English Coursework Essay: Views on love from Twelfth Night
English Coursework Essay Views on love from Twelfth Night Twelfth Night was written in the ...... century, by the renowned author, William Shakespeare as one of his comedic plays. It is now one of his most famous works and has been made into several films. The story explores the ups and downs of love and relationships, covering everything from intimate ones, to sexual ones, to friendly ones. In Act 1, Scene 1, the Duke Orsino, who is infatuated with Lady Olivia, and will later become involved in a love triangle with her and Viola (Cesario) is in a his palace mourning his love for Olivia. Shakespeare makes sure to use plenty of metaphors and similes and word-play with complicated sentences and words, to show us that Orsino is of a higher class and is able to use proper English fluently. The very first words out of Orsino's mouth are, "If music be the food of love", which is a metaphor, describing love, namely his love for Olivia, as a living thing which needs to be fed in order to survive, which all know isn't true. It also makes us immediately doubt that this is real love because real love doesn't have to be like encourage or helped to grow or be there of whatever, it just is, unconditional, with no real explanation. And he shouldn't need music or anything else to 'feed' his love, and wouldn't if it was real. "O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a
Consider the ways in which love, obsession and disguise inform our understanding of the characters actions in Act 1 Scene 1, Act 1 Scene 5, and Act 2 Scene 5 in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Consider the ways in which love, obsession and disguise inform our understanding of the characters actions in Act 1 Scene 1, Act 1 Scene 5, and Act 2 Scene 5 in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Love, obsession and disguise all play key roles in the actions of the main characters featured in Twelfth Night. Orsino is obsessed Olivia and with the idea of being in love, but this does not bring him happiness, but makes him melancholic. We see he is also quite a wise character as well at times, when he is giving advice to Viola. . "Then let thy love be younger than thyself, or thy affection cannot hold the bent: For woman are as roses, whose fair flower being once displayed doth fall that very hour." He is a changeable character as we see from his opening speech, where his mood, which reflects his feelings about love, quickly changes. He also talks much about love but does very little. Viola is affected by love and disguise throughout the play, from the point when she decides to disguise herself as a man. The first example of love we see is one for her brother Sebastian. We see that she is a practical and resourceful character when she says "Conceal me what I am ... I'll serve this duke". She falls in love with Orsino yet continues to woo Olivia for him whilst showing him to have self knowledge and understand love properly. Olivia is also affected by love and obsession throughout the
An exploration of the contribution of disguise and deceit to the humour of 'Twelfth Night'
29th September 2003 Anna Carlisle An exploration of the contribution of disguise and deceit to the humour of 'Twelfth Night' 'Twelfth Night' could be seen as a play with dark and harsh meanings, for example, it could be said that Malvolio's planned revenge at the end of the play has an uneasy effect on the audience, in a time of general harmony. However I think that although 'Twelfth Night' does raise some moral issues, overall it is an enjoyable play. It is a play; designed to be performed in the dark, gloomy winter to bring lightness into peoples lives and I think it is successful in doing so because of the humorous scenes and characters. I have decided to investigate disguise and deceit because I think it is interesting to see how Shakespeare has used these devices to contribute to the humour of the play. 'Twelfth Night' contains many scenes, which are deliberately designed to make the audience laugh, many of which are connected to disguise and deceit. One example is Malvolio deceiving himself that Olivia loves him, after receiving Maria's letter. The audience would find this funny as Malvolio has been presented as a character they are not supposed to feel sympathy towards. This is shown when Malvolio interrupts Feste's, Sir Andrew's and Sir Toby's late-night drinking session. The conflict of personalities draw attention to Malvolio's pride: his sharp questions
Twelfth Night has been described as a play of contrast-light and darkness; humour and seriousness; excess and poverty; appearance and reality. What do you learn about Shakespeare's society, and his idea about society, through these contrast.
Twelfth Night has been described as a play of contrast-light and darkness; humour and seriousness; excess and poverty; appearance and reality. What do you learn about Shakespeare's society, and his idea about society, through these contrast. William Shakespeare's play Twelfth night is a play of contrast. Some of the contrast in the play, include humour and seriousness; excess and poverty; appearance and reality. All of these contrasts affect Shakespeare's audience, because he wanted to appeal to all different classes of the society. This meant he needed different characters that appealed to the different society hierarchy, for example Sir Toby, appealed to the lower middle-class, many of whom loved to drink. Orsino and Olivia appealed to the upper aristocrat, many of whom had power, and beauty. Shakespeare also used his characters to question political issues in Elizabethan times, for example, the puritans questioning excess, that the twelfth night celebration is wrong. In Elizabethan times, the twelve days after Christmas, up to 6th of January was a traditional holiday time of festival. During those days, excess was the main theme; drinking and partying all night. However at the end of the holiday festival the winter hardship was to follow. The Elizabethan time, was a dangerous time to live in. The amount of power the wealthy had over the poor was immense; the servants
Twelfth Night - Consider Shakespeare's portrayal of Malvolio throughout the play and say how much sympathy you feel he deserves by the end'
Harriet Ward 11c2 English Coursework Twelfth Night 'Consider Shakespeare's portrayal of Malvolio throughout the play and say how much sympathy you feel he deserves by the end' Depending on the director, Malvolio is usually played as a unsmiling puritan who wishes to be more than his current 'steward' description. Combining Shakespeare's script and the directors will, Malvolio is generally played to make the audience hate him. Malvolio is first introduced to us in Act 1 Scene 5 and straight away he comes across as an unpleasant person. Shakespeare shows us that Malvolio is very aware of his 'superior' role in the household as Olivia's steward and is very eager to use his superiority to make himself feel more powerful. Evidence of this behaviour is first shown half way through Act 1 Scene 5 . The first hint of what sort of character Malvolio is, is portrayed in the first thing he says in the entire play. 'Yes, and shall do, till the pangs of death shake him: infirmity that decays the wise, doth ever make the better fool' This is an insult to the fool, who Malvolio hates. With Malvolio, Shakespeare has created a character that the audience will have staright away developed an opinion on. In the same scene, Lady Olivia is mourning her brother's death and
How does Shakespeare manipulate the audience to dislike Malvolio towards the beginning of the play yet possibly sympathise with him by the end?
How does Shakespeare manipulate the audience to dislike Malvolio towards the beginning of the play yet possibly sympathise with him by the end? Shakespeare manipulates the audience using a variety of different techniques and tries to make the audience feel certain emotions towards characters. The play Twelfth Night is centred on love, being someone you are not and social class. The play itself is set in the land of Illyria and has two grand households; the heads of which are Olivia and Orsino. Malvolio is the steward of Olivia and highly ranked amongst the servants. He is a Puritan and is deeply religious; this fact is played upon repeatedly as they play goes on. Malvolio is a character that would be more reacted to and more relevant at the time this play was shown for the first time to an Elizabethan audience, and Malvolio may bring across different emotions in a modern audience. The first time Shakespeare introduces us to Malvolio is in Act 1 Scene 5 and he talks to Feste when he remarks, "... such a barren rascal. I saw him put down the other day with an ordinary fool that has no more brain than a stone...Unless you laugh and minister occasion to him, he is gagged." He belittles Feste and this does not help Feste as he was already in an unfavourable position with Olivia for not being around for a long time. The word barren would be interpreted by modern audiences
'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
Discuss the Various Forms of Love in Twelfth Night
Discuss the Various Forms of Love in Twelfth Night Love is arguably the most popular theme for writers and readers alike throughout the entire history of literature. It provides the fundamental framework around which spawn the many other conspiracies and sub-stories that make up an entertaining read. Twelfth Night is no exception to this theory, with love being the focal point, right the way through. Every person in the play undergoes his or her own encounter with love in some form, with each character's experience differing from the next. A multitude of different manners of love are explored in this work, with all having their own consequences and provoking a variety of reactions in the reader. The play is mainly concentrated on the difference between selfish and selfless love. Probably the best example of the former is Malvolio, Olivia's respectable yet conceited steward. In his very first appearance in the play he is accused of being 'sick of self-love' after condemning Feste's attempts to cheer up Olivia. He does not enjoy light-heartedness and is constantly criticising Sir Toby's 'misdemeanours' and Feste's humour with disapproval, cold and cutting. Throughout the play his language is pompous and superior, even when addressing Olivia. He does not speak in the same manner as the other servants and his expression is more like that of an aristocrat. He seems
How much knowledge do the characters in Twelfth Night, show about what they are? How they think? What they do?
How much knowledge do the characters in Twelfth Night, show about what they are? How they think? What they do? The title "What you Will" is a perfect summary of the whole play. This story is about deception in character, being something you are not; whether it being disguising gender, true feelings or beliefs. We never no the real to why Viola chose to disguise her gender. We must assume that she wants to conceal her identity until she has gathered enough information about where she is and maybe feels safer dressed as a boy. He is resourceful and does not take pity on herself, despite the fact she thinks she has lost her brother she quickly moves on and tries to make do with the situation. Her brother describes her as "beautiful with a mind that envy could not call for." Sebastian is expressing that she is beautiful yet clever and level-headed. Her eloquence and integrity in which she conducts herself catches Olivia's attention, resulting into some seriously difficult situations. Viola is also selfless, accepting fate and the limitations it places upon her. She knew she had fallen in love with Duke Orsino and had the perfect opportunity to come clean and express how she felt when he asked her about what she thought women should be like. She did not lie to him nor did she tell him the truth her ability to manipulate language saved her from revealing her true
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most performed comedies because it is a joyous celebration of romantic love. Do you agree?
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most performed comedies because it is a joyous celebration of romantic love. Do you agree? Twelfth Night, also known as What You Will, is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century. The play has become very popular, and is now looked at as one of Shakespeare's greatest works of art. This essay will be discussing the reasons why Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most performed comedies. At a glance, the play seems to be just a light-hearted romantic comedy, where the main theme is love, and the other themes throughout the play are heavily involved with love and romance. However, a deeper look into the play reveals a more complex purpose and more intricate themes. The characters in the play all seem to be light-hearted, and all have essential roles to play. They are all cleverly involved in several sub-plots and themes throughout the play, and make everything fit into place. These characters, the themes and the overall interpretation of the play will be examined throughout the course of this essay. It is obvious that the main themes in the play are love, comedy and folly. Love being mocked by the themes of comedy and folly are regular occurrences in Twelfth Night, which makes it easier for the audience not to take the play too seriously. A good example of this mockery is that