Twelfth Night
In what ways is the final Act of the play typical of a Romantic Comedy?
Are there any elements that do not 'fit' the usual formula?
Are there any elements that do not 'fit' the usual formula?
As in other Shakespeare comedies, like Much Ado About Nothing or Love's Labours Lost, the ending is not simply cut and dry, and wholly happy. Although Orsino closes the action of the play with an optimistic statement about the "golden time" they are all about to enjoy, the play ends with a prologue song by Feste that mars the possibility of a completely happy end (V.i.372). The song's refrain is "for the rain it raineth every day," a final image that casts a pall over Orsino and the others' sunny expectations. Though this play is a comedy, with a good deal of light-hearted wordplay and amusing situations, yet the audience must remember that the play, like life itself, is bittersweet; some people come to happy endings, other people do not, and there is always the possibility that a storm will drive good, innocent people onto a foreign shore, and into different lives.