Shakespeare's Witty Characterization and Humorous Language in the Twelfth Night

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination” – Albert Einstein. This cannot be more true in the case of William Shakespeare. In regards to his play Twelfth Night his creative genius is seen in his ability to create sharp and clever characters through perfectly crafted plots and themes. His aptitude to generate characters that goes against the dictate of society such as Viola and Maria marks him as one of the greatest playwrights of his age. However, his facilities as a writer are made known through his ability to twist and manipulate words and language to his own benefit. Shakespeare’s play on words and witty language serves to entertain his audience in the most complete sense possible. He does this throughout the entire play, but when discussing his use of language the character of Feste must be considered, especially since he may be regarded as Shakespeare’s mouth piece. As it will be discussed Shakespeare’s intellect is not shown in his ability to create carefully crafted plots and his magnetic writing style but his innovation in creating a world of words and enigmatic characters. Viola maybe considered the main character of the play, her character is sly and cunning. Shakespeare’s treatment of her is nothing short of utter brilliance. Viola’s ability to adapt to her surroundings and produce sharp comments in little space of time shows her as one of the most clever characters. She comes up with this almost impractical idea to masquerade as man and the fact that she gets the sea captain to agree with it shows her persuasiveness and boldness. Not only that but her plan panned out for a full three months- as stated by Duke Orsino “Three months this youth hath tended upon me” ( act 5, scene 1)- without no one being none the wiser. It is in her disguise that we see her true intelligence and witty disposition. Also her language and her delivery of it shows her impudent nature.

References: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/twelfth_night/full.html http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/twelfthnight/canalysis.html http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/albert_einstein.html http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/characters/violabio.html