Twelfth Night As Romantic Comedy

William Shakespeare, Shakespeare also spelled ShakspereShakespeare, byname Bard of

Avon or Swan of Avon, (baptized April 26, 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England
—died April 23, 1616, Stratford-upon-Avon), English poet, dramatist, and actor often called
the English national poet and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time.
Born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, Willliam Shakespeare was educated at the local
grammar school in Stratford Upon Avon, which was the birthplace as well as place of the
death. He had learned Latin, Greek and the language of the ancient Rome there. There is not
complete and autheotative records on the life of the Shakespeare life. We can only gather
information from the public records such as tax register, legal papers, etc.
He is a writer of great intellectual rapidity, perceptiveness, and poetic power. Other writers
have had these qualities, but with Shakespeare the keenness of mind was applied not to
abstruse or remote subjects but to human beings and their complete range of emotions and
conflicts. Other writers have applied their keenness of mind in this way, but Shakespeare is
astonishingly clever with words and images, so that his mental energy, when applied to
intelligible human situations, finds full and memorable expression, convincing and
imaginatively stimulating.
It is believed that arrived in London and began his career as an actor around 1588, within a
few years, by 1592 he had attained success as an actor and playwright. In 1594 he became
the shareholder of his acting company How his career in the theatre began is unclear, but
from roughly 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s
company of players (called the King’s Men after the accession of James I in 1603). They had
the best actor, Richard Burbage; they had the best theatre, the Globe (finished by the
autumn of 1599); they had the best dramatist, Shakespeare. It is no wonder that the
company prospered. Shakespeare became a full-time professional man of his own theatre,
sharing in a cooperative enterprise and intimately concerned with the financial success of
the plays he wrote.
The first reference to Shakespeare in the literary world of London comes in 1592, when a
fellow dramatist, Robert Greene, declared in a pamphlet written on his deathbed:

“There is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart
wrapt in a Players hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as
the best of you; and, being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit
the only Shake-scene in a country.”

Romantic Comedy is a class different from other types of comedy – Satirical Comedy,
Comedy of Humours, Comedy of Manners, Sentimental Comedy and finally Antisentimental
Comedy. Cuddon said:
“Shakespeare wrote almost every kind except satirical comedy; Jonson hardly wrote
any that was not satirical.”
Twelfth Night is one of the finest comedies of the Bard. Romantic comedy (also known
as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on
lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able
to surmount most obstacles. In a typical romantic comedy, the two lovers tend to be young,
likeable, and seemingly meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating
circumstance. Generally, a romantic comedy start with some problems that make the union
of the lover difficult. But it ends with their happy union . Twelfth Night is typical romantic
play of the Shakespeare. It has some element which give the play a romantic air. Love at first
sight , music, improbabilities, and the violation of the classical rules have lent weight to the
view that Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy.

Twelfth Night which was supposed to be staged on 6th January, the ttwelfth day of
Christmas celebration, had to be joyous as the celebration was intended to observe the birth
of Christ, the saviour of the fallen man. It is a joyous occasion, and therefore, the play had to
be written in tune with and to heighten the spirit of mirth. Although nowhere does
Shakespeare refer to the Christian theme, because he never wanted to be confined within a
congregation, he was totally aware of the demand of the audience on a special night. Hence
he presents us with a play, full of song, feast and dance, radiating with the sunshine of love,
having in it elements that bear malice towards none and charity for all.
Love is the very essence of the romance. Twelfth Night is the romantic play. Because passion
of the love is dominates. It is the tale of the love ending with the ringing of the marriage
bells. It is also tale of love at first sight. The duke Orsino falls in the love for Olivia as soon as
he has seen her. Viola falls in love with the duke imedialtely. Olivia falls in love with Cesario
in the course of her very first meeting with him. As soon as Cesario left, she says to herself:
“ even so quickly may one catch the plague”
The love is romantic, intense and passionate. It is nothing to do with reason. it is not
directed and run with argument. In fact, Shakespeare has treated love in such a manner in
Twelfth Nigght, that all principal characters in the play are passionately in love. They have no
other business but that of love making . The play opnes with the note of love. In the opening
scene of Orsino says:
“if music is the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, the surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
Thus the Duke is love-sick. Passionate love has been expressed in poetical language. Love
also
dominates the hearts of Sir Andrew and Malvolio. They both love Lady Olivia and wa
marry her. In this way, the treatment of this theme makes the play even more romantic.
The setting of a Shakespearean comedy is also romantic. It is generally, unfamiliar, remote
and
distant. It exists only in the imagination of the dramatist. The scene of action is not laid in
familiar and realistic London. But it occurs in Venice or in the Forest of Arden (As You Like
I). similarly, the scene of action of Twelfih Night is Illyria. Actually, Illyria is a country having
no reality. Tt exists onlỳ in the imagination of the playwright. It is in such a romantic setting
that the character make merry and fall in love. And by the end, they are happily united with
their lovers.
Undoubtedly, love is the dominating theme in Twelfih Night. But music comes next in
importance. Love of music is also a romantic quality. Most of the songs in the play are
provided by the Clown or the fool. Thus the play opens with music. We find that the Duke
feeds his love with music. He is a man of a genuine musical taste. He likes sentimental
melodies which deal with the subject of love and death. Even Sir Toby and Sir Andrew ar
fond of music. Thus music does much to heighten the romantic atmosphere of the comedy.
Twelfth Night is also romantic in the sense that it does not follow the classical unities of
time,
place and action. Here the unity of place has only been observed. There is no unity of time
action. There is no one plot in the play but two plots. The tragic and the comic scenes are
also
mingled. The main plot is serious and tragic in tone. On the other hand, the sub-plot is
entirely comic. Thus there is no unity of action in the play. There is no unity of time because
the action of the play is spread over many days and is not limited only to twenty-four hours.
eonfrontation of realism and romance is another quality of Twelth Night. It makes the play
romantic. Moreover, several situations in this play are highly improbable. A romantic play is
generally unrealistic; improbabilities enter a romantic play for the power of imagination. A
dramatist's imagination create's situations which may not occur in real life. In this play
Sebastian and Viola are separated from each other for a ship-wreck. A ship-wreck is a
distinct
possibility. But brother and sister land safely in the same sea-coast, the coast of Illyria. They
go to the same place, Duke Orsino's court, to try their luck. This is certainly improbable.
We may say that the important characteristics or features of a romantic comedy are present
in
Twelfth Night. The treatment of love, the setting, the violation of the classical rules of drama
and improbable situations are all present in the play. So we cannot but regard Twelfth Night
antic comedy.
Everyone is happy except Malvolio. Fabian pleads that it was only a joke, but Malvolio will
not forgive such an insult.
“I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you.”
He stalks out, an enemy of laughter to the end, and the duke, who wants no one to be
unhappy, sends a peacemaker after him
Twelfth Night has some slight defects, especially of dramatic technique; the duration of the
action is hard to determine; the marriage of Sebastian seems forced and hurried; that of Sir
Toby and Maria is ill defined; the sequence of Act and Scene is hard to follow. Some will add
that there is lack of characterization. But we are not greatly troubled by these spots.