The Importance of Carnivalesque in Twelfth Night - 1312 Words

The Importance of Carnivalesque in Twelfth Night The theory of Carnivalesque was presented by a Russia critic Mikhail Bakhtin, his theory proposed that the nature of Carnivalesque liberates the assumptions of the higher class through humour and chaos, in other words the nature of Carnivalesque mocks the behaviour of those higher in authority and presents them as an everyday fool whereas in reality they are regarded as far more intelligent than others and they rarely possess a foolish thought, as they depict a jester to be foolish, but in fact his intelligence is shown in the play ‘Twelfth Night’ The concept of Carnivalesque derives from a feast named ‘Feast of Fools’ this festival granted the assumed fools in society a chance to enter†¦show more content†¦Through the example of Maria’s momentary arrogance, and Thomas Hobbes idea of a ‘sudden glory’ it is clear that Carnivalesque is important to the comical nature of ‘Twelfth Night’ through the nature of Carnivalesque, arises the amusing side of this play, because the breakdown of class boundaries and the ability for the lower authority to resist higher authority, is unlike ordinary life, therefore the nature of Carnivalesque presented in this play depicts an exaggerated view on life. The theory of Carnivalesque is important to the comical genre in Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ because it makes a mockery of those in higher authority. According to Mikhail’s theory, in literacy forms there is a resistance to authority. The concept of mocking those higher in authority and resisting authority is presented in ‘Twelfth Night’ usually through music. When Feste is asked to sing, in Act 2 Scene 4, by Orsino, he relates the song to Orsino’s woes of love and Olivia. ‘I am slain by a fair cruel maid’ this quote is Feste’s way of criticizing Orsino’s stupidity for loving a woman who he knows does not share this feeling. He satirises Orsino’s self-indulgence by singing a song about the troubles in his life, however Feste clearly states in this song that Olivia does not love him, and is indirectly stating that Orsino is a fool loving a woman who is not interested. When Feste sings ‘not a flow er sweet, On my blackShow MoreRelatedChaos and Order in Twelfth Night2766 Words   |  12 Pagesreference to Twelfth Night during Shakespeare’s own lifetime is to a performance on February 2, 1602. A law student named John Manningham wrote in his diary about a feast he attended at the Middle Temple in London where he was a law student and where â€Å"we had a play called Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will. This was likely to have been an early performance since it is generally agreed that the play was probably written in 1601. In 1954 Sir Leslie Hotson’s book, The First Night of Twelfth Night, soughtRead MoreAuthority versus Truth in Sophocles Antigone and Shakespeares Twelfth Night2444 Words   |  10 Pagesâ€Å"Authority cannot afford to connive at disobedience† writes Sophocles in Antigone. This is also a central concern to Aristotle who establishes the importance of ‘Authority’ in the opening lines of his treatise Poltics: â€Å"Since we see that every city-state is a sort of community and that every community is established for the sake of some good†¦it is clear that every community aims at some good, and the community which has the most authority of all and includes all the others aims highest, that is