception was caused because of her outward appearance
Twelfth Night In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, many relationships are forged or sabotaged for and by the characters, and as a result these relationships are made comical. The use of disguise causes deception and misunderstanding which leads to love where it is not meant to be. Foolery leads the characters into inescapable traps, which causes chaos with their emotions, and finally pure physical attraction and not true love lead some characters into falsely believing that they were in love. This combined with warped identities and gender misunderstandings; relationships were twisted and contorted so often that comedy was bound to result. Throughout Twelfth Night deception caused confusion between many characters, but the one character that remain in the centre of this confusion was Viola. The deception was caused because of her outward appearance. She was disguised as a man in order to get closer to Orsino. The confusion begins when Viola is sent to woo Orsino's love Olivia. She in turn falls in love with Viola's counterpart Cesario. Olivia's love is revealed when she sends her servant Malvolio to return a ring, which Viola never gave to her. She says, "Run after that same peevish messenger, The County's man. He left this ring behind him... I do I know not what, and fear to find Mine eye to great a flatterer for my mind. Fate show thy force." This shows her love for
How does Shakespeare make Act 2 Scene 5 of 'Twelfth Night' Dramatic?
How does Shakespeare make Act 2 Scene 5 of 'Twelfth Night' Dramatic? Act 2 Scene 5 of 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare is the scene in which Maria, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian lay the foundation of their revenge by leaving a letter for Malvolio supposedly written by Olivia saying that she loves him. The scene is made dramatic in various ways. First of all, prior to Act 2 Scene 5, the audience already dislike Malvolio. This is because he feels he can talk down to Sir Toby who is socially his superior: "my masters are you mad? Or what are you? Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to gable like tinkers at this time of night?" This makes the audience dislike Malvolio because he thinks he has more right to have control over Sir Toby. We know that Sir Toby does not like Malvolio speaking down to him because he gets angry and reminds Malvolio of his position: "out o' tune Sir, ye lie, art any more than a steward?" This adds to the drama of Act 2 Scene 5 because by the end of the previous scene the audience are already looking forward to seeing Toby, Andrew, Fabian and Maria get revenge on Malvolio. Another point is, in Act 2 scene 5, the audience discover more about Malvolio's character when he is in the garden talking to himself. He is revealing his true character because he thinks he is alone. We discover that in reality he is quite vein and thinks he
'Twelfth Night' - Act 1 Scene 2
'Twelfth Night' Scenes Act 1 Scene 2 On the Illyrian sea coast, a young noblewoman named Viola speaks with the captain whose crew has just rescued her from a shipwreck. Although Viola was found and rescued, her brother, Sebastian, seems to have vanished in the storm. The captain tells Viola that Sebastian may still be alive. He says that he saw Sebastian trying to keep afloat by tying himself to a broken mast. But Viola does not know whether or not it is worth holding onto hope. In the meantime, however, she needs to find a way to support herself in this strange land. Viola's plan for disguising herself in Act I, scene ii introduces one of the central motifs of the play: disguise and the identity confusion related to it. Put together, the first two scenes suggest the extra twist that is the hallmark of Twelfth Night: mistaken gender identity. Twelfth Night is one of the plays referred to as Shakespeare's "transvestite comedies," and Viola's gender deception leads to all kinds of romantic complications. In noting the gender confusion that pervades Twelfth Night, it is important to realize that, for Shakespeare's audiences, the idea of a girl successfully disguising herself as a boy wasn't as ludicrous as it might seem to us. In Shakespeare's day, all the parts in a play were acted by men: women weren't allowed to perform on the English stage until the late 1600s, more
Twelfth Night character analysis
Coursework English Literature, Shakespeare, Twelfth Night English Literature, Shakespeare, Twelfth Night At the start of the play, Orsino, the Duke of Illyria is shown as a noble man. Shakespeare's audience knew this or has noticed this by the way Orsino speaks. Orsino speaks in an elaborate and very sophisticated way. He does this by comparing music with food and love with appetite when he says, "If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it". Also, Orsino uses sibilance, which is a repeated's' that creates a soft dramatic and gentle mood and he also speaks in verses (iambic pentameter, and with rhythm). However, Orsino is in love with the idea of being in love because he only thinks about love but not the love to Olivia, a Countess whose father and brother have died. Olivia's name is not mentioned until Act 1, Scene 1, line 18. Orsino also uses a paradox "Stealing and giving" which he says that the pleasant odor has left and compares love with the sea, as it can be very strong and devastating and if something falls inside it, it will lower its value. This, however, is not the only thing we know about Orsino. He uses a pun, when his servant Curio asks him if he wants to hunt the "Hart" which was a sort of deer, and Orsino makes it sound as if he wants to go and hunt Olivia's heart, which shows us his way of avoiding Curio's attempt to change the
Explore the ways Shakespeare presents the character of Viola in Act One Scenes Two and Four.
Explore the ways Shakespeare presents the character of Viola in Act One Scenes Two and Four. Examine in particular what use Shakespeare makes of the idea of cross-dressing and suggest staging ideas that would make it interesting to the audience. Viola makes her entrance into the play in Scene 2, when she emerges out of the sea after a ship wreck. She is distraught the first time we meet her, as she has just lost her twin brother in the ship wreck. The fact that she is so distraught needs to be emphasised in the staging of the play; I think a girly, vulnerable yelp, as well as almost hysterical tears would be appropriate. This is the only time in the play where Viola is openly female and vulnerable and therefore I feel that this needs to be emphasised to the audience. One of the most interesting questions I had about Viola was why she did not go home after the ship wreck. It cannot be that she did not have enough money, as we know she does, 'For saying so there's gold.' It also could not be that home is too far away, as Orsino had been mentioned by her father, 'I have heard my father name him.' I think that the reason Viola does not go home is because there is nothing left for her there, as we know her father has died, 'My father had a mole upon his brow.' We can tell this from the use of the past tense. Her mother is also not mentioned at all in the play, apart from in a
Write a detailed analysis of the speech in Act 2 scene 4 of Twelfth Night.
Write a detailed analysis of the speech in Act 2 scene 4 of Twelfth Night. Emphasise: * How the characters reveal themselves through Shakespeare's language * The control of emotions in this scene * How the audience sympathises with the characters * The importance of this scene to the play as a whole Viola's speech in Act 2 scene 4 is very important to the play - it is here where we are first introduced to Viola's ideas about love and what it contains. She does not completely approve of Orsino's slightly cynical view of women, and seeks to correct it later in the scene. Feste sings his song at Orsino's command, a sad one about love and death. When he is done, he is dismissed, and makes a remark about Orsino's extreme changeability of mood: "... the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal." This reflects on what we picked up on earlier in the play: Orsino is very neurotic and his moods and opinions change regularly and at will. So when Orsino starts to criticise the way that women love, Viola gets understandably irritated: "There is no woman's sides / Can bide the beating of so strong a passion / As love doth give my heart / ... They lack retention." Here Orsino tries to educate the young Cesario about the way that women love, but of course 'Cesario' knows it only too well. Orsino even has the arrogance to say: "... But mine is all