Twelfth Night Song Analysis

The Purpose of Music in Twelfth Night

In the book, Twelfth Night, many of the characters ask the fool of the story, Feste, to sing songs for them about the nature of love and life. The characters ask the fool to sing these songs for them because they misunderstand the nature of love and life. The songs of the fool are the solution to the problem of the character’s misconceptions about feelings and their fate. The fool’s first song to Sir Toby and Sir Andrew is very similar to the one the fool’s second song to Orsino as they are both about what they misunderstand about love however they all of misunderstand the meaning of the song. At the end of the play, the fool sings a song to the audience about what some of the characters in the story did wrong and the true nature of life. The fool harnesses the emotional power of music to expose the true identities of the characters and sings these songs to teach them the lessons regarding their actions. After a night of drunken revelry, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew come to Feste the fool to ask for a song about advice on love as they misunderstand how love works and need somebody to teach them how to truly love. The fool sings a song of a man who thinks that love is a fleeting and not a feeling that can be permanent which is exactly what Sir Toby and Sir Andrew believe what love is as they both frivolously chase after love. The fool is making a mockery as he sings about their perspective on love and sings the song “what is