Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Similarities Between Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and "Twelfth Night"

Even though "Hamlet" is a dark tragedy and "Twelfth Night" is a romantic comedy, many of the themes in both of them overlap.  First, disguises are a major theme in both plays.  In "Twelfth Night," the characters wear actual disguises to trick the other characters.  Viola dresses up as Cesario, whom Olivia falls in love with.  Malvolio and Feste also disguise themselves.  In the end, the disguises don't really have an upsetting effect because they're accepted for who they really are.  In Hamlet, the "disguise" theme acts more under the theme of appearance versus reality.  Many of the characters in Hamlet appear to be good-natured, but below the surface-level they are dark, unjust, and selfish.

Second, love is seen as a cause of suffering in both plays. In "Twelfth Night," many of the characters mention how they are in pain because of the love they possess for someone else, especially when the person they love doesn't return the love.  At the end of the play, some of the characters rejoice in their love, while others are still pained by love's nonexistence in their lives.  This is just one of the effects that Shakespeare's romantic comedies have.  In "Hamlet," Hamlet suffers because of the love between her mother and his uncle that destroyed his parent's marriage.  He also thinks he is suffering because Ophelia rejects him at the beginning of the play because she was complying with her father's wishes, prohibiting her to marry Hamlet.  Thus, Hamlet makes Ophelia suffer by treating her with disrespect; he is constantly unfairly comparing his incestuous mother to Ophelia.

Linked to the theme listed above, marriage is considered a bad thing in both plays.  In "Twelfth Night," Feste is against marriage because he believes that it is a foolish thing to do.  He basically says that people should enjoy in-the-moment happenings instead of being so future-oriented when involved in a romantic relationship.  In "Hamlet," marriage is seen as a bad thing because some of the characters didn't stay true to their promises.  Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, remarried her husband's brother after her husband's mysterious death.  Also, Ophelia was used by many of the characters, but she is used sexually by Hamlet.  He promises her that they will be married if she gives into his sexual requests, and once she complies with his wishes, he basically tells her that he would have married her if she didn't give in.  After that, she went crazy, was deemed non virtuous, and was no longer attractive to other men because she was no longer a virgin.  There are many other comparisons between these two plays, but these are three notable themes that must be paid attention to.

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