William Shakespeare Research Paper
It’s been over 400 years since the great poet, playwright, and actor, William Shakespeare, has died, yet it feels like he’s still very much alive. But why is this? Maybe it’s because of all his timeless iconic plays that are very common to this day. Maybe it’s the impact he left on the entire world of literature. Or maybe it could be the 1,700 words he created that is used every day by almost everyone. All of these are arguably the reason for his relevancy 400 years later. His works of literature are timeless because of his style and approach. William Shakespeare’s most famous plays include either comedy or tragedy. Perhaps these genres are what make his plays so seminal. This research paper sets out to explain exactly just how Shakespeare …show more content…
Some of Shakespeare’s most famous comedic plays include; The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and of course, Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play where many characters fall in love but things such as identity and love triangles prevent them from really experiencing love. Through these struggles of finding love, the audience gets a good laugh and a satisfying ending when almost everything gets resolved. One of the most comedic elements in the story is how the characters play around with gender roles. Viola dressed as a man to hide her identity but ends up falling in love with Duke Orsino. Since Viola is disguised as a man she can’t confess her love. Orsino on the other hand, is in love with Olivia who is in love with Viola’s male disguise, Cesario. All these love disasters lead to comedic misunderstandings. Perhaps, the most comedic moment in the story was when Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and of course Maria, played a trick on Malvolio. This prank was meant to make Malvolio look like a fool in front of his crush, Olivia. Maria wrote a letter that made it seem like it was written by Olivia to Malvolio confessing her love for him. The letter states that in order to show his love back he must wear yellow stockings and “go cross-gartered” (to wear the straps of his stockings crossed around his knees). The humiliation
Cruelty In Twelfth Night
1558 Words | 7 PagesAlthough the comedic purpose of the cruelty embedded amongst the humour is not so easily identifiable with modern audiences, it should not be ignored. Fundamentally, the pitiless strands of cruelty serve a principle function in the comedic formula to entertain the audience. Correspondingly, the audience of the play can overlook the cruelty in the play and validate laughing at character’s suffering because Malvolio was serving the Shakespearean convention of a character whose failings can be laughed at but also introduces a darker note to the play. Ultimately, this means that the harsh cruelty is extensively cloaked by
Deception In Twelfth Night Analysis
188 Words | 1 PagesBy doing so Olivia believes Viola to be the young man named Cesario, and falls in love with him. This then causes even more confusion as Viola, a.ka. Cesario, finds herself in love with Orsino, yet Orsino is in love with Olivia who believes to be in love with a man named Cesario.
Homosexuality In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
1112 Words | 5 PagesThe question of why Olivia, after dramatically declaring her affections for Cesario, would so quickly jump to Sebastian after finding Viola’s true identity, is likely answered by the societal norms of the Elizabethan era. Cesario and Viola are two halves of one whole; by loving Cesario, Olivia loves Viola too. Upon meeting “him,” Olivia says “Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit/ Do give thee five-fold blazon” (1.5.297-298). She is attracted not just to Cesario’s mannerisms, but to Viola’s beauty, which shines through her male bravado. The “actions and spirit” which Olivia refers to are Viola’s ability to converse with Olivia woman-to-woman, unbeknownst to the countess.
Twelfth Night Love Analysis
1197 Words | 5 PagesThere are three romantic love stories in the play. Duke Orsino expresses his love for Countess Olivia. Curio makes use of a pun when he asks the love-sick duke if he wants to go hunting the “hart,” a male deer.(1,1,18) “Why, so do I, the noblest that I have,” replies Orsino, referring to his heart, the seat of passion. Viola disguised as a man, Cesario, serves the duke.
Twelfth Night Gender Roles
815 Words | 4 PagesBy disguising herself as a man, Viola feels secure to challenge anything that comes her way. She also feels respected since society, in the shakespearean era, was dominated by men. In the text, Viola’s plan is aimed in a different direction than the
Gender Themes In Twelfth Night
851 Words | 4 PagesThe drama starts to unfold when ‘Cesario, ' Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who is in love with Olivia. Orsino does not know that Viola is a woman and sends her to persuade Olivia on his behalf. The play gets even more interesting when Olivia falls for Cesario, who is Viola. The play also focuses on the suffering he goes through in the hands of his associate servants. Many literary critics today are interested in the twist of the plot and subplot and also the themes of affection, sexuality, and gender roles.
Deception In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
746 Words | 3 PagesTo gain employment under Duke Orsino she masquerades herself as Cesario, and tricks everyone she comes in contact with. This is proven when Valentine confronts Cesario, “… he hath known you but three days, and already you are no stranger” (1, 4, 2 - 4). Within three days Viola has deceived Duke Orsino and his servants. Next, Lady Olivia has just met ‘Cesario’ and is not only tricked, but Lady Olivia falls in love with ‘him’. This is proven when Lady Olivia orders Malvolio, “Run after that peevish
Twelfth Night Character Analysis
1862 Words | 8 PagesLindheim’s Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night, notes that “critics of course usually recognize that marriage is the desired closure for comedy”, (Lindheim, 680). Many characters achieve this “desired closure for comedy”; Olivia marries Sebastian, Viola marries Orsino, and so on, yet Malvolio’s story ends in cruel suffering. It can be argued that his character falls into this tragic situation because of his vices and wickedness, but from this comes the question of who deserves what: Does being a part of a lower class with a pessimistic personality warrant torture? Malvolio may be
Essay On Gender Roles In Twelfth Night
713 Words | 3 PagesFor a woman to show interests in current affairs, express opinions, write literature was unladylike. Viola, fending for herself, in distant land, disguises herself as a boy named Cesario. Cross-dressing, in Elizabethan society, was seen as highly immoral. Viola 's male disguise “allows her to escape the confinement of a single perspective and a single voice by momentarily unfixing sexual stereotypes (184)”(Melchoir). Furthermore, Viola’s situation in Twelfth Night is not typical of an Elizabethan woman because she proves herself to be capable and intelligent.
Shakespeare's Impact On Theatre
1095 Words | 5 Pages“William Shakespeare’s Impact on Theater” says that “Theater, in particular, has experienced many changes due to his influence,” and without any major influence like Shakespeare to guide the changes of theater, it would be extremely different (Octane 1). Shakespeare introduced many new elements to theater because of how his writing was unique in his time period. Despite this, his writing appealed to many different audiences. For instance, Octane says that “The way in which Shakespeare’s plots move forward has helped define modern play-writing. Similarly, Shakespeare’s complex characterizations have brought forth a new type of storytelling in which characters’ choices drive plots forward” and “His plays were often imbued with universal truths of human existence, rather than acting as mirrors of the privileged life.
Twelfth Night
665 Words | 3 PagesThis shows that he is not truly in love with Olivia and only on the idea of being in love. He disguises his love on the idea of love by being in love with Olivia. This is evil because Orsino is not in love with Olivia, but still declaring it. If Olivia reciprocated the love Orsino claims to feel than she could have become hurt because his feelings toward her are not
Viola In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
760 Words | 4 PagesThrough her speech she says aside, Viola announces her immediate recognition of Olivia’s feelings for “Cesario” and admits to her own interest in the Duke. Readers learn about the love triangle Viola finds herself in and admires her will that keeps her from breaking under the pressure. She recognizes her vulnerable position and lets time untangle the mess she is thrown in. Moreover, the maintenance of the disguise of “Cesario” is difficult to uphold, making it all the more impressive.
Twelfth Night Olivia
1077 Words | 5 PagesHowever, Cesario (Viola) is falling in love with Orsino while Lady Olivia is falling in love with Cesario. While all this is happening, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are playing tricks and jokes on Malvolio, providing the comedy for which Twelfth Night is known. After much confusion, and the reunion of Sebastian and Viola, all is revealed.
Viola And Olivia In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
1851 Words | 8 PagesIn Twelfth Night, Viola and Olivia are the central characters to the play’s plot. Each are young women that take approaches to dealing with the people around them, which are mainly men. There is much trickery that goes on in Twelfth Night, but the ending is for the most part happy. Viola marries Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, but the events leading up to this are more or less chaotic. Ultimately, I argue that while Olivia uses her higher social status in order to maintain control of herself and others, Viola resorts to trickery in order to bring about her desires.
Theme Of Disguise In Twelfth Night
1043 Words | 5 PagesIn the play Twelfth Night, through the depiction of Orsino’s and Viola’s desires for romantic love, Shakespeare portrays how adjustable and self-delusional human romantic attraction can be, especially when blinded by wants and needs. Viola, who puts on the appearance of a man, makes everybody think she is a male. Her disguise becomes a sexual confusion throughout the play for several characters, creating an odd love triangle where Viola loves Duke Orsino, who loves Oliva, which then on the other hand loves Viola, in disguise as Cesario. On the other hand, Malvolio dreams of marrying his beloved Olivia, and gaining authority over his superiors, like Sir Toby. Shakespeare uses disguise in the play to show several confusions and internal conflicts between the characters, proving how malleable and deluded some human attractions can be.
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