Nothing that is so is so. Comment on this and th Essays - Theatre

"Nothing that is so is so". Comment on this and the idea of Appearance versu s Reality in the play. "Nothing that is so is so" , says Feste . He says so ironically, talking to Sebastian, who he is convinced is actually Cesario. This is said for a specific situation, but it might actually be relevant for the whole play: Indeed, this apparently absurd quotation raises the question of illusion, which takes a big place in Twelfth Night. It highlights the paradox between appearance and reality. It can also be seen as the echo of anothe r quotation by Feste, which is. That, that is, is? But Feste has not become crazy, he may even be wittier than we could expect because the answer to the question of illusion of theatre is probably between these two sentences. To what extent? To what extent does illusion masters theatre? There is illusion at the level of the characters themselves, but also to the level of the audience, but it is probably not enough for the whole play to be summed up by illusion: illusion is only possible because the roots are real. Appearances versu s reality are a recurring theme in William Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night. Appearances hide an important reality and sometimes can get in the way o f a character from attaining his or her goal. The problems that happen involve disguises and dishonesty of one form or another and create tension amongst the characters. The reason Shakespeare has this recurring theme is because of the comedy that comes with it. Disguise causes confusion and confusion leads to comedy . Appearance vs. reality is the theme that illustrates a different picture from two perspectives; there are many characters behind their masks and disguises. Some are hiding love behind these disguises and some are trying to show their love through a different disguise. Due to a mistake of identity, more precisely the mistake of identity created by Viola: she pretends she is a boy, so everyone in the play sees her in her boy's clothes, and only the audience is aware of Viola's real gender: the other characters have the illusion that Viola is a boy, Feste has the illusion that Sebastian and Cesario are the same person. In the same way, the audience attends to Malvolio's misunderstanding and illusion, but this time at another level, because some characters are also aware of the illusion: When Maria writes the letter and puts it on Malvolio's way to make him believe that Olivia loves him, she knows that he is going to be a victim of appearances, she is even going to be the actre ss of this illusion, by writing a letter full of allusions to him, flattering his ego: she is going to lie in a way, to create and maintains this illusion. Even the feelings of these characters are not real: Orsino's self-love, Olivia's sorrow, Malvolio's desire of revenge, Viola's love for Orsino are not spontaneous, they are not even genuine, they are only roles, only an illusion of feelings: since the characters are not real, their feelings cannot be real either, and if the audience laugh when Malvolio shows his yellow stockings, when Sir Toby makes puns or when Orsino makes hyperboles, if the audience feel pity for Malvolio on being tricked or for Antonio being left alone at the end of the play, this is only due to illusion, to the appearance of reality that theatre tries to present; but it needs the connivance of the audience itself: for a while, the spectators believe as if what they saw was real, they accept what are actually not very plausible things, thanks to conventions, sometimes so usual that they are not even aware of them: it has become normal for the audience to see everything take place on a stage, on the very same stage whereas the action is supposed to take place at different places: At Olivia's, at Orsino's, on a shore; the scenery may change but the stage itself does not; in the same way, spectators are used to seeing women played by men. Malvolio is misleading at one point of the play by Maria and Sir Toby.