Love and Mistaken Identities in Twelfth Night, a Play by William Shakespeare

“Twelfth Night” is a play written by Shakespeare. This play, primarily primarily based on enjoy, starts with Orsino attempting to win Olivia’s adore. Viola, who was shipwrecked, assists the Duke by disguising herself as Cesario and ends up falling in really like with the Duke. Olivia’s servant, Maria, plays a prank on Malvolio. Maria sends Malvolio enjoy letters as if they were written by Olivia, leading Malvolio into believing that Olivia loves him but alternatively, tends to make a fool of himself. The Duke wants Cesario to win Olivia’s adore for him, nevertheless Olivia confesses her really like for Cesario. 1 of Olivia’s men, Sir Andrew, challenges Cesario to a fight but he declines. Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother who was also shipwrecked, tends to make an appearance and is led to marriage by Olivia who mistakens him for Cesario. Cesario uncovers himself as Viola, and the Duke asks her to marry him, meanwhile Sir Toby and Maria get married. The central concept is frequently every person falls in enjoy. To realize “Twelfth Night,” one particular must know how mistaken identities develop humor, how love affects the conflict, and the opposites Malvolio and Sir Toby represent.

Shakespeare uses mistaken identities to generate humor. Humor is designed when Viola asks the captain to “Conceal [her] of what she is” (I.2.51) “to assure her own protection” (Roberts). The audience is nicely aware that Cesario is a woman but the rest of the characters in the play do not know this. This fact entertains the audience in a lot of scenes. For example, when Cesario is asked to win Olivia’s adore for the Duke, Olivia falls in really like with Cesario instead. It is known to the audience that Olivia is falling for a lady but she is not well aware of this which creates amusement. When Sir Toby creates a feud amongst Cesario and Sir Andrew for a fight, little does Sir Toby know that Cesario is a lady. This unknown reality to the characters enlightens the audience to anticipate what will occur in the fight. Viola being disguised to appear a lot like her brother, raises tension when Antonio mistaken Cesario for Sebastian. Humor is also designed when Olivia marries Sebastian instead of Cesario and the Duke’s adore shifts from Olivia to Viola. Viola disguised as Cesario creates dramatic irony and keeps the readers entertained by the humor developed in the scenes.

The theme of really like affects the conflict in a couple of approaches, Viola’s enjoy for Orsino and Olivia’s enjoy for Cesario. Viola’s really like for Orsino is accurate adore. She falls in adore with him instantly but can do practically nothing about it due to the fact she is still disguised as Cesario. Even though she is pretending to be a man and is not recognized by the individuals of Illyria, she “would be his wife” (I.4.41) and is hoping he is “constant to her” and “inconstant in his affections for Olivia” (Roberts). The Duke and Cesario turn out to be extremely close and have a wonderful bond functioning collectively so when Cesario reveals himself as Viola, it is simple for them to marry every other. In another love scenario, Olivia loves Cesario but he does not really like her back. As Cesario tries winning Olivia’s love for the Duke, Olivia falls for Cesario simply because he knows what precisely a woman would like to hear. Enjoy plays a significant function in this play. The theme of enjoy affects the conflict simply because other characters fall for each and every other but when accurate colors are revealed in the finish of the play, the characters really like for every single other switches up.

Malvolio and Sir Toby Belch receive opposite qualities in this play. Malvolio is Olivia’s steward and is of the lower class. He is quite stern and hates almost absolutely everyone. He criticizes almost everything and what every person does. Malvolio is the opposite of satisfied. He likes to keep a great manner but loses it when he tries to impress Olivia. On the other hand, Sir Toby Belch is Olivia’s uncle and is of the upper class. He loves to drink, sing, and dance. Sir Toby is fairly obnoxious and rude. He utilizes Sir Andrew, his drinking buddy, to marry Olivia so he can get away with drinking. Sir Toby is also a careless man and has no shame in getting loud and drunk as his niece mourns for her brothers death. Malvolio bickers at Sir Toby’s habits and calls him out by asking him, “Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty” (II.three.82). Sir Toby does not like Malvolio since he only cares for his social rank and mostly because he judges Sir Toby of his partying habits. Malvolio does not like Sir Toby simply because of his improper behavior. The two come from different social classes but act the opposite of their class. These two are entirely distinct Malvolio wants “everyone to be as austere and priggish as he is” and Sir Toby “always finds pleasure in life” (Roberts).

Being aware of how mistaken identities generate humor, how the theme of really like affects conflict, and the opposites Malvolio and Sir Toby represent need to have to be understood when reading this play. Becoming capable to identify who the characters are and what traits they portray will help the readers realize them much better. Love is a significant theme that affects the conflict and getting able to recognize the love triangles will give a much better understanding of this play.