In Irène, Voltaire wrote, "Shakespeare is a savage with sparks of genius which shine in dreadful darkness of night." One of Shakespeare's sparks of genius was in his use of masks. These masks put characters in a sort of "darkness of night," allowing them to become someone else. They are used for imagery, so one can discover who a person is the inside of the mask. Masks are used throughout Shakespeare's Twelfth Night to reveal a character's true emotions, to carry the story and explain things to the reader, and to express the power of raw beauty. Shakespeare uses this imagery of a mask in many of his characters in the play, but mostly in two: Viola and Feste. Throughout the play, the masks help the plot along. In the end, all masks are discarded for a great finale.
             The perfect example of the use of masking imagery can be seen in Feste the jester. In the play, Feste shows his many personalities in the disguise of masks. Acting as a wise man contrary to his role of the fool, Feste develops one mask. He tries to "conceal [himself] for what [he] is" (I.ii.52) because he knows that if the people realize his intelligence, he will not be called upon to work. These songs Feste sings serve as symbols of a well-formed conscience. People would stop coming to him for this sound advice he gives. Feste demonstrates a strong example of masking imagery because he shows what the play might be without masks. Later, the "devil man" (IV.ii.122) in him surfaces when talking to Malvolio. This is a mask because not only is Feste intelligent, not only is he a fool, he is also conniving. These masks appear all over the play, developing from scene to scene. Feste plays the role of a chameleon; changing masks to become what the necessary character for the given situation. Feste acts as "an ass" (V.i.16) for his acquaintances. This pleases the people and allows Shakespeare to say outrageous but true things that no other character would say. Althou...