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"There is no feast without cruelty" To what extent does this apply to "Twelfth Night"?

Date Submitted: 09/10/2006 03:34:43
Category: / History
Length: 4 pages (1005 words)
Views: 84813

This statement by Nietzsche applies to a great extent in "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare. Since it is a comedy, there certainly is a 'feast' of happiness and humour and therefore, there must be cruelty. Cruelty is shown in a number of ways, but it often coexists with disguise and things not being what they seem. The characters inflicting this cruelty have an inner 'Appolonian - Dionysian struggle', which is the reasoning and orderly side …

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…feast without cruelty" applies directly to situations in Twelfth Night. The characters do not like being made fools of and therefore have a strong sense of revenge. This works to Malvolio's disadvantage as all the things he had done to anger or annoy people came back and hit him where it hurt him most - his pride. From this, it can be concluded that Nietzsche's statement is very much true for the play "Twelfth Night".

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