Social Class System In Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare

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Furthermore, in Twelfth Night a character named Feste the clown is presented. In the play, Feste points fun at everyone no matter the class or social rank an individual is and even sings songs pertaining to the mood of the play. The tone of play especially changes once everyone mistook Sebastian as Cesario From “Nothing that is so, is so': Twelfth Night.” author Ryan Kiernan states, “Festevents his irritation in a sarcastic tirade, ironically unaware, for once, that he speaks more truly than he knows...'Nothing that is so, is so': therein lies the distilled wisdom not just of Twelfth Night, but of the whole sequence of comedies it brings to a close”. In other words, Kiernan means characters like Feste is speaking like he is apart of the audience …show more content…
The system was reinforced by the reality of society not wanting to change the classes, even when Shakespeare encourages this change. Olivia’s and Cesario’s class change brought a sense of hope because Olivia fell in love with a “man” based on his heart, not his class. Twelfth Night is a comedy which means chaos is brought upon in the beginning and the happy ending at the end. The mixing of social classes was supposed to bring upon hope, even though it was chaotic, that one day the classes can be intermingled and everything can be okay, but due to the reality of society and social rules win at the end. Through the use of Toby and Maria, a little hope was brought upon their intermingled class marriage because she was a lady, but she was apart of the court and friends with Olivia. More specifically, the ship captain and Malvolio were punished for acting out of rank and then thrown into a cell. Both men represented the two sides of reaction for the lower class the quiet ones and the revengers seekers. Lastly, the character named Feste who spoke for Shakespeare and his belief on the class system and pointed out, through the use of a song, what was wrong with. Nonetheless, Twelfth Night tried to subvert the possibility of change but instead reinforced the social class system due to the backlash of …show more content…
125, Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center, login. Proxy 151. Nc l ive.org/login?url=http ://go.galegroup.com.p roxy151.nclive.org/ps/ i.do?p= LitRC&sw=w&u=ncliverockcc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420093222&asid=c526a40383227dd454b088ad42880cc4. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017. Originally published in University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 76, no. 2, Spring 2007, pp. 679-713.
Kerwin, William. "Beyond Body and Soul: Twelfth Night and Early Modern
Medicine."Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 133, Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center, login.proxy151.n clive.org/login?u rl=http://go.galegroup.com.proxy1 51.nclive.org /ps/i.do?p=LitRC & sw=w&u=ncliv erockcc&v=2.1& it=r&id=GALE% 7CH1 420099971&asid=8b591cc20210afaff5511568aa5cfd38. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017. Originally published in Beyond the Body: The Boundaries of Medicine and English Renaissance Drama, University of Massachusetts Press, 2005, pp. 194-231.
Kiernan, Ryan. "'Nothing that is so, is so': Twelfth Night." Shakespearean Criticism, edited by
Michelle Lee, vol. 144, Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center, login.proxy 51.nclive. org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.proxy151.nclive.org/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ncliverockcc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420107332&asid=bd1737ce4e10c8a27b2bf
Roark, Chris. "'Make Your Proof': Interpretation and Twelfth Night's Conclusion."

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