"Twelfth Night"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" can be seen as comedic social commentary on love and marriage amidst the backdrop of a renaissance ducal court, such as those that predominated in northern Italy. It discusses how the play, about a young woman who disguises herself as her brother in order to gain favor with the court results in confusion and how by using Viola as a plot device, Shakespeare calls into question traditional conceptualizations of romance, as well as gender relations and the significance of titles. It shows how Shakespeare has a lot of fun playing with this mixed-identity, gender-bending premise. It outline the plot of the play and provides an analysis of the main characters.

From the Paper:

"Malvolio is self-involved; full of "self-love," as Olivia noted in Act I; he believes himself to be irresistible to a young woman like Olivia, despite the fact that he is an old servant. Maria, Olivia's servant, decides to play a trick on him by forging a mock-love letter from Olivia. Before he reads the letter, he entertains a fantasy about being married to Olivia, and getting to strut around Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, due to his imagined rise in station. Malvolio's thinking out loud gets him in trouble; the party decide that Malvolio is being a perfect "turkeycock," which is a good image to describe Malvolio's pride. Maria and Feste, the canny court fool of Olivia, continue to torment Malvolio through the play, as the old servant is somewhat of a running joke who is unable to match wits with Feste."

More papers on "Twelfth Night":

• Book Review # 139680 : "Twelfth Night and Hamlet - A Comparison"
• Analytical Essay # 130725 : "Comedy as Instruction in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night"
• Book Review # 116663 : "Twelfth Night"
• Comparison Essay # 86527 : "Disguises in "Twelfth Night" and "King Lear"

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