In the study of three Shakespeare plays, Twelfth Night or Whatever You Will, The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1, one of the themes presented is the contrast between “appearance and reality”. Sometimes the confusion is comical, and other times it is simply tragic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayBy examining Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or Whatever Thou Wilt, it becomes apparent that the theme of “appearance versus reality ” is evident in many different places. levels. One of the comic devices used is the mistaken identity of the twins, Viola and Sebastian. We are asked to believe that these two fraternal twins, brother and sister, are so identical in appearance that, dressed the same, they are indistinguishable from one another. Viola's disguise is so effective that the beautiful Olivia mistakes her for a young man (Cesario) and falls in love, not only with his appearance, but also with the intelligence and grace with which he addresses her. The illusion is so complete that when Olivia sees Sebastian, she assumes he is the person she already knows. Sebastian is intrigued by her advances, but decides to accept the beautiful Olivia at face value (Bates). Malvolio is a character whose very essence personifies “appearance versus reality”. He is a completely self-centered person who dreams of running Olivia's household as master. He presents himself as a very pious, holier-than-thou steward of his mistress's affairs, when in reality he is only looking for a way to further his own ambitious desires. When the pompous Malvolio finds the love letter (supposedly from Olivia) that Maria wrote in an attempt to lure him, he is already so in love with himself that it is easy for him to believe that Olivia is also in love with him. . He's so conceited that Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and their friend Fabian would like to beat him for his hypocrisy, and Maria just enjoys watching him make a fool of himself. As Malvolio is a fool who thinks he is wise, Feste is a very intelligent man who presents himself as a fool. He hides his knowledge behind his displays of stupidity (Bates). His witty critiques and observations of the events of the play belie his imbecile status in Lady Olivia's household. His role as a fool allows him to engage in conversational jousting with Viola, who, without taking offense, even rewards him for his wit while acknowledging that he may be intelligent enough to see through his disguise. He “is wise enough to play the fool, and to do it well he needs a kind of wit,” Viola says of him. Feste even implies that he has guessed that Viola is in disguise when he jokes: "Now Jupiter, in his next head of hair, sends you a beard [referring to pubic hair] (Shakespeare 458)." Neither of them is quite what they appear to be, although they are both able to see through the other's disguise without problem. This is ironic because the approved fool is actually not a fool at all and the real fool, Sir Andrew, is the character. It is this interaction that reveals two kinds of fools, conscious fools and unconscious fools. In Twelfth Night, it is primarily the oblivious fools who provide the real comedy, while the wise-cracking Feste adds insight into the larger meaning of the play. It is by acting like a fool that Feste gains the privilege of speaking the truth to the people around him. Through these truths, which are jokingly addressed to others, Feste's acute perception of others is revealed (Knisley). Very early in the play,Richard II reveals himself to be an outwardly self-confident and inwardly corrupt ruler. He enjoys the trappings of a monarch, and because of his belief in his own divinity, he is arrogant enough to think he has the right to do as he pleases. This disconnect between the appearance of kingship and the reality of this decision will ultimately lead to Richard's downfall and loss of the crown. In the opening scene, the conflict between Bolingbroke and Mowbray is confusing because it is not clear who is telling the truth. The focus is on Richard's responses. While addressing Richard in a very formal and conventional manner, the two men's elaborate rhetoric conceals their true natures until their vain display of loyalty to the king shatters in a wave of angry accusations. Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV) appears. revere the office of the king and obey Richard's order of banishment. When he later learns that Richard has acquired land that rightfully belongs to him, he still states that all he wants is what is his, appearing to have no intention of usurping the throne. Soon enough, however, he showed an astonishing inclination to do so when he saw the support given to him by Northumberland, Ross and Willoughby. They, along with other nobles, are angry at Richard for his taxation and are disgusted by his heartless theft of Gaunt's estate. Although Richard boasts of his wisdom and practicality, he abuses the power of his position and ultimately provokes his own deposition (Boyce 536). After Richard's banishment, Bolingbroke asks, apparently rhetorically: "Have I no friend to rid me of this living fear?" This is misinterpreted by Exton as being a request to kill the former king, but after having fact, Bolingbroke condemns him for this It is obvious that Richard's death weighs heavily on the new king and he announces his desire to go to the Holy Land to ease his guilty conscience. The most pronounced examples of "appearance versus reality" is Prince Hal: the young party boy who shows that his lack of respect for the conventions of court life is only a mask hiding a man who takes after all seriousness of his duty as a future king At the end of Act I, scene 2, Hal shifts from prose to courtly verse and reveals that his "cowardly behavior" is only a disguise. He realizes that the contrast. between his present exploits and his future reform will be all the more dramatic when it occurs (Shakespeare 893). Falstaff is also a shining example of the contrast between appearance and reality. He is a combination of many different character types: "The vice of the morality play, the swaggering soldier?, the witty parasite, and the madman?" (Baker 887). » As he struts through the commoner's world, encouraging excessive consumption of alcohol and food, he engages in extraordinarily witty conversation, revealing the intelligence behind his lustful exterior. Trying to decide what is real or counterfeit, true or false, is one of the major concerns of the play. The characters ask each other to comment on the accuracy of the information and reports, on the different versions of the story and on the reality of a man's reputation. Since Henry IV's claim to the crown is doubtful due to the manner in which he obtained it, all other claims of authenticity begin to be doubted. The imagery of stolen and broken "crowns", representing both coins and the symbol of royalty, highlights the fact that the usurpation of the crown is simply presented as legal and legitimate. Throughout, 1997.