OPPapers.com

English

Feste's songs and their contribution to major themes of the play

Music 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 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 what's to come shouldn't be unsettling or...