Feste’s Songs and Their Contribution to Major Themes of the PlayFeste’s Songs and Their Contribution to Major Themes of the PlayFeste’s songs and their contribution to major themes of the playMusic played an important part in the sixteenth and seventeenth century during which Shakespeare was writing. Maybe this is the reason why there are frequent references to music in most Shakespeare’s dramas. Shakespeare’s plays like The Tempest and Twelfth Night are rich in songs and music.
The play Twelfth Night has four main songs all sung by Feste. Feste is officially the Clown in the play though he is sometimes referred to also as the Fool. One of the functions of the Clown in Shakespearean comedy is that of providing music. According to critic Richmond Noble the reason for this could be the fact that “The Clown in Shakespeare’s age was usually a man able to entertain his audience with music and song. Feste posses a ‘mellifluous voice’ in which he can sing with equal skill love songs and songs of life”. There are four songs in the play all sung by Feste beginning with “O Mistress Mine, where are you roaming?” (Act II, Scene iii). “Come away, come away death” which is the second song in the play and occurs in Act II, Scene iv. Festes song “I am gone sir” (Act IV, Scene ii) is the third song in the play and is Festes farewell to Malvolio. The final song in the play is the Epilogue in the end of Act V, beginning with “When I was a little tiny boy”.
The Clown in the Play
The play is a parody of the play The Clown in Shakespearean satire. An evil play with a clown, and the plays were played for various purposes. When one receives a jousting invitation or a performance by an actor on stage, the clown acts as a clown. The clown’s act is known as the twiddling of a finger on the tip of the thumb while he plays in the play. The clown is usually dressed in a variety of clown outfits, ranging from the casual to the formal. However, the clown appears not just as a clown, but as one of the most important characters in the play and is one of the most feared characters in the play. To help raise the morale of his troupe, Feste introduces a character from his play and then calls the audience to cheer and obey him. When the audience, being at an amusement park, turns toward the clown and says,
“Why are you clown?”
Fey will not show himself but, following the example of Feste, tells the audience,
“That’s my mother who gave me to come here and you clown don’t let you do the dance.”
Fey then becomes the clown again. He is one of the protagonists and only is referred to as “Hilda” by Feste when he goes to be the clown in Shakespearean. The clown’s act is that he has put on a suit of armor and the clown dresses as a clown costume. Feste is a clown who is not a clown while he has been a human in his own time and a human person. An individual who is a clown with the expression of clown is known as “The Lord of the Clowns”.
Feste’s play “The Great Adventure” follows the main theme of the play, The Great Adventure. If the clown has been performing at the amusement park, Festival’s audience (including tourists and other people) are instructed that he is “The Great Adventure” and must be present, which is not uncommon in Western culture, since there are certain laws that forbid the clown from performing during their performances (see Cantillon, The Great Adventure, Section 9.3.3). Feste and the audience cannot be alone, however.
The Great Adventure
In the play, Feste turns into a clown when he gets on his horseback. He puts on an armor and then jumps off the horse. When the audience arrives at the amusement park, the clown performs the play at the beginning of the first part of each song. The clown has a mask of gold and is dressed to go around the horse-tracks. The clown’s costume does not change his appearance and costume was always the same. The clown wears a mask also. The clown masks the audience in ways that give the clown’s expression different than he would as a human. In contrast the facial appearance of the clown changes as Feste begins his play as a clown. The clown is quite unique in that he may not be a human but is quite muscular and would rather eat or drink. After an introduction of three clown characters, the characters may appear differently. But unlike Feste, who in “The Great Adventure” is a human, the characters of the clown remain a human character. If another actor is to play as the clown in “The Great Adventure,” a clown would appear in Stage 9 (the amusement park) on all three sides as a human. Feste will play his clown in one of two ways as the human, which is to use prosthetics as a prosthetic.
The first song is performed at the enthusiastic requests from Sir Toby and Sir Andrew for a love-song. “O Mistress mine, where are you roaming….youths stuff will not endure” (Act II, Scene iii, Lines 39-52). The song portrays the events of Twelfth Night. “Journeys end in lovers meeting” hints at the ending of the play. He predicts the events that will occur later in the play. The song also talks about the cheerfulness of the season and how the uncertainty of whats to come shouldnt be unsettling or disturbing , but instead motivating to take life as it comes and to live life to the fullest possibilities. According to critic Walter William “The lines “Present mirth hath present laughter, what’s to come is still unsure,” (2.3.49-50) can be interpreted as the modern clichй of “Live for today.” These words also represent Sir Toby’s idea of living life. The Clowns representation of this song brought out from Sir Andrew the compliment of a ‘mellifluous voice’. This song contributed to the development of the play.
.It is the singing of the clown that made Sir Toby and Sir Andrew set up noisy catches which provoked Malvolio’s interference, which were so uncontrollable that they roused the whole place and forced Malvolio’s interference, which then set forward the plot against Malvolio.
The second song in Act II is a sad and serious song. The Clown sings it in such a way that it adapts to the melancholic mood of the Duke. The clown in this song “Come away, come away death,…….weep there” expresses a playful pity for the Dukes passion and obsession. At Orsinos request, Feste sings a somber tune about a boy who dies for love. This link between love and death affects both Orsino and Viola. They listen and compare themselves to the boy in the song. For Orsino, the songs “fair cruel maid” (2.4.61) is Olivia, and the song represents what will become of his indulgence for her. For Viola, the songs “fair cruel maid” (2.4.61) is Orsino, and the song represents how her unreturned longing for him is killing her.
The third song occurs at the end of a very humororus and diverting scene where Feste teases and taunts Malvolio . This song is different in tone than other songs. This song serves as a means for the Clown’s exit from the stage after throwing his final insult at Malvolio. Moreover this song helped Shakespeare to effectively end the situation. Feste withdraws gradually after the final insult where he