Twelfth Night Essay

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Pages: 5

Twelfth Night Essay Twelfth Night is a comedy and a marvel. This play conveys many messages that are seen by the audience, but not seen by the characters in the play. There are many points involving love, friendship, conflicts and confusion. Twelfth Night displays characters that are mad, in love, and desperate for love. Twelfth Night has many conflicts that occur because characters fail to listen to messages. Viola is a character who has just thought that her brother has died in a shipwreck that they were both in. Viola disguises herself as a man to seek employment under the Duke Orsino’s court. The confusion occurs, when Viola tells Orsino that she loves someone (Orsino), when she tells Olivia that she cannot love a woman, and when …show more content…
Still, Olivia being blinded by love, and desperate for a man, does not interpret Viola’s message. Viola attempts to speak with Festé the fool, but even he does not fully understand her secret. Nor does he understand who is in love with whom. Festé the fool is a wise clown, who has perfected his profession, yet does not realize when Viola /Cesario is trying to tell him something about her true character. The fool is also blinded by trickery and his own personality. Viola, whom everyone thinks to be Cesario – a servant for Orsino – is slowly unveiling her true personality and secret. No one seems to listen to her, thus causing many misunderstandings, odd occurring, and mysterious acts between the characters. [Fool] “Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, send thee a beard! [Viola] By my troth I’ll tell thee, I am almost sick for one, ‘aside’ though I would not have it grown on my chin. –” (III.I. 45-50) Viola tells Festé that she would not like a beard, but the truth is that she cannot grow one. As Sebastian enters the next scene, and becomes a more involved character, he is important because his sister Viola looks very much like him. They are twins, so as other characters see them, their confusion rises, and more conflicts occur. Festé the fool does not realize who is who, when he is speaking to Viola/Cesario or Sebastian. [Sebastian] “Go to, go to, thou art a foolish fellow. Let me be free of thee. [Fool] Well held out, i’ faith. No, I do not know you, nor am I not