Fooling Around With Shakespeare s Twelfth Night - 2080 Words

Danielle Pitch Dr. Rettig ENG 409: Shakespeare 29 November 2016 Fooling Around with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night In his famous comedy, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare took a conventional comedic concept and constructed a fool character that inserts an intricacy and resonance to his work. This fool is completely placed distant from society and moreover disregards or is unable to reflect the model of society in which he finds himself. The fool is identified as the inferior in society, where he stands lower in the class system. Olivia states this notion by saying â€Å"There is no slander in an allowed fool though he do nothing but rail† (I.v. 83-84). The fool in Twelfth Night, Feste, whose insider-outsider position as a professional fool, supports him to obtain steadiness among the surrounding contradictions in a way that is unlike any other character in this play. He stuns and puzzles; persuades conjecture; and he works as a mediator between the play and audience. As stated by Walter Kaiser, it is when Feste mocks the charactersâ⠂¬â„¢ flaws and turns to his wits to â€Å"create laughter, to teach us the truth, and to embody paradoxes.† By walking on this fine line, Feste reveals the foolishness and truths of the other characters. The play deals with all aspects with great segments of passionate love, sharp wordplay, and natural comedy, which all indirectly help deem this play as â€Å"the greatest of all Shakespeare’s pure comedies†, by most Shakespeare critics. The play’s success,Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Article Twelfth Night 998 Words   |  4 PagesThe introduction of Twelfth Night, written by M.M. Mahood, provides a cultural setting for readers to better understand the play. Although Mahood wrote the introduction for Twelfth Night, the information also allows readers to appreciate the magical freedom that A Midsummer Night’s Dream encompasses. Mahood delves into the cultural significance of Puritanism early in the 17th century through the character of Mal volio. Although Twelfth Night is a comedy, the presence of morally strict PuritanismRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Twelfth Night1155 Words   |  5 Pagesaspects. Sometimes they may try to force people to act upon certain rules that define their place in society. They often try to meet expectations that society has made for them based on gender and social status. William Shakespeare reinforces these ideas in his play Twelfth Night, which introduces many meaningful messages about situations that still occur in society today. He clearly develops important themes worthy of analysis. A few of these strong themes are about stereotypes and society’s expectationsRead MoreBrilliant Folly: the Role of Feste1120 Words   |  5 PagesIn William Shakespeare s comedy Twelfth Night, it is ironic how many times the fool is said to be dishonest, when, in fact, his role proves entirely opposite. Though sometimes the characters do not realize his hidden messages, the reader can instantly comprehend Feste s figurative language, which is evident in every scene in which the fool appears. Whether he is singing to Orsino, arguing with Malvolio, or playing around with Viola, Feste always manages to sneak in a few symbolic foretokens before