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Study Guide: Twelfth Night
The character Feste receives his
name from the word Festival, which evokes the notion of Carnival — an
upside-down world where the “scale of nature” is upended and all traditional
values are reversed. Carnival (the word comes from carne vale, or
farewell to the flesh) takes place according to the Church calendar on two
occasions every year: the week ending with Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday (Mardi
Gras) before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday; and the Christmas season, ending
with the feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night. Both these occasions celebrate
Christ’s carnal or human nature (specifically, his death and his birth) and
therefore give rise to secular celebrations in which the carnal aspect of human
existence is expressed in ways that take precedence over or even deny the
traditional valuing of the spiritual over the physical. Specifically, you find
at Carnival time numerous instances of excessive eating and drinking, unashamed
sexual activity, and demonstrations of lower class disrespect for upper class
values, persons and laws. As the subtitle for Twelfth Night suggests,
carnival is the time when you do “what you will,” not what you ought.
Questions for study:
If Illyria is a world that is “carnivalesque” at all times (not just during the holidays), describe (in a paragraph or so) at least two specific moments in the first three acts in which an Illyrian behaves the opposite of how he or she ought to. What specific aspect of hierarchical values or assumptions are being called into question in these instances?
Why do you think Orsino and Olivia are so easily taken in by Viola’s “young-man” disguise, despite the obvious challenges to credibility it presents (for instance, Feste seems to be suspicious of her in 3.1)? Think back to As You Like It — what aspect of love might Shakespeare be satirizing in these two characters?
What is your reaction to the treatment of Malvolio, both by Toby & Co. and, at the end of the play, by Olivia? Do you think he deserves this treatment? Why or why not? Does his treatment change the comic effect of the play for you as a reader?
