In the play “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare the playwright uses much dramatic irony. dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something in the play that the characters themselves do not know, but act out. It is very effective in creating humor and comedy. Here are some examples of dramatic irony:
Towards the end of scene four the Duke wishes to send Cesario to court Olivia for him. The Duke believes that Olivia will pay more attention to Cesario and be able to relate to him better because he is young and good-looking. The Duke does not realise that the reason Viola looks this way is because she is female.
Later on in the play the Duke speaks to Cesario and compares him to the Goddess of hunting and virgins, Diana. He says that Cesario has red lips like Diana and has a high-pitched voice like a woman. The Duke does not know that Cesario is in fact a woman, Viola, in disguise. This creates comedy because the audience knows that Cesario is Viola in disguise, but the Duke does not.
In Lines one hundred and twenty to one hundred and twenty-four Scene five Act one Malvolio describes Cesario as “Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy” Malvolio cannot seem to quite put his finger on why Cesario looks as he does. Malvolio continues to say that Cesario is handsome and speaks with a squeaky voice. These characteristics are because Cesario is actually Viola, a woman, to whom these features are natural.
The Essay on Twelfth Night Viola Love Malvolio
In William Shakespeare s Twelfth Night, Or What You Will many relationships are forged or sabotaged for and by the protagonists, and as a result these relationships are made comical. The use of disguise causes deception and misunderstanding which leads to love where it is not meant to be. Foolery leads the characters into inescapable traps, which causes chaos with their emotions, and finally pure ...
The Duke calls Viola “good youth” Line thirteen Scene four Act one, referring to her as a young man, while only the audience and not the Duke, knows that Viola is a woman. There are numerous other sections of the play where Viola is called Cesario. This is also dramatic irony because there is no real person called Cesario, only Viola disguised as Cesario. An example of this is in Line seventy-eight Scene five Act one where Maria informs Olivia that there is a “young gentleman” at the gate, neither of them know that the young gentleman is a woman, Viola. This creates comedy and interest in the play.
In scene four the Duke asks Cesario to court Olivia for him. Viola agrees and says she will try her best, however she then whispers to the audience that she herself wishes to marry the Duke. This is an entertaining turn in the story for me because Viola has fallen in love with the duke but cannot show her love because of her disguise. The Duke does not know of Viola’s love, but the audience does and so begins to feel Viola’s distress.
Viola pays a visit to Olivia for the Duke, posing as Cesario; Olivia becomes interested in Cesario and begins to question him. Cesario comments to Olivia “I am not what I play” meaning that she (Viola) is not who she appears to be. Olivia does not understand the full meaning of this and is left unaware of the fact that Cesario is actually Viola.
The most interesting twist comes into the play when Olivia falls in love with Cesario, creating a love triangle. She goes on to say that she could only love the Duke if he were more like Cesario, not knowing that Cesario is a woman. Olivia also lies and tells Malvolio to run after Cesario because he has forgotten his ring, however he did not forget his ring, Olivia simply does this in an effort to see Cesario again. Only the audience is aware of this situation and so this is also dramatic irony.
Dramatic irony I have found to be very entertaining in this play. Viola is in disguise and has fallen in love with the Duke. At the same time Olivia has fallen in love with a woman in disguise as a man. This is all very interesting and amusing to me. Dramatic irony can also be quite distressful because one knows something that the characters do not and sometimes one really wishes to just tell them, but you cannot.
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... crosses the same line when he marries Viola. When Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario, a messenger, she is crossing an even ... boundary to survive in this strange land, so she befriends Duke Orsino and soon even fall for him. She is surely ... these class boundaries, especially back in the day when this play was originally performed. It was not right for a person ...
