at the heart of this play. To what extent do you agree? Comedy can be defined as ‘Popular entertainment composed of jokes‚ satire‚ or humorous performance’ and is said to expose ‘A humorous element of life or literature’.1 William Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ undoubtedly presents these common comedic traits and exploits them‚ primarily through the incorporation of foolishness within many aspects of the play‚ therefore conforming to comedy by that definition. However‚ within the play‚ arguably at
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Twelfth Night: Which is more engaging – the main plot or the sub-plot? Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night‚” is considered the last of the true comedies‚ his final light-hearted play before the venture into the darker‚ more sombre tragedies. As with many of his comedies‚ the basis of the story is the two intertwined love plots‚ which are sometimes separate‚ and occasionally come together and directly affect each other. This considered‚ questions have been raised as to whether it should be classed
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Twelfth Night: Analysis of Major Characters Joe Boyce: Grade11 Viola Like most of Shakespeare’s heroines‚ Viola is a tremendously likable figure. She has no serious faults‚ and we can easily discount the peculiarity of her decision to dress as a man‚ since it sets the entire plot in motion. She is the character whose love seems the purest. The other characters’ passions are fickle: Orsino jumps from Olivia to Viola‚ Olivia jumps from
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was an English playwright and poet. He was broadly known as " the greatest writer in the English language." Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night near the middle of his career and wrote it to entertain people because it was near Christmas time when the first production of the play was first performed. Shakespeare’s intention in writing this play was to present a Romantic comedy that explored the theme of love‚ music‚ and beauty. He successfully completed this play and used many literary devices‚ particularly
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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
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Twelfth Night is the merriest of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies‚ it is also the saddest. The Christian associations of the title suggests the carpe diem theme which runs through the play. Epiphany‚ according to Christian mythology‚ is the time when the shepherds recognized the birth of Christ. The feast of epiphany is the last festival of the Christmas season‚ after which death takes over. This cycle of life is an extension of the ancient pagan fertility rituals. The mood is similar in Keats’s ‘To
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COURSE: ENGLISH 121 LECTURER: MR TEMBO ASSIGNMENT: Discuss the role and effect of disguise and mistaken identity in Twelfth Night. How does Shakespeare use these to advance his plot? DUE DATE: 17 JUNE 2011 Before explicating how Shakespeare utilised disguise and mistaken identity in Twelfth Night to develop his plot‚ it is important to understand the meaning of Twelfth Night. In the eastern most part of Canada is a province called Newfoundland and Labrador‚ a long forgotten English tradition-
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BACKGROUND LECTURE ON TWELFTH NIGHT The following information is based upon my taped lecture on this play. Although this text version is not the same as the taped lecture‚ it does contain the same information. All references are based on the Signet paperback edition which you should consult in conjunction with this lecture. Twelfth Night was probably written in 1601 and first performed in January of 1602. We know this because the play is mentioned that year in the diary of a
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In Scene Four of the Second Act of Twelfth Night Orsino and Viola‚ dressed as Cesario‚ listen to music and have a conversation about love and more specifically about which kind of women Viola allegedly fancies. Furthermore‚ Orsino gives Viola advice on what sort of woman would suit her best. In this discussion‚ the relationship between love and time or more accurately‚ the changing nature of love in the passing of time seems to play a central role. This close relationship between love and time
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based on deception.” However‚ in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night‚ all comedy comes as a result of deception. Various characters play misleading roles create the chaos and dramatic irony that gives air to the play. In Twelfth Night‚ Shakespeare uses Feste‚ Malvolio‚ and Viola to demonstrate the theme that people’s appearance and status do not necessarily coincide with their true nature in order to provide conflicts‚ complications and confusion for the comedy. The presence of Feste‚ the fool‚ introduces
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