Twelfth Night Essay Topics           Back to Assignments        Back to Literature Links

This paper should be NO MORE THAN THREE PAGES!! That's the maximum. Of course we assume 12 pt. type and double space.  Feel free, of course, to write 5 or 7 pages. That's your choice. But I'm going to stop reading after 3. I'M NOT KIDDING! If you haven't concluded your paper and made your point in that time, sorry. The best way to achieve conciseness is to QUOTE LIBERALLY!!

1. "It takes a kind of wisdom to play the fool." Throughout the play Feste shows that there is a great deal more to his foolery than meets the eye. Viola is one of the few to recognize this. While the others take him at face value, she points out to us that he has unexplored depths. Look at his songs and exchanges with other characters and see if you can discover some of his real wisdom. Remember, he tells Viola that he is not Olivia's fool but her corrupter of words.

2. Will the real fool please stand up? Feste might be the official fool of the play, but there's more than enough foolery to go around in this play. Examine the characters carefully and see if you can conclude who the REAL fool's) of Twelfth Night is / are.

3. Melancholy laughter. Despite all the fun everyone has in this play, despite all the joking and jesting and farce, there's still a distinct overtone of loss and sadness. And it DOESN'T all come from Sir Andrew. From Olivia to Orsino to Antonio to Feste, there's more than enough melancholy and wistfulness to go around. Show how Shakespeare interlaces the farce and the sadness to create a play that has echoes of real life amidst its joking.

4. Fortune and the stars. There seems to be an abundance of references in here to astrology, the stars, planets, etc. Also, the characters are enormously concerned with the organs thereby affected--liver, spleen, heart, lungs, legs, etc. Write an essay in which you consider the degree to which these characters are ruled by coincidence and by their own unchangeable natures. Does anyone actually DEVELOP in this play? If so, who? And what does that tell us?

5. Does Malvolio deserve it? Malvolio is made the victim of an almost shockingly cruel prank by the end of the play. Do you think that Toby, Andrew, Fabian, Feste, and Maria (AND SHAKESPEARE) took it too far? Explain your reasons pro and con. And, if you think they DID go too far, at exactly what point did they do so?

6. Is humor cruel? Feste mocks Olivia. Toby and Fabian mock Sir Andrew. Everyone mocks Malvolio. Antonio and Sebastian are highly discomfited. Most of the humor in this play derives from SOMEONE'S suffering. Using this play as a guide, analyze what it is that we seem to find funny and pass some sort of judgment on it.

7. Girls will be boys. By having Viola dress up as a man, Shakespeare is able to explore the nature of gender itself. What makes us male and female? Is it dress? Behavior? What other people think of us? Obviously, it's much more than the obvious. Also, through Orsino, Antonio, and Olivia,  we are given a small  glimpse into same-sex attraction. Take a look at this play through the eyes of the feminist critic and examine the nature of sexuality.

8. "Some have greatness thrust upon them." Class roles are similarly inverted in this play. Malvolio aspires to be something more than a steward; Sir Andrew hopes to marry into money, and Viola (Caesario) HARDLY behaves like a servant. Though this one might take a little research, examine the shifting of class roles through the behavior and aspirations of the major characters.

9. Come up with your own: Though this is a great list to start with, you may come up with a fine idea of your own that you'd like to explore. Feel free. Just tell me a few days ahead of time what you'd like to do.