Discuss the function of the music in twelfth night? (750 words)
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Critics call Twelfth Night one of William Shakespeare’s most poetic and musical plays. Shakespeare writes poetic lines for the major characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, and gives the Fool, and other minor characters, songs to sing throughout the play. The particularly romantic lines of the play make it seem as if the characters are professional poets themselves. Shakespeare also uses the music and poetry in Twelfth Night to foreshadow what is going to happen for the rest of the performance and to reveal major themes in the play. Music and poetry become major characters in the play themselves.
The opening soliloquy of Act I Scene I, given by Duke Orsino, is another perfect example of Shakespeare using music to show the upcoming storyline of the play. At first, Orsino is using music as a metaphor that feeds the appetite of love. He speaks for a minute about his love for the music playing, and then changes abruptly by saying, “Enough; no more” (7). Already Shakespeare is foreshadowing Orsino’s fickleness when it comes to music which in turn stands for love. Of course, further into the play, it is shown that Orsino truly is fickle when it comes to love. As soon as he finds out that Cesario is in fact the woman Viola, he instantly forgets all the passion he had for Olivia and marries Viola.
Another part of Orsino’s opening speech that shows a piece of the future plot is the part where he talks about love being “receiveth as the sea” (11). This can be taken to show that love will come by the sea. In the very next scene, Viola appears in Illyria from a shipwreck. Sebastian, although Shakespeare does not say so at the time, also comes onto the scene because of the same shipwreck. Shakespeare forecasts, very subtly, that these are t...
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...one of the antics at the start play to woo Olivia succeed for Orsino and Viola’s initial plan in the beginning does not blossom. This line concludes the part of Feste’s song in which he is giving a synopsis of the play. The last two stanzas are addressed to the audience and Feste thanks them.
Shakespeare craftily uses music and poetry to guide the audience through the play and give them an inkling of what is to come, if the audience chooses to play close attention. However, it is not always clear what the song means and, depending on the character delivering the song or poem, comes off as more comedic than meaningful to the performance. By the end of the play, the audience has accepted that music and poetry are just as much themes in the play as disguise and love, but are blended so painstakingly that neither poetry or love overshadow anything in the performance.
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Answer:
The first performance of Twelfth Night has taken place in 1602. Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare, depicts the love-induced escapades of twins Sebastian and Viola. When Countess Olivia misidentifies Viola as a man, she finds herself in a tough predicament.
Throughout Twelfth Night, music serves to identify characters as well as tone and atmosphere in numerous scenes. Characters sing, and musical interludes help with transitions between plot points.
Throughout the play, for example, Feste frequently sings, highlighting his foolish character and attachment to his mistress, Countess Olivia.
Duke Orsino, another character linked to Countess Olivia, utilizes music to cheer himself up when Olivia does not reciprocate his feelings. His anguish prompts him to comment, "Play on, if music is the bread of love. Give me an abundance of it; that excess. The appetite may become ill and hence die." As a result, his song suggests that he is unable to cope with Olivia's rejection and that death would be preferable.
The play has numerous song fragments that originate with the Clown. This is because the Clown of the stage is descended from the domestic Clown whose major task was to entertain his master and the household and in the group of players who performed the plays of Shakespeare, there was one who was blessed with a wonderful voice and who took the part of the Clown.
The majority of the song pieces dispersed throughout this drama can be found in Percy's 'Reliques.' Some of these can also be found in the works of other playwrights. Their origin is shrouded in mystery. The Right Honourable Henry Howard, late Earl Surrey, and others had published the first political miscellany in our language in 1557, under the title of "Songs and Sonnets."
Slender alludes to this very popular collection, which went through many editions during the sixteenth century, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, where he exclaims, "had rather than 40 shillings I had books of "Songs and Sonnets" here," implies that this was the fashionable manual for lovers during Elizabeth's reign.
Taken collectively, they represent the mood of the characters and scenes, add to the play's romantic, comic, and melodic worth, and disperse the prevalent atmosphere of comedy as well as passionate love. The drama begins with music that, for a brief moment, affects Orsino's love-sick soul. All three songs are sung by the Clown, which is significant. The significance of songs and music in Twelfth Night
The first song, which appears in Act II, Scene ll, has a sad undercurrent that adds poignancy to the happiness by reminding us of the uncertainty of mortal things. The second song is Feste's song from Act I, Scene IV. This melancholy theme, clearly performed with taste and heart by Feste to satisfy the Duke, points us to the true character of the jester.
The true meaning of the great dramatist's putting this wailing dirge into the Crown's mouth appears to me to be that he wishes to indicate this conception of the character as one whose culture and native gifts have both been overborne by some imperious and ineradicable foibles aided by the force of circumstance. The significance of songs and music in Twelfth Night
Capacity for thought and passion is still evident in his musical talent, and the power with which he sang this song demonstrates his flexibility of mind and character. This short poem has some of Shakespeare's most beautiful verses. It portrays the smooth and melting groans that run through his (the Duke's) days, bathed in a nerveless sorrow.
"It lends a faint echo to the throne of love." The Clown also sings the third song at the end of the play. It "seems to be the most philosophical Clown's song on the record, and the book on its wisdom could be written."
It is the story of a life, beginning with the situation of a very tiny boy and progressing through man's estate to a "decaying age."
When I walked into my bed—and the conclusion appears to be that what is true of the individual is true of the species; what was of yesterday was of generations long past away—for 'A great while ago the world began 7 years ago This song contains elements of the forum pathos of Ring Lear.
The rain that falls every day, the men who close their gates against knaves and robbers, and the world that began a long time ago are like fragmented faint recollections or portents that trouble a child's mind. ” The significance of songs and music in Twelfth Night
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