Twelfth Night Essays (1253 words) - Cross-dressing In Literature

Twelfth Night In the Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, the function of Feste the clown appears inconsequential, but in actuality his role has immense significance in the overall educational development of the other characters. During the seasonal holiday revelry in which this play takes place, the clown is used as an independent observer that exploits the asinine actions and the faults of the other characters. Shakespeare's contrast of Feste's true wit with the unconscious and actual foolishness of the others is the focal contribution of his role to the factual insight of this play. Feste doesnt make his appearance in the play until the fifth scene of act I. It is during his conversation with Maria that introduces him to the reader and unveils the fool purpose and contribution to the play, which is revealed through an aside: Wit, ant be thy will, put me in good fooling! Those wits that think they have thee, do very oft prove fools, and I that am sure lack thee may pass for a wise man. For what says Quinapalus? Better a witty fool than a foolish wit(1.5:32-36) These lines indicate that Feste's presence is not merely comic relief through inane acts and show that the role of the fool requires much intelligence. Feste is also able to recognize and criticize the fools subject to foolery, the self-proclaimed wits who are not witty at all. Since it is their lack of self-knowledge that makes them fools. This subject of self-knowledge or lack thereof is pervasive throughout the comedy as it contributes to the image of love as folly. Feste's contribution to the revelation of the underlying theme of love is essential to the understanding of the play's messages. The clown's most profound comments often take the form of a song: O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low. Trip no further, pretty sweeting, Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'Tis not hereafter, Present mirth hath present laughter. What's to come is still unsure. In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty. Youth's a stuff will not endure. (2.3:39-52) This song is performed at the ardent requests from Sir Toby and Sir Andrew for a love-song. The song depicts the events of Twelfth Night itself. Feste clearly foreshadows the events that will occur later in the play. When he speaks of journeys ending in lovers meeting, he hints at the resolution in which several characters are married. The song also echoes the merriment of the season and how the uncertainty of what's to come shouldn't be disquieting, but instead a driving force to take life as it comes and to live life to the fullest possibilities. In the scene with the clown's first song, since it involves dialogue between Feste and Sir Andrew, is quite ironic. It is ironic because the licensed fool is actually no fool at all and the true fool, Sir Andrew, is the character who provides most of the entertaining comedy through his idiocy. It is this interaction that reveals two kinds of fools, the conscious and the unconscious fool. In Twelfth Night it is the unknowing fools that prov ide the actual comedy, while the wise Feste adds insight to the greater meaning of the play. It is by his acting like a fool that Feste gains the privilege to speak the truth of the people around him. Through these truths, which are directed jokingly at another, Feste's keen perception of others emerges. Feste's intuitions and insights are comparable only to the perceptions of Viola. Both characters are the only ones who are involved in both houses, Orsino's and Olivia's, they rival each other in their respective knowledge of the events that are taking place at the two settings. Strangely, Viola is the only character who recognizes Feste's true intelligence: This fellow is wise enough to play the fool, and to do that craves a kind of wit. He must observe their mood on whom he jests, the quality of persons, and the time, and, like the haggard, check at every feather that comes before his eye. This is a practice as full of