"Nothing that is so, is so": The extent of role of this statement in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Résumé du document

"Nothing that is so, is so", says Feste. He says so ironically, talking to Sebastian, who he is convinced is actually Cesario. This is said for a specific situation, but it might actually be relevant for the whole play: Indeed, this apparently absurd quotation raises the question of illusion, which takes a big place in Twelfth Night. It highlights the paradox between appearance and reality. It can also be seen as the echo of another quotation by Feste, which is "that, that is, is". But Feste has not become crazy, he may even be wittier than we could expect because the answer to the question of illusion of theatre is probably between these two sentences. But to what extent? To what extent does illusion masters theatre? There is illusion at the level of the characters themselves (I) but also to the level of the audience (II), but it is probably not enough for the whole play to be summed up by illusion: illusion is only possible because the roots are real (III).

Extraits

[...] So Shakespeare uses very specific processes to make laugh, absolutely not chosen by chance, but on the contrary with an accurate aim of making the audience laugh: this has nothing to do with something spontaneous, but there is on the contrary a lot of work on comedy, even if the audience has the illusion that everything is natural. Nothing that is so, is so because theatre in general is artificial and is about disguise and calculated effects: the actors are disguised to play their roles, the events are fiction and this fiction is based on specific comical processes. But this fiction still moves people, they still feel close to it, because they react, by laughing, feeling pity, liking, disliking it. Why? [...]

[...] And who would not like to get revenge after such a trick? And after all, this trick is much like a child's game, there is the same cruelty and the same innocence mixed; same cruelty when there is a whole plot against Malvolio and when he is put in a dark room and told it is full of light, just to have fun: the conspirators do not really know when they should stop, the limits are not well-defined for them, just like it would be for children; when Sir Toby says they should stop, it is because he realises that they have gone too far, that it is too late. [...]

[...] So when Feste says that “nothing that is so, is he is even more right than he thinks because not only his specific situation but the whole play is about illusion, about the gap between appearances and reality; theatre in general is a question of illusion, it is a fiction, and Twelfth Night plays even more on this illusion because it is full of misunderstandings, disguises and qui pro quo. But behind these illusions, Shakespeare talks about something actually very true, genuine and human, because he talks about us. [...]

[...] But to what extent? To what extent does illusion masters theatre? There is illusion at the level of the characters themselves but also to the level of the audience but it is probably not enough for the whole play to be summed up by illusion: illusion is only possible because the roots are real (III). “Nothing that is so, is means that everything that is, is not, that things are not what they seem, and that basically, everything is illusion. [...]

[...] Still, Malvolio is trapped, believes that Olivia is in love with him and is since then the prey of the servants who make fun of him: he follows the instructions of the letter, wears yellow stockings and smiles endlessly to Olivia, who does not understand. She is herself victim of the illusion that the servants have made and thinks that Malvolio has become crazy. Malvolio is then locked in a dark room, and Feste disguises both himself and his voice, so Malvolio thinks he is talking to a curate whereas it is only the Clown: in that way, “nothing that is so, is can only be applied to some characters, because the audience can see some of them knowing more than some others, and some of them assisting to the misunderstanding of the others: this is a play in the play, and the different levels of illusion depend on the different levels of knowing. [...]