¶ … Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" with Milton's "Paradise Lost"
Comparison of the two works:
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Milton's Paradise Lost are two examples of great works that seemingly have little in common. The differences in subject, approach, language and style contrast greatly but these works also share many common themes. Although Twelfth Night is a romantic comedic work and Paradise Lost is an epic poem that deals with a much heavier subject matter, both present the reader with stories of the consequences when there is a disruption in world order and balance while incorporating elements of disguise and character consequences.
Shakespeare's work is consistent with the witty, bright comedies popular during its time. According to Warren and Wells, these comedies typically included a mixture of dialogue, singing, stage fights, and suspense and the nature of the lighthearted language used was commonplace during the early 1600's (1994). Additionally, critic Ben Johnson said that Shakespeare's work and specifically the work of Twelfth Night was a worth "not of age, but for all time" (Notkoff, p. 12).
In the tradition of classic epics such as Homer's Iliad, and the Odyssey, Milton's Paradise Lost is considered to be the greatest of the genre. Generally considered to be the climax of the epic poems, Milton's work was so great that it discouraged other writers from attempting to come close to matching its greatness. According to criticism by Voltaire, "Paradise Lost is the only poem wherein are to be found in a perfect degree, that uniformity which satisfies the mind, and that variety which pleases the imagination -- all its episodes being necessary lines which aim at the center of a perfect circle" (Voltaire, 1727, in Elledge, 1993, p. 478).
What makes both of these works deserving of such praise is the manner in which the authors construct a story, through the effective use of various creative tools. Through carefully crafted humor as in the case of the Twelfth Night and as poetic lines in Paradise Lost, both pieces have distinguished themselves to be works that are timeless and relevant in any society.
Element of disguise:
Shakespeare uses the element of illusion and reality through the means of mistaken identities, disguises and deception. The characters create a false "reality" by disguising the truth about themselves. Examples of this are demonstrated with Malvolio as a man obsessed with the illusion of power; Maria as the author of "Olivia's" love letter to Malvolio; Olivia as the mourning daughter and sister and who cannot love because of grief; Orsino as the lovesick nobleman who inhabits a fantasy world of music and solitude. It is Viola however who sets things in motion by disguising herself as Cesario.
In understanding the extent to which the theme of disguise is used, Shakespeare employs a character, in most cases a fool, whose sole purpose is to cleverly point out the illusions planted and lived by the other characters. It is argued that Feste, being a central character in Twelfth Night, is more that just the "king of misrule," but is the one character who recognizes the reality of the disguises incorporated in the play. He is the only character who can reveal the truth about all the other characters. As Dower points out, it is very common for the fools in Shakespeare's works to be the wisest of all the characters and in this case, Feste is no exception. Dower argues that Feste is
"more deeply involved in the play than simply the commentator ... The Fool is as conventional in Shakespeare's comedy as the intriguing slave or parasite in [the plays] Plautus or Moliere. But, while Fest shares some of the characteristics of [such characters] he does not, like them, dazzle our eyes by juggling the elements of the plot into a complex pattern which only he can sort out for the necessary fortunate conclusion.
Until the last act of the play, he does little but jest or sin. But for all his failure to take a positive part in the intrigue -- emphasized perhaps when he drops out of the baiting of Malvolio -- for all that he is not, that is to say, a protagonist, he nonetheless propounds the theme which gives Twelfth Night its unity and makes a single work of art out of what might have been a gorgeous patchwork (Notkoff, 2001, p. 95).
According to Dower, often throughout the play, Feste's insight leads to exposure of the many disguises. For example, in Act 1, when he is conversing with Olivia about her decision...
However, before citing parallels between Milton's ideas and the liberal divorce legislation of the later twentieth century one should note that in all instances Milton presents the man as the suffering party. He does not deny that the woman also might suffer, but consistently she is portrayed as the potential cause of the state in which 'instead of being one flesh, they will be rather two carcasses chained unnaturally
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