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See below for a full list of all the characters in Twelfth Night:. ORSINO, Duke of Illyria. OLIVIA, a rich Countess. VIOLA, in love with the Duke. SIR TOBY BELCH, Uncle to Olivia
This pose of love sets the play in a comedic sphere in which the characters are so hyperbolic and ridiculous that they are not meant to be taken seriously. With characters such as Orsino opening the play, the audience understands that they must suspend their disbelief about the comedic, slapstick situations that the characters get themselves into.
When Shakespeare composed Twelfth Night; or What You Will between 1600 and 1601, he used many of the characteristics common to Elizabethan romantic comedies—mistaken identity, separated twins, gender-crossing, and disguise.
Essays for Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Twelfth Night. The Role of the Fool: Feste's Significance; The Fool as a Playwright in Twelfth Night; It is Theater; To Believe, or Not To Believe
The other characters’ passions are fickle: Orsino jumps from Olivia to Viola, Olivia jumps from Viola to Sebastian, and Sir Toby and Maria’s marriage seems more a matter of whim than an expression of deep and abiding passion.
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Malvolio initially seems to be a minor character, and his humiliation seems little more than an amusing subplot to the Viola-Olivia-Orsino love triangle. But he becomes more interesting as the play progresses, and most critics have judged him one of the most complex and fascinating characters in Twelfth Night.
