twelfth night analysus

... Twelfth Night (1601) exposes Shakespeare's satirical attitude toward the societal norms of the Elizabethan era. The Carnivalesque title brings about notions of both the inversion of stereotypical roles as well as the excess of the Christmas period. Feste upholds the carnival spirit while Malvolio is diametrically opposed, historically at this point there was a shift from the feudal household which is more like Olivia's with the likes of Sir Andrew and Sir Toby to the commercialised private world, much more like count Orsino's. "Throughout the play a contrast is maintained between the taut, restless, elegant court where people speak a nervous verse and the free-wheeling household of Olivia, where accept for the intense moments in Olivia's amorous interviews with Cesario, people live in easy going prose" [1] However the festive spirit is destructed by the excess of Malvolio's punishment giving an anti-carnivalesque ending, re-establishing the importance of the social hierarchy.

want to read more? →