Notes

Twelfth Night as Festive Comedy of Youth Shakespeare’s ‘festive comedies’ have been identified as plays in which the form and spirit of contemporary popular holidays are evident. The characters may be enjoying festive pastimes (such as in A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Love’s Labour’s Lost), or they may, themselves, be part of a larger, festive … Read more

 VARIOUS KINDS OF LOVE IN TWELFTH NIGHT ‘As to the types of love represented by the characters in Twelfth Night the subject is inexhaustible, like the light and shadows of contrast…’  -Morton Luce  Twelfth Night is the play of which love is peculiarly the subject The very first speech of the Duke calling for music … Read more

Treatment of Childhood and Adulthood in Henry Vaughan’s “The Retreat” The central theme of ‘The Retreat’ by Henry Vaughan is the glorification of childhood based on the Platonic doctrine of immorality and of anti-natal existence, of the soul- the belief that life on earth is not our first state of existence, that the soul comes from Heaven which … Read more

 Iago’s Motiveless Malignity Iago is probably the most sophisticated of a long line of Shakespearean villains, and he shares certain characteristics with Richard III in the early tragedy of Richard III (1593), Don John in the comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1599), and Claudius in Hamlet (1601). Iago revels in his ability to dissemble and … Read more

How far it is correct to say that Othello is the most romantic of all Shakespearean tragic heroes? Over and above the obvious generic import, the juxtaposition of the terms ‘romantic’ and ‘tragic’ hero in a single character entails a further connotation encompassing a way of life as well as a breadth of vision. Inspired … Read more

Disguise And Mistaken Identity in Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s use of disguise and mistaken identity is significant to the plot of Twelfth Night as it is the thread that runs through the entire fabric of the play; and it is instrumental in providing confusion, misunderstanding and ultimately love almost all of the characters in this play … Read more

 Elegiac elements in the Anglo-Saxon Lyrics A Sombre mood of melancholy reflection predominates in a group of Anglo- Saxon poems; and by virtue of their lyrical quality, these poems seem to stand apart from the heroic and the religious. These poems strike the true elegiac mood and have nothing to do either with the Germanic … Read more

 Character sketch of Malvolio Olivia’s puritanical steward Malvolio is the most complex and the most interesting character in Twelfth Night. Though not ‘essentially ludicrous’-(Charles Lamb) as comic characters generally are, Malvolio is far above the conventional gulls. He is branded as ‘sick’ of ‘self-love’. Olivia recognises this defect in Malvolio and says, “O you are … Read more

 Character and Function of Feste We, who hate to be made fools of, flock to Twelfth Night to get the pleasure of seeing imaginary people making fools of one another.                     -Stevie Davis ‘Satire’, as Jonathan Swift said, ‘is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do … Read more

 Issues of Gender and Race in Othello  In many of his works, William Shakespeare explores ideas of gender differences and racial tensions. Othello, a play whose characters are judged again and again based on appearances and outward characteristics, is one such work. Here, the protagonist’s different ethnic background provides a platform for probing ideas of … Read more