Masks In The Twelfth Night
In Irene, 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 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. At 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 conscienc
Each mask is well developed and has a definite meaning to the reader. Sebastian is there, married to Olivia, when all masks are removed. This pleases the people and allows Shakespeare to say outrageous but true things that no other character would say. He demonstrates that one can remove a mask just as easily as one can put a mask on. Olivia realizes she has something to live for after seeing Cesario's mask. Shakespeare develops all these different masks. She makes her brother think he doesn't "know [her] by voice or any other feature. Everyone eventually came out from that hiding. Developing the imagery created by the mask helps to make the whole play more understandable to the reader. Viola plays the right person at every point in the story to make a happy ending.
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