Twelfth Night as a Shakespearean
romantic comedyTwelfth Night as a romantic comedy has successfully and overwhelmingly won millions of hearts for ages – be it of a reader’s, a spectator’s or a critic’s heart. Though Aristotle has imposed less importance to comedy in comparison to tragedy, the spectators had never shown distaste for a proper comedy, especially a Shakespearean romantic comedy like Twelfth Night. As far as Shakespeare is concerned, his mastery has achieved its complete florescence in tragic art, though his comic genius, too, is something never to be looked down upon in question of effect or excellence. If we set aside the late romances and the tragicomedies of Shakespeare, the early comedies like Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It or The Midsummer Night Dreams are fraught with laughter and love followed by a happy ending. The genius of Shakespeare lies in amalgamating the comic elements with the romantic elements, which culminates in an entertaining package of mirth, musing and merrymaking. The occasional philosophical dialogues or serious scenes never mar but provide an even brighter glaze to the jolly tone of the play and balances the flavour of the play. Twelfth Night is also not an anomaly because love,mirth,laughter,wit, music, marriage, disguise and what not are present in this popular Shakespearean comedy to please our heart. This play is indeed a proper romantic comedy.
There are several themes of a romantic comedy but the first and foremost among them is love. Love is the very essence of romance. Twelfth Night is a romantic play because the passion of love dominates it. But that doesn’t mean that a romantic comedy follows an all easy and nothing wrong kind of love-pursuit. Instead, It presents some difficulties and problematic situations which create various impediments in the path of the ultimate union of the lovers. But the audience is certain to hear the happily ringing wedding bells at the termination of the play and this declares the final victory of the lovers and the emotional and social consummation of their love. To be more specific the play tells the tale of love at first sight. The Duke, Orsino falls in love with Olivia as soon as he has seen her. Viola,who has donned the false garb of a male, Cesario,falls in love with the Duke himself immediately. Though she has set her foot here on a different purpose of finding her long-lost brother Sebastian, the first glance at Orsino was strong enough to make her mind otherwise. Olivia, on the other hand, who has been resolute to mourn the loss of her brother and father for seven long summers, cannot resist this omnipotent force of love. She falls in love with Cesario in the course of her very first interview with him : “Even so quickly may one catch the plague.” The same Olivia who has recurrently refused the amorous plea of the Duke, doesn’t find even a moment’s rest after she came across Cesario, and that’s why she sends her own ring to make Cesario come again to her. She is even prepared to listen to the Duke’s proposals only to have Cesarion near her. Thus the Duke, Cesario and Olivia are involved in a love triangle which adds spice in the love theme of this play.
This feeling of love is intense and passionate and no principal character escapes its grasp. The love-sick Duke is like a Hart hunted by his own desires. His own sayings bear witness to his fondness for music and love :
” If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, the surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
Viola’s deep love for Orsino manifests itself in her outward loyalty expressed towards the Duke. When Orsino makes derisive remarks about the depth of womanly love, Cesario’s humble protest testifies to the deep emotions felt for the Duke. Both Olivia and Cesario are equally assiduous to convince each other about their respective pleas of love. Shakespeare’s lyrical supremacy once again reaches its apex in Cesario’s ardent and moving affirmation of Orsino’s love for Olivia :
Make me a willow cabin at your
gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of
night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ‘ Olivia!’
Love also dominates the hearts of Sir Andrew and Malvolio. They both love Lady Olivia and want to marry her. In this way, the treatment of this theme makes the play even more romantic.
The setting of a Shakespearean comedy is romantic, that is, unfamiliar, remote and distant. In lieu of the familiar and realistic London, the Bard of Avon has chosen Venice or the Forest of Arden as the setting of his romantic comedies. Following the same tradition, the setting of Twelfth Night is Illyria. Illyria is not only an unfamiliar place but also an unreal country which exists only in the imagination of the playwright.
Disguise and leading female protagonists are the other features of a Shakespearean romantic comedy. In Twelfth Night , Viola disguises herself as a male, Cesario to serve in the court of Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. This disguise leads to the two-fold confusion : Olivia takes Cesario as a real male and falls in love with her whereas Orsino thinks him to be a real male and that’s why doesn’t realise Viola’s deep love for him. This masculine camouflage leads to the development of love where it is improbable to find its destination. This disguise also brings forth the issue of gender identity. On the other hand, Twelfth Night is more a story of Olivia and Viola than the story of Orsino and Sebastian. These heroines rule the roost of the storyline and the flow of the events are centred on them. They play the same role as Rosalind and Celia have played in As You Like It.
If love is the dominating keynote in Twelfth Night, it is music that comes next in importance.This play opens with music and ends with it too. Most of the songs in the play are provided by Feste the Clown. Love of music is also a romantic quality which is greatly possessed by the Duke. He likes sentimental melodies which deal with the subject of love and death. Even Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are fond of music. The abundant use of music to impose a celebrating and festive mood is also noticed in plays like The Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It . It does much to heighten the romantic atmosphere of the comedy.
Twelfth Night is also romantic in the sense that it does not follow the classical unities of time, place and action. Here the unity of place has only been observed. There is no unity of time or action. There is no one plot in the play but two plots. The tragic and the comic scenes are also mingled. The main plot is serious and tragic in tone. On the other hand, the sub-plot is entirely comic. Thus there is no unity of action in the play. There is no unity of time because the action of the play is spread over many days and is not limited only to twenty-four hours.
The tell-tale sign of a romantic comedy, marriage takes place in this play also. After going through much confusion and problems the principal characters of the play find their soulmate at the end. The wedding bell rings in joy for Olivia and Sebastian whereas Viola’s desire, too, doesn’t go unfulfilled since the Duke accepts her hand. Even Sir Toby is content with Maria as his wife. Therefore, the usual joyous reconciliation is not missing in this play,too.
Thus we can safely conclude that Twelfth Night is a proper Shakespearean romantic comedy in every aspect : theme, setting, characters, mood, dialogues and what not. The comic spirit realises itself through the mould of a romantic environment. Dowden has rightly called this play ‘Joyous, refined and romantic.’
