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Presentation
Subject
Classical Drama
9057
Topic :
TWELFTH NIGHT

Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad

Presented by :
Tehreem-Un-Nisa
Submitted to
Most Respected Miss ,
Tayyaba Tajamal
 Questions
Question 1:
How TWELFTH NIGHT is comedy of mask .write 10 points?
Answer:
TWELFTH NIGHT is comedy of mask

• Twelfth Night can be considered a model Shakespearean comedy in that it employs

nearly every feature of the genre:
• A wedding
• Mistaken identities,
• Misunderstandings,
• Physical comedy,
• A happy ending.

• Twelfth Night contains some elements of a comedy of manners, although it is not

typically categorized as such.

• Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play's main focus. Despite
the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another
and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain.

• Masks are used throughout Shakespeares Twelfth Night to reveal characters true
emotions, to carry the story and explain things to the reader, and to express the power
of raw beauty.

• Masks put characters in a sort of darkness of night, allowing them to become someone
else.

• All masks are discarded for a great finale. The perfect example of the use of masking
imagery can be seen in Feste the jester.

• Aristotle’s words the catharsis of the emotions of pity and fear or the amusement and
laughter which a comedy is expected to give to the audience. Before appreciating the
Twelfth Night as a comedy of masks or mistaken identity it seems appropriate that
we should discuss what Muir has said of the favorite theme of Shakespeare – the
 contrast between appearance and reality which is symbolized in the comedies of
Shakespeare in the old theatrical device of ‘Disguise’.

• It is the denouement that must unmask Viola, reveal a brother and sister and pairs of
lovers already destined for each other. The unmasked Viola will be no stranger to
Orsino, nor Sebestian to Olivia. It is the masterly building up of the reality of disguise
that enables Shakespeare to achieve the element of surprise in the ending scene of the
play.

• It is the masterly building up of the reality of disguise that enables Shakespeare to

achieve the element of surprise in the ending scene of the
play.

• Shakespeare seems to have granted to the audience freedom of

interpretations. His play exhibits his dramatic genius and the psychological insight
with which he has drawn characters who are the just representation of the general
nature.
 Question 2

How Twelfth Night is Romantic Comedy?10 points

Answer:
1. Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play's main focus. Despite
the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another
and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain.

2. Romantic comedies of Shakespeare are a beautiful blend of frivolity and romance. A

romantic triangle of love is a wonderful exposition of the themes of love in the main plot
and Malvolio’s hopeless love for his mistress.

3. A romantic comedy starts with some problems that make the union of the lover difficult.
But it ends with their happy union. Twelfth Night is a typical romantic play of
Shakespeare. It has some elements which give the play a romantic air. It is romantic in
its setting and theme. Love at first sight, music, improbabilities and the violation of the
classical rules have lent weight to the view that Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy.

4. Twelfth Night is also romantic in the sense that it does not follow the classical unities of
time, place and action.

5. According to Summers, love and its fulfillment are primary in Shakespeare’s comedies.
Its conflicts are often presented in terms of the battle of the generations.

6. The comedies usually end with the triumph of young love.

7. Shakespeare leads his audience in Illyria where they breathe in a romantic air, forgetting
all the cares of life because care is the enemy of life.

8. Twelfth Night is justly considered as one of the most delightful of Shakespeare’s

comedies.
9. Critics and interpreters of Shakespeare’s dramas unanimously hold the opinion that
Shakespeare does not choose one or the other segment of society for his satire.
10. If comedy laughs, romance is not to be
offended; if love sighs, comedy promises to
put up with to a point! Should we think that
producing a romantic comedy is not possible.
Shakespeare as a dramatist par excellence
does not disappoint us as readers and
theater goers. He so skillfully manipulates the
comic devices that there is a nice balance
maintained between the absurdity of utopian
love and the amusement and laughter that is expected from a romantic comedy.