Fools In Twelfth Night
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, we are presented with various characters and plots which supply the play with comedic elements. The comedy of Twelfth Night predominantly stems from the ‘foolish’ characters and the scenarios they are involved in. Traditionally a fool is defined as ‘a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person’, ‘a person who is duped or imposed on’, or ‘a jester or clown, especially one retained in a royal or noble household’. (1) In Twelfth Night it is clear that at least one definition is relevant to almost every character, and this is why comedy is dependent upon the fool.
Almost every character in Twelfth Night is portrayed as a fool in some sense, and there are two main categories of fools, the ‘Natural …show more content…
The comic effect of Maria’s trick is amplified for the audience by what Malvolio instantly betrays about himself. Before reading Maria’s letter, the uptight steward who has scolded other characters for spoiling their ‘appetite’ for love, demonstrates sensuality as he envisions himself married to Olivia “in my branched velvet gown, having come from a day-bed, where I have left Olivia sleeping”. Malvolio’s smugness at his high social status is humorously suggestive, “wind up my watch, or play with my – some rich jewel”. As Malvolio aspires ‘To be Count Malvolio!’, the letters in this prestigious title appear in his account of Olivia’s handwriting – “her very C’s, her U’s, and her T’s, and thus makes she her great P’s” – which is a joke at his own expense. It could also be argued that his bawdy behaviour continues to expose his desires for a physical relationship with Olivia, punning on the word ‘cut’ as reference to the female genitalia, and the homophonic link of ‘P’s’ to ‘pees’ which is a synonym of urinates. By extending the joke further, Shakespeare makes the oblivious Sir Andrew spell it out yet again, “Her c’s, her u’s and her t’s: why that?”. Evidently, Malvolio is not the only victim of foolery but Sir Andrew is as well through is slow uptake of the
Almost every character in Twelfth Night is portrayed as a fool in some sense, and there are two main categories of fools, the ‘Natural …show more content…
The comic effect of Maria’s trick is amplified for the audience by what Malvolio instantly betrays about himself. Before reading Maria’s letter, the uptight steward who has scolded other characters for spoiling their ‘appetite’ for love, demonstrates sensuality as he envisions himself married to Olivia “in my branched velvet gown, having come from a day-bed, where I have left Olivia sleeping”. Malvolio’s smugness at his high social status is humorously suggestive, “wind up my watch, or play with my – some rich jewel”. As Malvolio aspires ‘To be Count Malvolio!’, the letters in this prestigious title appear in his account of Olivia’s handwriting – “her very C’s, her U’s, and her T’s, and thus makes she her great P’s” – which is a joke at his own expense. It could also be argued that his bawdy behaviour continues to expose his desires for a physical relationship with Olivia, punning on the word ‘cut’ as reference to the female genitalia, and the homophonic link of ‘P’s’ to ‘pees’ which is a synonym of urinates. By extending the joke further, Shakespeare makes the oblivious Sir Andrew spell it out yet again, “Her c’s, her u’s and her t’s: why that?”. Evidently, Malvolio is not the only victim of foolery but Sir Andrew is as well through is slow uptake of the