Topic > Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare - 1153

In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare portrays several characters in controversial ways. Some witty characters are described as silly, and some silly characters are portrayed as witty. At the beginning of the play, Sir Andrew and Malvolio are presented as intelligent people; however, as the show progresses, the audience is exposed to his silly sides. On the other hand, Sir Toby and Feste are depicted as fools, but as the plot develops the audience recognizes their wisdom. Malvolio and Sir Andrew's silly sides are brought out due to their naive natures, while Feste and Sir Toby's wisdom is revealed through their insightful observations and brilliant prank ideas. The author uses convincing dialogue to illustrate Sir Andrew and Malvolio as witty characters. With the same great skill, he transforms those characters and reveals their madness to the spectators. Sir Andrew is one of the many reckless brains in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. At the beginning of the play, he is credited with speaking "three or four tongues word for word without a book," but later Shakespeare unleashes Sir Andrew's gullible nature (I.iii.24). For example, when Sir Toby went back and forth between Cesario and Sir Andrew, making false threats, Sir Andrew became very frightened and said “smallpox! I will not meddle with him” (III. Iv.252). Malvolio impresses the audience with his presentable and polite etiquette. He is described as the naive goody-two-shoes. However, audiences were able to see his naive side, when he received a joke love letter and turned into an airheaded fool dressed in yellow tights. Despite his sharp and intelligent appearance at first, he turned out to be a complete idiot. Although... middle of paper... typical scene. The irony of the situation and the love triangle make the viewers laugh a lot. The audience is fascinated as they watch Viola's transformation into Cesario, the Duke's servant. The suspense grows as Viola begins to realize that she is falling in love with Duke Orisno, but in order to survive; she has to continue pretending to be a man and is unable to reveal her love. The irony is felt when Orisno, asks his close servant Cesario to go to Olivia and make her understand how deeply he loves her. Shakespeare shows his helplessness in this situation because he has to help his love, try to woo someone else. The irony develops into a love triangle when Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario as "he" loved Orisno. Olivia's love is confirmed when she says "Yet come again, for perhaps you might move that heart, which now abhors, to appreciate his love" (III.i.153).