Analyse Twelfth Night de William Shakespeare (en anglais)

« woman : Viola, herself in love with Orsino; and as if it was not enough, Malvolio and Sir Andrew are as well in love with Olivia and  both believe they have a chance.

Illyria seems to be in a total fever.

Shakespeare shows that these passions only create confusion, that one has to deal with them with a lot of measure, self-control and reason.

Therefore he truly celebrates order.     In addition to love, identity is as well a very big source of disorder and confusion in Twelfth Night. Shakespeare touches the question « Who am I? » throughout the entire play.

There can often be a gap between who we are in society and who we are in reality.

And therefore he demonstrates that when appearances do not correspond to reality, it creates confusion.     The most obvious manifestation in the play of this idea is of course Viola's disguise.

It is for her a terrible source of inner conflict.

She absolutely cannot be herself, she is totally conditioned by the role she has given herself.

Her reactions cannot be spontaneous, therefore she isn't free at all.

It is quite the same problem for Olivia.

Being of a high rank in society, she isn't supposed to woo a man, especially not throw herself at him the way she does towards Cesario when she confesses so quickly her love to him.

Her position does not allow her to do such a thing, but her feelings push her to do so, and this whole paradox causes great confusion in her.

This confusion appears specifically in the dialogue between her and Viola in act 3 scene 1 « Olivia : I prithee tell me what thou think'st of me, Viola : That you do think you are not what you are, Olivia: If I think so, I think the same of you, Viola: Then think you right: I am not what I am ». We can see through this passage that the notion of identity crisis is a central matter in the play.     Shakespeare highlights the fact that being incoherent with yourself leads to great disorder as well.

He pictures another of those inner conflicts in the character of Malvolio.

Malvolio has a false image of himself, he believes that he is much greater than he is and allows himself to despise everybody.

But this can only lead to great deception and unhappiness.

In opposition to him, Shakespeare introduces happy characters : Sir Toby and Maria, who are actually true to themselves.

They seem to be enjoying themselves a lot, as they aren't stuck in any disguise or trying to appear as something else than what they are.

Opposing these two people and their joy of life to the rest of the characters and their constant struggle is a great way for the playwright to celebrate once again well equilibrated minds and the virtue of order.     Thus the play Twelfth Night, depicting terrible situations of confusion, truly is a celebration of order, since it. »