Twelfth Night critical quotes Flashcards
John Mullan on darkness in Shakespeare’s comedies
“[many Shakespearean comedies] have such dark material at their hearts as to escape our usual idea of comedy”
Frye on the purpose in comedy
“comedy is designed not to condemn evil, but to ridicule a lack of self-knowledge”
Ralph Berry on the effect of the play on the audience
“I summarise that the ultimate effect of Twelfth Night is to make the audience ashamed of itself”
Kelly Hunter on the play’s attitude to puritanism
“a grand attack on Puritanism”
Terence Eagleton about being in love
“Characters in love are simultaneously at their most “real” and “unreal”, most true and most feigning”
Casey Charles on attraction
“Twelfth Night is centrally concerned with demonstrating the uncategorical temper of sexual attraction”
Casey Charles on sexuality
“a play whose recurring theme is bisexuality”
Cassidy Cash on Viola
“a paragon of feminine virtue”
Samuel Johnson on Olivia’s marriage
“the marriage of Olivia…wants credibility…and exhibits no just picture of life”
Bloom on Feste
“Feste, the most charming of all Shakespeare’s fools, [is] the only sane character in a wild play”
