Twelfth Night or What You Will

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Twelfth NightorWhat You Will

• Literature Notes

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• William Shakespeares plays fit into two general
  categories comedies and tragedies.
• Twelfth Night is a comedy. While Shakespeares
  tragedies usually end in death, his comedies
  often end in marriage.
• Twelfth Night deals with universal themes that
  are relevant even in modern society.

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One of the main themes in Twelfth Night is Love.
It appears in many forms in the play, just like
in society.

• Duke Orsino Olivia Antonio
  Sabastian
• Andrew Aguecheek Olivia Malvolio
  Olivia
• Olivia Cesario
• Viola Duke Orsino
• Toby Maria
• Malvolio Self

Love
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• Duke? Olivia Orsino is in love with love the
  emotions of love, the romance, the beauty, and
  how it makes him feel.
• Andrew? Olivia In love with position. He is
  interested in Olivias status, her wealth and
  standing in the community. As a man with wealth
  and position, he seeks a woman of equal or higher
  standing.
• Olivia? Cesario Love at first sight. Olivia
  has no knowledge of the real person she loves.
  She falls in love just by seeing him (her) a
  single time.
• Viola?Duke Unachievable love. Despite the
  depth of her feelings, Violas love for the Duke
  is unattainable, out of reach, denied her because
  situations prevent her from acting on her
  feelings.

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• Toby? Maria Lust. In contrast to Orsinos
  romantic ideas of love, Tobys love for Maria
  is crude and carnal.
• Malvolio? Malvolio Self love or conceit. He is
  constantly admiring himself and imagining others
  adoring him. His love for Olivia is based on
  his own self-interest.
• Malvolio ? Olivia Same as Andrew. Love of
  status.
• Antonio ? Sebastian Same gender love. Love of
  a friend.

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Two other interwoven themes in Twelfth Night are
Social Classes and the Role of Women in
Elizabethan society.

• While in Shakespeares time women were the
  underclass to men, in this play the women have
  all the power and more intelligence than the men.
• Viola and Maria are the most clever characters in
  the play, whereas Toby and Andrew are bumbling
  fools for the most part.
• The Duke is made powerless by his infatuation
  with Olivia.
• Malvolio is at the mercy of characters who he
  deems to be below him, although they are
  actually of a higher social class than he.

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• Violas gender bending would be considered in-
  appropriate behavior for Elizabethan women, but
  doing so allows her to outsmart the others and
  get what he wants.
• Coincidentally, during Shakespeares life a very
  powerful, confident woman was at the helm of his
  country Queen Elizabeth.
• Feste, or the Clown, in this play does not fit
  the mold of his name or expected social class as
  he is very wise.