Abstract
This paper compares the various themes in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" and "Hamlet", further noting that they are two entirely different plays, with the former a light comedy, and the other a tragedy which has inspired awe and admiration for hundreds of years. However, the paper contends that what they have in common is that both deal with the theme of madness. Unsurprisingly, these two very different plays deal with this theme in very different ways.

From the Paper
"Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' and 'Hamlet' are two entirely different plays, with the former a light comedy, and the other a tragedy which has inspired awe and admiration for hundreds of years. However, what they have in common is that both deal with the theme of madness. Unsurprisingly, these two very different plays deal with this theme in very different ways. This paper will compare the treatment of madness in these two plays. Most people are well aware that Hamlet deals with madness, as the play is so strongly associated with the tormented, insane figure of Ophelia; as..."

Tags:hamlet, twelfth, night

Abstract
In this article, the writer maintains that in "Twelfth Night", William Shakespeare was clearly concerned to teach several lessons about the nature of love and of human relationships. In this essay, the writer discusses that Shakespeare uses the element of comedy to portray these lessons through different characters and that this was more effective than if the information had just been put across in an instructional manner.

From the Paper
"In this essay it will be argued that the lessons are made more accessible due to being conveyed by characters and actions in a romantic comedy, frequently in a comic way, than they would have been if the lessons were simply stated in a didactic way. In Shakespeare's time, his plays provided entertainment and often comedy to people who had far less access to entertainment than we do in our time, with our highly commercialized and ubiquitous entertainment industry."

Tags:twelfth, night, Shakespeare

Abstract
This review analyzes the different types of love that the characters of "Twelfth Night" undergo in their attempt to find love. The paper relates that the various characters in the story experience or show fabrications of love, lustful infatuations, and true conventional love.

From the Paper
"There are various types of love experienced by the characters in Twelfth Night, along with the consequences that are created. The various individuals show fabrications of love, infatuation, as well as conventional love. At the end of the last act, Sebastian and Viola are reunited and their personalities in this scene allow all the puzzle pieces (i.e. mistaken identities) to fit together. The masks and disguises are ultimately removed and the characters can now follow their own identity, gender, and love interests."

Tags:twelfth, night, william, shakespeare, love, olivia, sebastian, malvolio, masks, disguises

Abstract
In this paper, the use of disguise in Twelfth Night and King Lear are similar in their usage of various behaviors, costumes, and gender roles that are exchanged to discover the real truth through hidden identity. The paper discusses The Earl of Kent's use of disguise of Caius; contrasting with elements of disguise in Twelfth Night that offer a comedic gender role reversal for the men and women involved in love intrigue.

From the Paper
"In this drama study one can compare and contrast the various uses of disguise that arise within Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and King Lear. By realizing the depth and scope of romantic love within the comedic Twelfth Night, Shakespeare intertwines various aspects of relationships that are disguised through gender roles. In contrast to Shakespeare's comedies, King Lear offers a tragic point of view through disguise, which involves the role of power and leadership, which drives King Lear to madness. In essence, by comparing and contrasting the theme of disguise in both tragedy and comedy, one can evaluate how Shakespeare enacts these crucial factors within a textual analysis."

Tags:lear, night, comedy

Abstract
The paper discusses how Viola's speech in Act II defines the gender, verbal manipulation, and patriarchal aspects of the theme of disguise in William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". The paper shows how by understanding the gender roles allocated to men, she then begins to realize how she can manipulate her adversary verbally in her speech and how strong the power of being a man is in a patriarchal society.

Tags:shakespeare, twelfth, violet

Abstract
The paper notes that the 2006 film "She's the Man" clearly pays homage to Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night" in the names of its main characters and the bare-bones outline of its cross-dressing plot, however, the paper points out many differences. The paper discusses how in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", his Viola disguises herself as a boy because of grief, not out of a love of sports, and, Shakespeare's comedy is more fundamentally based upon emotion, character, and even social class than physical difference. The paper continues by noting that Shakespeare's Viola is both a sadder and more vulnerable character throughout "Twelfth Night", in contrast to the more tomboyish Viola in the modern film who can fend for herself. Finally, the paper relates that the very sinister 'madness plot' and the characters of Toby and Andrew in "Twelfth Night" are toned down in "She's the Man".

From the Paper
"The main character, Viola Hastings, is abandoned by her brother Sebastian when the young man leaves for a music career in London, dropping out of the second prep school he has been forced to attend by their parents. Viola leaves Cornwall Prep and pretends to be a boy so she can play soccer disguised as Sebastian at Illyria Prep. However, in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, his Viola disguises herself as a boy because of grief, not out of a love of sports. Viola finds herself unwillingly rather than willingly in the land of Illyria after a shipwreck. She mistakenly fears that her brother Sebastian has died."

Tags:Viola, Sebastian, Cornwall, Prep, gender, identity

Abstract
In this article, the writer points out that many scholarly articles and studies of 'Twelfth Night' tend to downplay the literary importance of the play by categorizing it as a genial and charming play. The writer maintains that there is not anything inherently abominable about being either genial or charming, but these two words do not do justice to Shakespeare's deceptively "light" play. 'Twelfth Night' is not a tragedy, but this does not prevent Shakespeare from exploring, through comedy, several fundamental themes of human existence: love, grief, and desire. This paper analyzes Shakespeare's exploration of these existential themes as they appear in 'Twelfth Night' and argues that the playwright, through comedy, unveils the ludicrousness and inappropriateness of extravagant and sentimental emotion.

From the Paper
"The question and the man who asks it barely register in Orsino's mind, but he is quick to pull out his readily available stock of conventional wisdom as soon as he breaks his reverie, and responds to Curio's question with a trite metaphor on love and hunting. No wonder, then, that the servants show signs of impatience and restlessness: their master is luxuriating in a state of complete self-absorption, and the outside world (or the beings that inhabit it) have ceased to exist. Of course, this matters not at all to the extravagant Orsino, as he is completely clueless as to what transpires around him and simply lacks the energy (in the manner of all love-sick gentleman) to engage in hunting or other depleting physical activities.
"Olivia, too, embodies these same characteristics, and it is perhaps unfortunate that the two do not make their own happy ending. Similarly to her determined pursuer, Olivia's emotional "disorder" reveals itself through her conversations with Cesario. The reader knows, before even encountering Olivia, that she is in mourning for a beloved brother. "

Tags:character, play, comedy, behavior

Abstract
Madness in Shakespearean plays has distinct and multiple meanings and purposes. On one level, the madness of insanity is clearly felt in the tragedies like "Lear". On another, madness is also felt in the frenetic pace of impossible situations and comedic errors in judgment as is found in "Twelfth Night". Madness is, then, both tragic and comedic. But, it is much more than that. Madness represents a loss of control, of being borne by unnatural impulses, drivesa nd, perhaps, voices. Being mad is to not be yourself, it is to have lost touch with humanity, with life and with reality. The mad are excused from the rules of man and at the same time, tragically bound by them. For some, in madness is found freedom. Lear is wrapped, tightly, within a horrible prison created by his inability to see through the duplicitous daughters and embrace the one person in his life that loves him enough to refuse him. His madness, in the end, is what sets him free of the binds that his daughters and his pride had him in. The madness, however, is like the release from an intense and long-term drug addiction, it is horrible to watch, but leaves Lear in a better state afterward, free of poisons. Madness also allows otherwise straight-laced, bound by social rules (which were oppressive in Elizabethan England), to freely express inner passions, make mistakes and be fools in the eyes of others without fear of recourse, as is the case with nearly every character in "Twelfth Night". It is the purpose of this paper to examine the nature of madness in the Shakespearean context, how it plays out in both King Lear and Twelfth Night, and the meaning behind the madness in both works.

Abstract
"The Twelfth Night" is an example of how a play can function both as theatrical performance, and as literature. The Twelfth Night is a play based on gender impersonation and openly mocks the assumptions about feminine and masculine behavior or expectation. This paper focuses on Viola, and Olivia, as they are so clearly designed to complement and contradict (even through the names, which are different arrangements of the same letters.) As Viola impersonates the young man with whom Olivia has fallen in love, the differences in how Viola manages to speak as a man are as varied as Olivia's relations for speaking as a woman in relation to men.

Abstract
This paper examines the purpose of mankind in William Shakespeare's time, looking specifically at the character of Malvolio ("Twelfth Night"),in order to emphasize the importance of character flexibility in the changing world. The paper examines how the character of Malvolio shifts from a man who holds the respect of others to a comic figure, but his downfall occurs because he follows his societal role too strictly and cannot learn to shift mindset and attitude, a characteristic that marks the successful protagonists, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino. The paper shows that in "Twelfth Night", Malvolio is set in his decision to win Olivia's hand, but he fails due to his inability to adapt to new situations, revealing Shakespeare's view that a man who cannot alter himself to fit new situations will not be able to succeed.

From the Paper
"From the beginning of the story, Malvolio entertains the idea of becoming husband to Olivia, as when he daydreams, "Maria once/ told me she did affect me; and I have heard herself/ come thus near, that, should she fancy, it should/ be one of my complexion" (II.v.22-6). Malvolio sees himself as a fit suitor for Olivia, and is determined to act in ways that he believes will win her hand. As a Puritan, many of Malvolio's characteristics are serious and somber, his natural dignity and grave conduct preventing him from joking and outwitting others. Believing Olivia to be a state of honest mourning, he views his similarly serious demeanor to be appropriate to win her trust, and eventually her hand. The first appearance of Malvolio reveals his inflexible nature; after the Clown tries to win back Olivia's favor, Malvolio insults him and is in turn mocked. Olivia explains to him, "To be generous,/ guiltless, and of free disposition, is to take those/ things for birdbolts that you deem cannon bullets" (I.v.91-3). Malvolio cannot take any matters touching him lightly, because he is set in his ways and unable to adapt. Rather than dodging criticisms and jokes as Olivia suggests, Malvolio turns to insults and reveals his immovable nature. His somberness is suited to fit Olivia's state of mourning, but as Olivia moves towards a normal life again, Malvolio's somber attitude grates on her nerves and a complete outward change is needed to keep her interest."

Tags:Maria, Puritan