1. Cry real tears. The play is over. It is done and no more.
2. Here's the question for the night: Does Twelfth Night end happily ever after? We have one marriage and the promise of two more, and yes Shakespeare follows the formula for comedies quite well (coupling everywhere), but would you call this a happy ending? Why? Why not?
Your posts have been fabulous thus far. I so enjoy reading them and especially love when you reference each other. I encourage you, as we move forward, to continue to get inspiration from your peers, but try to push your own ideas even more regardless if someone has already said the thought you wanted to share. Take your ideas in a new direction. Go boldly into the unknown.
18 comments:
Cara
Though it seems that for the newly coupled characters the ending was happy, I cant get over that it was just weird. There were so many things that either didn't makes sense, didn't add up, or were just blatantly unrealistic. First of all, after the confusion of talking to Viola, Olivia finally realizes that the man she married was not in fact, the "man" she had fallen in love with and abandoned her haughty, high status identity for. It was a man that she hadn't met until their marriage, who really had nothing identical to her true love interest other than the way he looked. Though Olivia does come off as superficial, it was clear that her love for Cesario was not based on the way he looked. Viola and Sebastian may be twins, but their personalities are quite different. If, when Olivia was proclaiming her love to Viola in act 3, Viola had told her: "here! You can have a different man who looks exactly me!", I'm fairly sure Olivia would not have been interested. Sebastian's position is a little more believable since his decisions seem to be made on impulse, but even his apathy for the way in which he was married is a little incredible. I find it strange that he doesn't seem to find it a little weird that a woman married him under the impression that he was his sister.
Both Orsino and Viola's reactions similarly confused me. Orsino had, up to the moment he realized Viola was a women, been insisting that he was in love with Olivia. Throughout the play, it has seemed that part of the reason for his obsession with her was based off of the fact that she wouldnt have him. He wanted exactly what he couldn't have. Another reason, was that Olivia was beautiful. Orsino loves to be in love, but he chose Olivia specifically for those reasons. If he had been interested in a woman who would love him back, it would have made sense for him to move on far earlier in the play and seek another candidate. I cant see how Viola fits any of his love requirements, she is very much available and not only does he have no idea what she looks like as a woman, hes known her as a man since he met her. Viola on the other hand, is already in love with Orsino and overlooks all these flaws in their sudden relationship. Only minutes before he asks her to be her "master's mistress" he accused her of stealing his lover Olivia. To me, it seems more likely that Shakespeare is making fun of his characters and their unrealistic views of love than narrating a happy ending.
I agree with Cara. The ending was very formulaic and happy, but really unbelievable. Malvolio is finally let in on the joke, but only swears revenge and marches out. He doesn't even apologize to Olivia. Also, Orsino is able to switch the person he loves at the drop of the hat. He had sworn so passionately that he loved Olivia, but once Viola announced that she wasn't a dude and loved him he leapt at the chance to be with her.
Also, unlike most women, Olivia seems perfectly fine with having married the wrong person. She's even excited at the prospect of having Orsino and Viola being her in-laws. That's a tad confusing.
The only people that continue how they had been are Feste and Fabian, both of whom are merely commenting and transporting people in and out of the scene. This ending could have been attainable, but I wish Shakespeare had made it more believable by incorporating more of the elements into the 4th act.
Basing my response on the trends of the characters in this play, the ending is not one of real happiness. The rate at which Orsino and Olivia are able to fall in love with new people, regardless of their former interests and emotions, creates an uncertainty around the rationality of their new marriages. In fact, these new marriages are not rational at all, because if a better opportunity for either Orsino or Olivia arises, I would have to believe that they would follow that abandoning their newfound lovers. These marriages, like Orsino and Olivia's passions, will likely be fleeting. Thus, although the story ends at a happy moment with coupling all around, these marriages seem to me to be doomed.
I believe that in this ending Shakespeare is really just continuing his pattern of mocking humanity. Happily ever after appears weird, because it is weird, quite unlikely, and quite uncommon in the world. He leaves the audience with a strange, unsettlingly happy ending, making the reader (or observer) question whether a happy ending can actually exist.
I do think that the ending to Twelfth Night is a (relatively) happy one. The protagonists (Viola and Sebastian), those who drive the plot line, do eventually reunite and all is well with them. Therefore, it is logical to say that the play ends happily. On the other hand, having said that, I would argue that it is more "tragi-comedic" than truly happy. The ending is comedic in two senses: first of all, as in all of Shakespeare's comedies, it ends in one (or multiple) marriages and secondly, it is hilarious. The fast-paced series of entrances and exits, Sir Andrew screaming for a surgeon and the incredible number of mistaken identities turn Act 5 into one long, amusing comedy. There clearly are a few tragic moments or events, the entrance of Malvolio stands out as the primary one, but I have seen interpretations, and several audiences, that find that part of the act as the single funniest moment. It is all up to interpretation, which is why I think that the label of "tragi-comedy" is the best way to classify Act 5.
I think that te ending is as unrealistic as the entire plot. I agree with Cara that the ending is completely unrealistic, but no less unrealistic than the rest of the play. I find it perfectly conceivable that Orsino, who clearly fell in love with Olivia without seeing her, and Viola is much more of a match for him. I think that he has thought of "Cesario" as his best friend, and now he gets to marry her. I think Orsino and Viola get the best deal out of this.
Personally, I find it frustrating that characters we have come to know and love get no ending at all (Antonio). What happens to him? The ending is unsatisfying in that respect, but I think it is happy and satisfying in all others.
Eric Slamovich
The ending of Twelfth Night does not represent happiness; it represents a giant frenzy of emotions displayed from all of the characters. First of all, how could Orsino marry Viola, while during the whole play he thought Viola was a guy? It just really confuses me why Shakespeare would place this event into the play. It really made the ending a bit disappointing to me, because like others said this is so unrealistic. Would a noble Duke actually embarrass himself, by marrying a female that was actually serving as his male attendant. Obviously their marriage was intended for the audience to become amused, but I think Shakespeare had the marriage between Viola and Orsino to show that humans can love each other, even though one may look different on the outside. Throughout the play it was apparent that Orsino had a "man crush" on Cesario, but when he found out that Cesario was actually a female, he was estatic because he had already liked her. Also, as Olivia betrays Orsino, since Orsino is in love with the thought of being in love, he must rush into a new fascination for Viola.
Also for Olivia, she was more in love with a woman than she was in love for a man. Both Olivia and Orsino are very desperate, since although Olivia constantly rejected Orsino's attempts of seduction; she falls for Sebastian in a second thinking he is the same person as Viola. In the end, like others said it is not a happy ending since there is a high probability that these relationships will fall apart quickly because both partners barely know each other.
One question I have is that did does Orsino no longer love Olivia because he thinks she is not attractive? It is the first time Orsino sees Olivia, therefore her appearance may have taken Orsino aback.
I definitely believe that the ending of Twelfth Night is a happy one. Throughout the play, Shakespeare confounds us as to who will be the ultimate will be at the end of the show. As an audience member, Shakespeare ties up the play very well, and everyone is paired with his or her most logical counterpart. In the end, all the major characters are happy. However unrealistic or possibly fleeting this happiness is, it’s still happiness.
The one concern I have for the ending is that it might no be just. This is particularly in response to Malvolio and Sir Toby. One is honorable and disciplined, and although he is gullible and uptight, the punishment he receives during Twelfth Night is, to me, somewhat excessive. Sir Toby, the boisterous drunkard on the other hand, gets the girl. To me, this is the one strange part of the ending. Although both are flawed, Shakespeare seems to commend Sir Toby’s behavior by awarding him with a wife.
On the subject of being too unrealistic, I think this is just how the theater was back then. In tragedies, everyone who ever enters the stage dies in some horrible death, and in comedies, everything ends up festive, regardless of real world logic. Although contemporary audiences could handle, or would even prefer, seeing what would really happen, the Elizabethan audiences most likely just wanted to see a play where the conflict was resolved perfectly. In this sense, I believe Shakespeare does a great job with this.
I agree with AJ. It is unrealistic by theatrical standards of today, which are supposed to model life almost completely. However (and I think I said this a few weeks ago, but I like repeating myself repeating myself), I think that Shakespeare is writing a stylized version of the human existence. Of course Orsino wouldn't find out that his bro was really a girl and marry her - then again, would Viola fall in love in three days at the beginning of the play? Would the moderately intelligent Malvolio really fall for that letter? Would Viola and Sebastian both happen to wash ashore on the same island? And would Antonio really manage to find Cesario/Viola/"Sebastian" just as s/he was about to get his/her hide tanned by Sir Andrew? To enjoy the play, suspension of disbelief is required.
So yes, I do think that the ending of the play is happy. A little too happy, if you want my deeper opinion. I think that the veneer of happy that he acks onto the end of the play is a little out of keeping with the rest of it. Most of the play has been wit, repartee, and a knot getting more and more twisted. I don't think the ending ties it all up, so I feel a bit disappointed when I finish it. Then again, everyone gets paired up with their logical counterpart and the comedy ends as Shakespearean comedies did - with laughter and marriage and everyone onstage. You leave the theater feeling good about yourself instead of contemplating the moral ramifications of love at first sight.
Whether or not the play ends with a happy ending depends entirely on the view point and the attitude of the audience. The ending could be interpreted as a happy, fantasy ending where all the main characters are paired together and everyone lives happily ever after. Or, the ending could be viewed, as Cara said, quite unrealistic cheesy. There are of course, many other possible opinions dealing with this play's ending, but for my post I'll only deal with these two.
In my opinion, the play had a bitter-sweet ending; in other words, a combination of the two. As stated above, all the couples eventually find each other, and things seem to end happy after all. But this sudden coupling of six characters begs the questioning of the reality and credibility of the Act V. In only a few hundred lines or so, Shakespeare managed to finish 'juggling' the play and his 'closing act' seemed staged and unreal. In my mind, there is no possible way for love to be realized by characters and then accepted in such a short period of time. As Cara noted, only lines before Before Orsino asks Viola to become his “ master’s mistress” he accuses her of stealing from him, his true and only love of his life, Olivia. He then proceedes to completely 180 and proclaim his love and adoration for Viola. Isn’t that a little cheesy?
In conclusion, the play's ending was neither happy nor sad but a mixture of semi-believable events that helped construct and artificial ending.
I agree with Bo that its all in perception of the audience. I think that in order for it to be a happy ending the audience has to understand it. Yet there also is the factor of reality. I agree with cara in how the ending is very unrealistic. If the play isn't real than nothing that comes out of it is realistic.
For example i didn't think that Orsino would be so accepting of Viola, after tricking him for sometime thinking she was a man.I would think that in the Elizabethan era where women aren't powerful, Violas act would be looked down upon and punishment would be the outcome of such act. I also thought that the way Sebastian acted was very unrealistic. I mean he was not in reality at all going along with Olivia falling over him. I thought that the "love" between Sebastian and Olivia was so fake and unrealistic that it makes the outcome of them getting married unrealistic.
To tell you the truth i don't know if the ending was in fact a happy ending. In one sense it was because no one died and the characters are happy. But on the other hand the play lacked a real sense of reality and made the ending unbelievable
1. Check
2. Twelfth Night does indeed end on a happy note. Although AJ's point about the play not having a "just" ending is valid, we must keep in mind that the story is not driven by the comedic relief (the knuckleheads, Malvolio, Feste, and Maria) but rather by the rest of the cast. Therefore, it is important to see if the main characters are fulfilled at the end of the play. The love triangle becomes solved and each of the character (supposedly) marry after the final page. Had Twelfth Night been a tragedy, the characters would have fought at the end of the play (because they would have felt deceived and betrayed) and ended up killing each other. However, 5 Acts later, Shakespeare is able to unravel a confusing story line in order to create a successful ending.
Like many people have said, I found the ending unbelievable in many respects. When I finished the play, I had one of those "Wait - it just ended? Like that?" moments (think Burn After Reading). The ending was so jammed packed and abrupt it makes the rest of the play look uber-dry in comparison (but somewhat more sensical).
As far as happy/sad goes, I’m with Bo. The jury is out. Everything happened so quickly it didn’t really seem like resolution. Grace may be right; these marriages could break up as quickly as they were created. All in all I could get some laughs out of it, but that doesn’t make it fully happy for me. Antonio was left out on a limb: he proclaimed his love of Sebastian to multiple people yet no one acknowledges him at all. However, the lack of an ending for the other more minor characters didn’t bother me as much because I had never come to like them very much anyway.
The preposterousness of the ending bolsters the idea that Twelfth Night is making fun of love. Yet, I think the ridiculousness was taken a bit too far for my tastes – the ending left me more skeptical than amused. But, I imagine in play and film renditions the staging and pace of this last scene could greatly change my opinion.
I agree with all of the above arguments about it being unrealistic/ just plain unfair and weird. I also think that it is intentionally so. I have been reading this play through the lens of what Shakespeare is trying to tell us about how our actions affect those around us, and the repercussions of our deceptions. I think that the ending is intentionally uncomfortable in those respects (the unfairness and unrealisticness) to show the audience that life doesn't always turn out how you would expect it to in a fair world, or that its just weird sometimes.
My own personal view on whether or not the ending is happy, therefore, is that it is not. I finished the play feeling uneasy, as I did when I saw MA's production last year. Malvolio's predicament overshadowed the happiness of the couples, who by this point I find a little annoying in their frivolity and melodrama. Then there is Antonio who is completely left out of everything.
Feste's closing song was really interesting to me, because it describes the progression of life and how people act at different stages. Not only that, but it comments on all of the different predicaments of all the characters. For example, lines 376-379, were most prominent in my mind. "When that I was and a little tiny boy...A foolish thing was but a toy" speaks to how the prank against Malvolio may have seemed funny, but they are not children and it had real repercussions. The next stanza speaks to Viola dressing up as a man, and people began seeing her as an enemy or competitor. The next refers to Orsino's 'swagger' and how that is not what a woman looks for. I don't get the second-to-last one, but the final stanza brings it back to the audience, making them examine their own lives.
To sum up: I don't think it is happy.
I would also agree that the ending is both happy and not. Although it is a happy ending for Olivia, Sebastian, Viola and Orsino, Malvolio is left broken and crying and Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are left beaten to a pulp and without mates. It is also not resolved about what will happen to Maria for deceiving Malvolio. However, as in every play there is status and hierarchy and therefore all that really matters is what happens to the principles, and for them four life turns out beautifully in somewhat of a forced ending.
Like a few other people have commented, I think that the ending to the play is both sad and happy. It is happy because, for one, Viola and Sebastian are reunited again after believing that their twin is dead for several weeks. It is also happy for Olivia in that her love for "Cesario" and/or Sebastian is satisfied and returned, especially after losing two important men in her life. She is also relieved of Orsino's love due to Viola, which leaves her with nothing to worry about. Orsino is obviously happy with Viola since he stops chasing after Olivia, and Viola is happy to finally have her love returned. And, last but not least, Maria, Toby, and Andrew are happy to have picked on and outsmarted Malvolio without getting caught by Olivia.
Still, the whole story with Malvolio leaves a very sad element to the end of the play. My definition of a classic "happy ending" is when all the good characters are happy, and the enemies of those characters have been "defeated", persay. In Malvolio's situation, I don't see him as a bad character, or evil at all, just a bit high-strung. I definitely don't think he deserved what Maria/Toby/Andew did to him. His end to the story left me annoyed at the other characters for not seeing through Maria's trickery. If anything, a happy ending would result in Maria being punished and Malvolio being avenged for the wrong done unto him. But Maria is too cunning and Olivia too in love to notice something like this. I was also surprised that Viola didn't notice what was going on and step in, or at least do something, but maybe she is also too in love to notice anything other than Orsino.
The idea of everything working out and the marriages being arranged is the idea of a happy ending, but the idea that all of this love occurred in a matter of days is just extremely odd. They shipwrecked a matter of days ago, then you have Orsino who is just head over heels for Olivia. Viola and Sebastian come into play and within a matter of days The love affairs switch around and the Love if flowing through the air. I would say the ending is happy, but the play as a whole was just very odd. Shakespeare does a very good job throughout the whole entire play of showing this extreme love that everyone has for everyone. The ending was just confusing and the play as a whole was just a little bit weird, but if that's what your looking for go crazy.
Daniel
I agree with the many other posts, especially Cara's, that conclude that the play's ending wasn't all that happy, but rather more strange and weird. For instance, Olivia seems supremely superficial at the end of the play, even more so than she was before. She felt "love" for Cesario, aka Viola, but was not only willing, but happy to mary a completely different guy who just looked similar to someone she "loved". However, it was also clear, as Cara noted, that when Olivia first fell for "Cesario", it was not for his looks, but rather for his compliments of her and the wit "he" brought. This makes the ending all the more strange as it seems that Olivia's actions directly contradict her character and actions from earlier in the play.
I also find it strange how the play itself ends. It has the, not so funny Malvolio, come in and display his misery. Upon finding out that he has been deceived, and that those responsible for his torturous humiliation will escape punishment, he storms out swearing revenge "upon the whole lot of you", a line more in place in one of Shakespeare's tragedies than at the end of a comedy. The whole ending scene might be able to be played in a comical manner, but it is not really all that funny content wise. Another strange thing is that Orcino still refers to Viola as Cesario, and commands that she should still be referred to as Cesario unless she is dressed as a woman. This is also very strange and might led to conflict in the future. I doubt that Sebastian would want to be called Cesario, so in the eyes of everyone else does Cesario just disapear? and even if the truth about Viola will come out, then why does Orcino force her to still be called Cesario?
Post a Comment