Julie Tagg| Think and Write for CSEC English A and B

Twelfth Night, a play by William Shakespeare, has a dramatic point of view that follows certain characters more closely than others. This allows the audience to sympathize with their perspective. The play focuses on the characters Viola, Feste, and Malvolio, amongst others. Viola and Feste are considered the most privileged characters in the play because they possess the greatest insight into themselves and other characters.

Viola is an especially unique character in the play. Until the final act, she is the only character who shares the dramatic irony of Cesario’s double identity with the audience. Additionally, Viola speaks directly to the audience at several points, including when she reveals her secret desire to marry the Duke. Viola’s cunning and intelligence make her one of the more stable and willful characters in the play. Unlike Olivia and Orsino, Viola knows what she wants and doesn’t deviate from her goal. The fact that she begins the play believing she just lost her beloved twin brother makes her sympathetic to the audience, and we want to see her joined with another character. Accordingly, the audience is biased toward Viola’s point of view. She serves as a reliable touchstone, and is closely aligned with what we, as audience members, already know and see.

Feste is also a uniquely situated character within Twelfth Night. He is privy to the workings of both courts, and is portrayed as shrewd and discreetly knowing. Feste has cutting insight into other characters. He calls Olivia a fool for her self-indulgent melancholy, suggests that Orsino’s moody and erratic mind resembles an opal changing colors, and is not afraid to point out Sir Toby’s excessive drinking. Feste also has the last say in the play. His pensive song at the end functions as a kind of ultimate judgment, shaping the way the audience will interpret and remember the events of the play. Feste both participates in Twelfth Night and also offers commentary with an objective distance. He serves as a stand-in for the consciousness of the audience, essentially thinking what we are thinking, and through his witty commentary gives us a vicarious representation within the play itself.

Malvolio, on the other hand, is separated from the others both by his Puritanism and his disapproval of the songs, drinking, and frivolity the others value. We get the least insight into Malvolio’s point of view, which is why we enjoy the jokes and pranks the other characters play on him. He is the play’s outsider and is not portrayed sympathetically. Malvolio’s exclusion from the play’s central perspectives makes him an easy target for comedic ridicule.

Overall, the play’s point of view is partial to the perspectives of Viola and Feste. They form the sensible and sober anchors of an otherwise raucous free-for-all. Viola and Feste’s insight and stability provide a consistent point of reference while also instilling a dose of sanity into the madness of Twelfth Night’s universe.