Shakespeare’s comparison of ignorance to darkness and hell in Twelfth Night illustrates the ironies inflicted on the main characters and shows that as long as they do not know the true state of their situations, they will be in the agony of their own personal hells. Feste and Malvolio deliver a shared simile in 4.2, which reveals the foundational theme of the play: the characters in Olivia’s house (sphere of influence) are ignorant of their true situations.
MALVOLIO. I say to you this house is dark.
FESTE. There is no darkness but ignorance…
MALVOLIO. I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell… (4.2.40-43,45-46)
The intrigues of Twelfth Night are built on deception and ignorance. If it wasn’t …show more content…
“The lady bade take away the fool; therefore, I say again, take her away” (1.5.8-49). So convinced is Feste of his assessment that he boldly asks her permission to justify the claim: “Good Madonna, give me leave to prove you a fool” (1.5.53-54), which Shakespeare does through the course of the play. We see his prognostication carried out by Olivia. One demonstration of Olivia’s ignorance comes in her unfounded infatuation with the apparent young man, Cesario, whom we know to be Viola in the guise of a man. “I am a gentleman” (1.5.268), Viola impersonates. “I’ll be sworn thou art” (1.5.280), Olivia gulls herself in exposition. Olivia is also completely blind towards her own steward’s intentions. She misinterprets Malvolio’s scorn of Feste. “O, you are sick of self-love, Malvolio” (1.5.86), Olivia scolds. In reality, Malvolio is secretly in love not with himself, but with Olivia, as comes to bear in his professions of love in 3.4. Her ignorance sets her up for unhappiness; she unknowingly leads on her most trusted servant, then falls in love with a man who is really a woman with a fictitious name and a hired …show more content…
Fooling oneself or being fooled by others inevitably sets up a situation in which even a temporary win will be an overarching loss. Feste walks among the landmines of intermingled plots and characters pitted against each other in impossible situations with an elegant dexterity, at the same time part of it and a separate entity. His skill enables him to lead Malvolio to the epiphany that is the very essence of Twelfth Night: all the people involved in the ignorance of Olivia’s world will be inextricably enmeshed in these goings on, which can only end in the anguish of hell and frustration, unless they are brave enough to open their eyes to the truth of who people really are and the true natures of what they
MALVOLIO. I say to you this house is dark.
FESTE. There is no darkness but ignorance…
MALVOLIO. I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell… (4.2.40-43,45-46)
The intrigues of Twelfth Night are built on deception and ignorance. If it wasn’t …show more content…
“The lady bade take away the fool; therefore, I say again, take her away” (1.5.8-49). So convinced is Feste of his assessment that he boldly asks her permission to justify the claim: “Good Madonna, give me leave to prove you a fool” (1.5.53-54), which Shakespeare does through the course of the play. We see his prognostication carried out by Olivia. One demonstration of Olivia’s ignorance comes in her unfounded infatuation with the apparent young man, Cesario, whom we know to be Viola in the guise of a man. “I am a gentleman” (1.5.268), Viola impersonates. “I’ll be sworn thou art” (1.5.280), Olivia gulls herself in exposition. Olivia is also completely blind towards her own steward’s intentions. She misinterprets Malvolio’s scorn of Feste. “O, you are sick of self-love, Malvolio” (1.5.86), Olivia scolds. In reality, Malvolio is secretly in love not with himself, but with Olivia, as comes to bear in his professions of love in 3.4. Her ignorance sets her up for unhappiness; she unknowingly leads on her most trusted servant, then falls in love with a man who is really a woman with a fictitious name and a hired …show more content…
Fooling oneself or being fooled by others inevitably sets up a situation in which even a temporary win will be an overarching loss. Feste walks among the landmines of intermingled plots and characters pitted against each other in impossible situations with an elegant dexterity, at the same time part of it and a separate entity. His skill enables him to lead Malvolio to the epiphany that is the very essence of Twelfth Night: all the people involved in the ignorance of Olivia’s world will be inextricably enmeshed in these goings on, which can only end in the anguish of hell and frustration, unless they are brave enough to open their eyes to the truth of who people really are and the true natures of what they