Twelfth Night: A Festive Romantic Comedy

 

Comedies tend to focus on the joyous elements of human life. Shakespeare's comedies generally deal with the lighter aspect of love and marriage. Twelfth Night is an odd comedy created by Shakespeare since many of its characters look out of place, and the play appears to be based on this precise truth. While addressing important issues such as the evolution of gender norms, the play is primarily a festive and romantic comedy.
The title Twelfth Night describes a Christian festival that was once celebrated for twelve days with tremendous merriment. The term is not used literally in the play, although festivity and romance are two significant features of the comedy.

The play becomes a festive comedy due to its comedic subplot, which is based on the funny actions of less elevated characters. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew share self-deprecating tendencies. They make a mockery of seriousness. Together with Maria and Feste, they make a fool of self-deceiving Malvolio. Every time they argue, one of them eventually offers, "Let's have a drink." Their outlook on life is one of carefree jubilation. They get retribution on Malvolio because his excessive seriousness limits their joyous manner. To ridicule his sincerity, Sir Toby asks, "dost thou think because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Finally, it describes the character of humor as celebratory.

Twelfth Night opens with Orsino making a remark about falling in love. The entire play revolves around its conclusion in such a manner that it also teaches us about Elizabethan traditions and its comedic pretensions, which Shakespeare has caught. The Elizabethan courts increasingly separated sex and love, and the custom of courtly love emerged. This play is a romantic comedy because it exposes the ridiculous pretensions of such courtly love. Orsino stupidly idealizes Olivia from the start. He does it out of habit rather than genuine dedication. Despite the fact that Orsino and Olivia are not supposed to be taken seriously, the play ends pleasantly when Orsino marries Viola and Olivia marries Sebastian. That is why it is called romantic comedy.

Everyone who professes to be a light character in the theatre of love. Viola has never met the duke and feels she has fallen in love with him. She declares right away that "whoever I woo, I would be his wife." The way they fall in love is hilarious. Olivia kept stating that she can't enjoy love while mourning her brother's death, but when she meets Cesario, unable to recognize that it's not even a man but a lady, she asks, "even so quickly may one catch the plague?" Nonetheless, she falls in love. Twelfth Night, as a romantic comedy, depicts the folly of falling in love for the sake of falling in love.