As ridiculous as the plot of Twelfth Night is, it nevertheless comments on human nature. What characteristics of human nature does the play exploit in the disguise theme as well as the joke playing on, well, you know, Malvolio? And,the play really is about love--so does it make a statement about that as well? And about the humans that fall in it?
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The character of human conducts revolve around vengance taken too far and of course that of how love affects a person. It is human nature to love and hate someone with much passion. Twelfth Night puts an emphasis on both cases. Both cause pain to a being whether it's passionate love or passionate hate towards another. As we can see in the poem many experience love who in turn also feel the pain of being rejected. Although some may find love in the end others suffer from being left without an ounce of love in their entire lives. As we can see in the poem this kind of pain experienced by Movolio and Antonio is much more heavier on the heart. As for hate, that can also cause pain if it's taken too far. The joke against Movolio is taken too far and even Sir Toby realizes this when he becomes tired of the joke. The joke starts from being funny to becoming cruel. The human nature characteristics of love and hate both have the product of pain.
ReplyDeleteThe plot does indeed comment out our human nature. Although there are many characteristics, the two that stands out to me are greed and lust. The greed is most apparent at the end when Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Viola/Cesario. Sebastian does not know who Olivia is but marries her anyways probably because of the way she is dressed. She looks like she comes from a wealthy family so she must be rich. Lust happens throughout the play with Olivia and Cesario, also with Orsino and Viola. The first time Olivia saw Cesario, she already started liking him, same with Viola towards Orsino, but when she started liking him, we don’t really know. The play suggests that human fall in love easily.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics that Viola exploits when disguised as Cesario and the joke played on Malvolio are ones of deception and creativity. Viola wanted to deceive Olivia from the very start of the play. She first wanted to be Olivia’s servant to get close to Orsino, but then she decided that she could get very close by becoming his servant. In the case of the joke that was played on Malvolio, Maria and the boys felt threatened by such a sympathetic man. They deceived him by making him believe in a love that was false and then by letting him think Olivia locked him in the room. Love fills the play. Each actor is having their own problem with love. Olivia loves Viola, but Viola loves Orsino, and as we know, Orsino loves Olivia. Then there is poor Malvolio who also loves Olivia, and Toby who loves Maria. Antonio really “loves” Sebastian; I think that is clear in the play. The characters actions throughout the play are ones that you would still see today when someone is infatuated with someone else, but maybe not as obsessive as the attractions are in Twelfth Night.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mary. Sebastian is greedy for marring Olivia without even knowing who she is. He saw the money and took it. Olivia’s infatuation with Cesario did start at their first meeting. Cesario tried to deter her by telling her that she was not what she thought she was. Also there is lust from Orsino to Olivia, but she uses the death of her brother as an excuse not to see or speak with him, which I think is very selfish of her.
ReplyDeleteThe play displays various acts of human nature, most notably, that of deception and determination. Characters throughout the play, such as Viola, Maria, Andrew, and Toby, commit various acts of deception in order to acquire what it is that they desire. Viola wishes her identity to be kept secret until the appropriate time to reveal it has come. In order to do this, she takes on the disguise of Cesario. Maria, Tody, and Andrew desire revenge upon Malvolio simply for the fact that they believe he has been rude and unkind. As a result, they end up deceiving him into believing Olivia reciprocates his feelings. All of this deception underlies the greater display of determination amongst individuals. Everyone within the play is determined to acquire something. These acts of deception previously mentioned just show how far many of the characters will go to acquire what they desire. Viola desires Orsino's love, Olivia longs for Cesario's love, Orsino's wants the feelings of Olivia, Maria, Toby, and Andrew all wish for revenge upon Malvolio, and Malvolio looks to Olivia for a long-awaited reciprocation of feelings. Each character is persistent in trying to obtain what they desire. For example, Orsino attempts to take Olivia's hand from the beginning to the end of the play; Viola is willing to take the guise of a male in order to slowly disperse her feelings for Orsino; Olivia presses upon Viola's feelings no matter how many times she denies her love. Yet, despite all these displays of great affection, "true" love seems to be lacking in this poem. After all, every person who loved someone within the poem ends up marrying someone whom they know very little about, someone different from the person they were originally "in love" with. Therefore, it is easy to see that the poem also makes the statement of how easily humans fall into love.
ReplyDelete"Twelfth Night" comments on various forms of human nature, most notable being lust, deception, and disdain. Viola disguises herself as a man to become closer to Duke Orsino, who she wants to become closer to and lusts after. As for the deception, Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew all decieve Malvolio, who they all despise, and Olivia when they come up with the idea of sending a letter to Malvolio, who believes that it is from Olivia expressing her love for him, when in fact she has fallen in love with Cesario/Viola. Along with the deception, hate is shown through Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew when they play the cruel joke on Malvolio. What started off as a practical joke turned cruel very quickly, especially when Malvolio began to question his own sanity. "Twelfth Night" does make a statement about love, but it is more of what love should not be like. When Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, Sebastian goes along with Olivia even though he is completely aware that something is not right about the situation. He only sees her beauty, riches, and nothing else; that is not what true love is supposed to be like.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mary_tran's comment about "Twelfth Night" including greed and lust. Lust is shown in the play almost immediately, beginning with Viola. She knows that she wants to be closer to Duke Orison and does what she feels she has to do to get as close to him as she can, even if that meant her being disguised as a man and acting as his servant. Another instance in which there is lust is Malvolio's attraction to Olivia. Malvolio secretly wants to be with Olivia even though she is in love with another person. Greed also plays a role in the play and is shown in the relationship between Olivia and Sebastian. Olivia knew she had deep feelings for Cesario and when she thought that Sebastian was Cesario, he did not tell her who he really was; he went along with it because he not only saw her beauty, but also her wealth. He went along with it so far that he agreed to marry her even though he barely knew her, which is in no way love, but only greed and a marriage based on deceit.
ReplyDeleteThe play displays various acts of human nature, most notably, that of deception and determination. Characters throughout the play, such as Viola, Maria, Andrew, and Toby, commit various acts of deception in order to acquire what it is that they desire. Viola wishes her identity to be kept secret until the appropriate time to reveal it has come. In order to do this, she takes on the disguise of Cesario. Maria, Tody, and Andrew desire revenge upon Malvolio simply for the fact that they believe he has been rude and unkind. As a result, they end up deceiving him into believing Olivia reciprocates his feelings. All of this deception underlies the greater display of determination amongst individuals. Everyone within the play is determined to acquire something. These acts of deception previously mentioned just show how far many of the characters will go to acquire what they desire. Viola desires Orsino's love, Olivia longs for Cesario's love, Orsino's wants the feelings of Olivia, Maria, Toby, and Andrew all wish for revenge upon Malvolio, and Malvolio looks to Olivia for a long-awaited reciprocation of feelings. Each character is persistent in trying to obtain what they desire. For example, Orsino attempts to take Olivia's hand from the beginning to the end of the play; Viola is willing to take the guise of a male in order to slowly disperse her feelings for Orsino; Olivia presses upon Viola's feelings no matter how many times she denies her love. Yet, despite all these displays of great affection, "true" love seems to be lacking in this poem. After all, every person who loved someone within the poem ends up marrying someone whom they know very little about, someone different from the person they were originally "in love" with. Therefore, it is easy to see that the poem also makes the statement of how easily humans fall into love.
ReplyDeleteTwelfth Night should a lot of examples of true human nature. Mainly it showed the deceitful/cunning side of individuals as well as the lustfulness carried out in human beings. And both of the topics affect the characters in this play in many ways throughout it's entirety. The cunning sides were by both Maria and Sir Toby, and the lust played out mostly by Oliva and Viola. Viola fell for Duke Orsino and Oliva fell for Viola; both almost instantly once they met each other. The story being about love to me was funny because most of the characters in which they were "in love" with, they knew nothing about them. I believe he was trying to say that we as humans fall to easily in the concept of being in love. Love is an human instinct.
ReplyDeleteI agree with almost everybody but mostly Yevette by her stating that the product of both love and hate, both which were seen in this play lead to pain, and sometimes the anguish of others. Because by the joke they played on Malvolio they caused him a great deal of anguish, and towards the end he was so upset that he vowed to seek revenge against them for tricking him in such a way. And the whole deal with Olivia and Duke Orsino marrying indivduals of both they knew nothing about was a whole other story.
ReplyDeleteThe Twelfth Night revolves around greed, lust, and revenge. The greed and lust seem to go together in that the characters don't necessarily love each other as much as they lust after, and want to use another's position in society to raise their own. Revenge comes into play when Maria plays a trick on Malvolio for seemingly no "good" reason other than he's a pain in the neck, and when Antonio must steer clear of Orsino because Orsino wants revenge against Antonio for an unknown reason. I don't feel like the play is about TRUE love. Love is supposedly the excuse for the actions of Viola, Orsino, Malvolio, and others, but they fall in love so quickly, and without truly knowing the person they are supposedly in love with (an example is Malvolio who doesn't really know what Olivia likes).
ReplyDeleteKyle has a very good point in citing deception and determination as motivitations of the storyline of The Twelfth Night. The entire play is centered around these two motivations, but use love and revenge as the apparent motivations of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of arrogance and pride in Twelfth Night. Mainly with Orsino, Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch, and Sir Andrew. I also see a lot of foolishness in those same characters. I don't see love but, I do see infatuation. Lots and lots of infatuation...but, that seems to be a big thing in stories.
ReplyDeleteI agree very much so with BeckerDonna. I do see a lot of greed and lust as well. And I agree that the story is not really about love but, more about lust.
ReplyDeleteThe Twelfth Night displays many roles of human nature. There is definitly a thin line between love and hate. In the story characters fall in love and when things don't work out the way they wanted they begin to hate the person they loved. In today's society this is very common because people hate to be rejected. Viola disguises her self as a man to get closer to duke. I believe viola did't have confidence in her self. This is why she had to play a role of a whole other person to get to know him. Viola still did't win his heart. There are so many lies in this story. It is a chain of lust. Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew they play the cruel joke on Malvolio. It started off as a joke, but things became serious. This is an example that there is a thin line between love and hate. This may be a poem for entertainment, but there are examples of real live situations. The reader can learn from this.
ReplyDeleteThere are many characteristics of human nature in Twelfth night, and the ones that seems to stand out is greed, lust, and deception. Deception occurs from the beginning of the play when Viola decides to disguise herself as a young male in Orsino's household. Sure, this form of deception isn't a bad thing at all because it only serves as a form of protection for Viola's situation, and that is, an unprotected female in a whole new place. The whole play revolves around deception the most. Another form of human nature that the play depicts is greed. During the Elizabethan era as well as before that we know that there are different social class systems in society. "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em." This quote directly points to Malvolio in the play in that he wants to achieve greatness and climb up in the social ladder by marrying Olivia. This is one situation which depicts greed, other than how Sebastian wanted to marry Olivia because she is rich. The third human characteristic in the play is lust. This is very clear to readers from the beginning of the play when Duke Orsino venture in a dream-like state around his house, thinking about his love for Olivia. Duke Orsino claims that he is in love with Olivia when really, he isn't. He is just in love with the idea of being in love with her. He probably doesn't even know why he loves her. Even Olivia's "love" for Cesario represents another form of lust in Twelfth Night. She changed from a person in mourning of her brother to this woman madly in love with someone she barely met. As for Viola's love for Duke Orsino, it wasn't discussed as much as the other two mentioned above, so we don't know for certain if it is true love or just another lusty situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lisa_R. I think that the foolishness of Sir Andrew makes Twelfth Night amusing to read/watch. I also agree with Kyle's comment about deception in Twelfth Night. Everyone in the play has something that they want to grasp, whether social status and fortune, love, or revenge.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Yvette. Love does affect a person. Some affects are good and some are bad. This is the definition of human nature. Things can't always go right. Love can make a person hate someone. All the lust that was being confused with love and lies in this poem are good examples of human nature. The world is full of love and hate, but it is our job to make the right decisions in life an dlearn from our mistakes so we can move on. "There is a thin line between love and hate".
ReplyDeleteI agree with Yvette in the aspect of passionate love and hate. Everyone in the play experiences either love or hate to some degree. We also experience this in everyday life. Love has a special power that makes one feel so loved, happy, and blessed. It can also make one feel hurt, undesired, and rejected. When the characters of Twelfth Night were in passionate love, everything was good and they are willing to do anything for the other, but when they other rejects him/her, they start to feel hurt and vengeance. They then feel the passionate hate.
ReplyDeleteHuman behavior is one of the most curious phenomenon. It is universal in nature and transcends time. This thought is evident throughout Twelfth Night.
ReplyDeleteIt is human nature to want to be accepted as an equal. It is also human nature to want to love and be loved. But often, these wants do not come to fruition, and thus lead to insecurity and envy. It is obvious that these wants have not been met for Malvolio. He is neither loved, as he is single, nor is he accepted as an equal, as he is a servant. Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, and Maria, all recognize that he is insecure about these things, and apparently also recognize that he is in love with Olivia. They decide he is a perfect target for the practical joke, if you could call messing with a man's mind that.
But why do they decide to prey upon Malvolio? If you didn't notice, these three individuals are all single as well. Though both Toby and Andrew accept each other as equals, they are not highly thought of by the rest of the characters and are not accepted as equals. They are instead judged as pathetic junkards born into a higher social status than their personality's deserved. As for Maria, she isn't an equal to the other characters either. She is a servant, and her physique is often the butt of jokes.
Sir Andrew's, Sir Toby's, and Maria's actions are typical of human behavior even today. They choose to bully Malvolio because they are all insecure about being unloved and unaccepted. Much like a playground bully would beat up on easy targets such as "nerds" or "geeks", these three characters attempt to mask their own insecurites by picking on Malvolio; their version of an easy target.
Love is something we all want to experience. If this was not true, then there would be no such thing as dating, love letters, or even Valentine's Day. That is the basis of the entire play. Malvolio falling for the fake letter prank just proves that, even when love seems unprobable or nearly impossible, if there still is hope that it can be true, one will go to extreme lengths to find it.
Twelfth Night is undeniably a peculiar play, but it does an extraordinary job of capturing basic human nature. Human nature can be defined by many characteristics yet impulse is the core of those defining features. An impulse is a very strong feeling that shouldn’t be acted upon but often times it’s acted upon anyways. I take you to an impulsive Malvolio wearing yellow stockings complete with cross garters. Upon receiving the letter, Malvolio should have analyzed his situation better. He should have taken into consideration many things before acting on the foolish ideas the letter contained. I now take you to Olivia and her love for Cesario. Some might argue that it was love at first sight, but I believe it was Olivia acting on impulse. Finally, I take you to Olivia and Sebastian’s wedding. Sebastian’s desire to marry Olivia was a complete whim. These characters are functioning on the most basic characteristic of human nature.
ReplyDeleteLove is indeed a part of the play; however the love modeled in the play is superficial. All these characters claim to be in love yet they know absolutely nothing about the person they supposedly love. Olivia saw Cesario one time and she soon after claimed to love him. Once again, the people that fall in love in this story are acting on impulse and hardly know if they are truly in love.
I’ll have to agree with Kyle. He is absolutely correct by highlighting deception and determination as characteristics of human nature most notably depicted in the play. The characters in this play seem to be very self obsessed. They are very determined to get what they want at any cost. Often times getting what they want means deceiving others. They seem to be surprisingly comfortable with the idea of hurting others to gratify their own needs.
ReplyDeleteI saw that Viola was really funny in that she never lied about her disguise. Viola had her own point of view. You know that the real question is that she was very human in this play for most of it. I think the humanness in the joke they played on Malvolio was not very human. I don’t see somebody reading a letter and dressing up and talking weird. I think that the joke was just a joke if you know what I mean. Yeah it makes a statement about love with the whole Orsino and Olivia thing. Orsino says that he is in love with Olivia, but I don’t anybody else mentioned anything about love.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kyle because he told you basically the Main Idea of the story and its details. Yeah I believe everything he said was right.
ReplyDeleteI too, agree with kyle. Deception is wriiten all over the play yet little is it considered as a major theme. Like Kyle said, everyone decieves another to gain what they desire. I didn't recognize the theme of deception until Kyle wrote the proof behind his P.O.V. He also commented well on how there wasn't really true love involved.
ReplyDeleteThe characteristics of human nature that are implied in the joke scheme that Sir Toby and Maria play on Malvolio starts out as a fun act to a cruel and determined state-of-mind to drive Malvolio up the wall so that he more likely to hit the ground hard when he finds out that Olivia doesn’t feel the same about him. This shows Sir Toby’s and Maria’s strong dislike towards Malvolio.
ReplyDeleteIn the disguise theme it shows how much people in the past really put a lot of time and effort to make sure they fit in the social rankings that they were born into and the privileges and responsibilities that went along with it. If Viola didn’t take the chance to disguise her true identity then she wouldn’t have ended up with Duke Orsino; which also implies that people in high society did not marry outside their social rank.
I am in agreement with Zachary "Tyler" Shanklin and Kyle. Zachary made a good point on how easy it is as humans to make fun of a person who express themselves emotionally and physically in such a way that by the time those pulling the prank are done playing the joke the victim feels that he/she has nothing to live for leaving them emotionally and physically out of sync with those around them. Kyle’s POV on the play gives the underlying truth why we humans do to those that are considered lesser beings than ourselves.
ReplyDeleteTwo human characteristics that Twelfth Night exploits are deception and greed. Everyone is deceived by Viola because she is disguised as Cesario throughout the play and no one knows her true identity until she reveals herself at the very end. Sebastian displays greed when he marries Olivia without even knowing who she is. He sees that she’s wealthy by the way she is dressed and takes advantage of the opportunity to marry her because of her wealth.
ReplyDeleteSome human characteristics they play emphasizes I think would be lust and/or passion. Some characters, like the Duke I think, get caught up in another person's beauty and from then on are infatuated with them. The Duke never really even knew Olivia, and yet wrote her love letters trying to woo her over, when, for all he knows, she could be the total opposite of someone he'd like. The joke played on Malvolio, I think shows how humans get bored easily. Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew all were a little angry and wanted to taste revenge, and didn't have anything better to do so they played a lame joke on Malvolio. When it was all said and done, it didn't even turn out to be very funny.
ReplyDeleteI would also agree that the characters portray a lot of greed and also impulse. People act on their impulses very much in the play, they don't wait and think things out. Some of the characters are very greedy and selfish, they only think of themselves and what they want. Trying to satisfy personal pleasures seems to be a common theme with the characters.
ReplyDeleteI think the play is just a little exaggeration on on the way we really act/think, as you stated. We sometimes wish that we were someone or somewhere else. Like Viola/Cesario, we join different groups and are involved with different people to complament our mood/personality. I think we have all liked someone that we weren't able to tell or fully express. Also, we pick on the people that are not as popular, like the characters that play the jokes on Malvolio.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace, that there are some characters that don't think of others. I think that it was rude of Olivia to try to be with Cesario when he was the duke's messanger that wsa trying to win her over for the duke. Also, the characters who go in on the joke with Malvolio. They aren't thinking about how they would feel if they were in his shoes.
ReplyDeleteThe Twelfth Night displays different acts of human natures, but most displayed throughout the play are deception and determination. Deception is displayed through the jokes played on Malvolio especially the letter Maria wrote pretending to be Olivia. These jokes are taken to the extreme and the letter persuades Malvolio that Olivia is in love with him as he is in love with her. This deception later makes Malvolio want to seek revenge on everyone who was involved with the joke. Every character shows determination throughout the play. In some way the characters are determined to get something. They show determination when it comes to love as well like how Olivia is determined to have Cesario fall in love with her.
ReplyDeleteThe main characteristic I realized in the play was the need for deception. As humans, we will almost decieve anyone or anything to get what we want, and in this instance that "something" was love. Viola deceived Olivia by dressing up as Cesario in order to stay close to Orsino. Malvolio was also decieved by Maria when she wrote the fake letter in order to make Malvolio believe that Olivia was in love with him. The play in a way highlights the "dog eat dog" world that we live in today in which humans will basically do anything to gain what they want in life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Courtney that there is also the characteristic of determination in the play. Cesario (Viola) was determined to win Orsino's heart, Malvolio was determined to have Olivia love him, and Maria was determined to seek revenge against Malvolio for being arrogant early in the play.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statements made by BeckerDonna. I believe that the play had a lot to do with the main characters "lusting" after one another rather than truly "loving" one another. As she stated, the characters use this "love" that they claim they have for one another as the reason behind their actions within the play. However, the fact that the play concludes with each character marrying someone OTHER than the person they originally "loved," it is safe to conclude that true love is not concerned at all.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with stephanie about this play being about people who deceive others to get what they want. Viola deceives Orsino and everyone else. Maria and Sir Toby and all the others deceive Malvalio. Sir Toby deceives Sir Andrew when he makes him fight Cesario. It points out the basic human nature to get what we want no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI like what Yvette Rodriguez said about emotions and how people tend to take things too far when they are fired up by love and vengeance. This is seen throughout the play as well as in real life and it is caused by the passion that drives the people. Without passion, there would be a lot less pain in the play and in the world, not to mention fewer crimes. But without passion both the play and real life would be kind of flat and would not have much color or excitement. Also like life, the play has a twist of dark humor which makes the pain a little easier to swallow.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone. All of their ideas of what human characteristics are exploited in Twelfth Night are all definitely in the play. I agree with Mary Tran that Sebastian is being very greedy when he decides to accept Olivia's marriage proposal despite the fact that he doesn't even know who she is...he just knows she's probably rich. I also agree with a few others that believe that determination is represented throughout the play. All of the characters are very determined to make their heart's desire fall for them.
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