Twelfth Night
A fool can be defined in many meanings according to the Oxford English Dictionary On Historical Principles. The word could mean "a silly person", or "one who professionally counterfeits folly for the entertainment of others, a jester, clown" or "one who has little or no reason or intellect" or "one who is made to appear to be a fool" (word originated from North Frisian). In english literature, the two main ways which the fool could enter imaginative literature is that "He could provide a topic, a theme for mediation, or he could turn into a stock character on the stage, a stylized comic figure". In William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, Feste the clown is not the only fool who is subject to foolery. He and many other characters combine their silly acts and wits to invade other characters that "evade reality or rather realize a dream", while "our sympathies go out to those". "It is natural that the fool should be a prominent & attractive figure and make an important contribution to the action" in forming the confusion and the humor in an Elizabethan drama. In Twelfth Night, the clown and the fools are the ones who combine humor & wit to make the comedy work.
"CLOWN Good madonna, why mourn'st thou? Lastly, Sir Toby Belch is another fool in Twelfth Night. His role is helping "on the game of make-believe". Always convincing & encouraging the rich Sir Andrew Aguecheek that he has a chance of winning Lady Olivia's love. He is similar to Feste, except he plays the role of a knight and is Olivia's kinsman. His role is similar to a fool because he depicts many pranks of a fool. For example in Act II scene iii, while he was drunk he sings along with Feste when Malvolio barges in to shut them up. Whenever there is a prank, Maria invites Sir Toby to participate. One such prank was to assist Maria's fake letter to make Malvolio think Olivia is in love with him. Sir Toby's make-believe scheme works convincingly on Malvolio. Another prank was to accompany the disguised Feste (Sir Topaz) into the dark cell where Malvolio was imprisoned. This accompaniment was probably to assure Malvolio that the real Sir Topaz is visiting him. Yet it is another make-believe scheme of Sir Toby. "MALVOLIO: I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you!" (V.i.378) At the end of the comedy, Feste, "is given the last word and is left in possession of the stage". Feste is more of the comic truth of the comedy. Although he does not make any profound remarks, he seems to be the wisest person within all the characters in the comedy. Viola remarks this by saying "This fellow's wise enough to play the fool"(III.i.61). Since Feste is a licensed fool, his main role in Twelfth Night is to speak the truth. This is where the humor lies, his truthfulness. In one example he proves Olivia to be a true fool by asking her what she was mourning about. The point Feste tried to make was why was Olivia mourning for a person who's soul is in heaven? Part of the humor that lies in this comedy is that Maria's pranks are harsh & cruel, using love and power (status of Olivia) to attack Malvolio, steward of Olivia, who is "....sick of self love"(I.v.90). For this, M
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Approximate Word count = 1328
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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