Twelfth Night Critics Flashcards
Nicole Smith critic
“There is a sense of hopelessness in the battle between what one says and what is truth”
Carol Neelis critic about Viola’s gender
“She sets out on a quest, transgendered, removing all restraints and becomes a liberated individual”
F D Tromley critic
Folly is an important force in the play, one that allows the characters to come to terms with life by learning to accept “delusion, vulnerability, mortality”
David Lewis critic
“For both Orsino and Olivia, self-deception serves as an avoidance of the real world and of real emotion”
Harold Bloom critic
“…everyone, except the reluctant jester, Feste, is essentially mad without knowing it”
Jonathan Bate critic
“Viola redeems the play because she proves to be selfless, not selfish, in love”
Stephen Greenblatt
“Orsino nicely captures the gender confusion in an unintentionally ironic description of his young page”
