An Anomic World Without Father: A Close Reading Of Twelfth Night, Or What You Will

It is not accidental that William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What You Will can be popular for four hundred years and be controversial to the critics. Of Shakespeare's four mature comedies, Twelfth Night stands out to be the most interesting. Close reading of the text reveals one unique feature of the play:the absence of fathers. As a matter of fact, in the play, all father-like characters or characters who can judge as insightfully as fathers are marginalized. Starting from this feature, the present author analyzes the characters and incidents in the play and reaches the following conclusion:the absence of fathers and the consequent marginalization of father-like figures in the play lead to the morbid code of conduct among the youth on Illyria, which in turn damages the original hierarchy and results in anomie on the island.The Introduction provides a brief review of Twelfth Night through summarizing Shakespearean critics'different opinions of the five main characters:Malvolio, Maria, Olivia, Viola, and Orsino, and finds that although the text itself is "unusually clean", critics interpret it tremendously different from, if not opposite to, each other. Personally, the author believes that the disagreement largely originates from the fact that these critics fail to closely read the text, thus unable to analyze Shakespeare's text systematically.Chapter One demonstrates the absence of the role of fathers and the consequent marginalization of father-like characters through analyzing the fatherless heroine, Olivia, who has been puzzling Shakespearean critics ever since the twentieth century. The author systematically compares Twelfth Night with Shakespeare's other plays as far as the role of father is concerned, arguing that Olivia is a foolish and willful young countess. Furthermore, the author investigates the decisive role that Viola's late father plays in her romance and identifies the paternal role of Maria and her marginalization.Chapter Two discusses the youth's code of conduct in love and marriage on the island of Illyria with the marginalization of father-like figures in the play. The thesis holds that without father's supervision, the youth in the play are infected with "appearance fever", which accounts for Olivia's quick love for Sebastian since the man shares the same "appearance" with her former lover, Viola who disguises herself as a man. Moreover, the countess's power over religion compounds with her foolishness and willfulness to lead to her hasty marriage with Sebastian. In addition, the countess's "appearance fever" also explains her unconventional way of addressing the drunkard, Sir Toby Belch. Malvolio is favored by Olivia for his appearance, but his incompetence as a steward combines with his distortion and coveting of aristocracy to justify his downfall. In addition, the author in this section explores the reason of Maria's marginalization and her marriage with Sir Toby Belch.Chapter Three examines the confusion over the way of addressing Orsino and the anomie on the island of Illyria for lack of powerful father-like leaders. The issue of Orsino's appellation has long puzzled Shakespearean critics, who have reached no consensus yet. Analyzing the ways and times that different age groups address Orsino, the author traces the confusion in his appellation to the sea war that happens before the play begins and maintains that Olivia's father and brother die of wounds in the war against Antonio and that the damage of Orsino's reputation stems from his impotence as a commander in the war. Finally, the author investigates the anomie following Orsino's failure in the sea war against Antonio.In the Conclusion section, the thesis answers the questions listed in the Introduction and discusses the implications of studying the absence of father in Twelfth Night.