English A Persuasive Essay on “Twelfth Night”
Ammar Khan
Topic: How does Sir Andrew add to the humour and fun in Twelfth Night?
Twelfth Night is one of the greatest comedies to date because of its hilarious characters
and plot. It gives the readers a fun and festive theme and it is no secret that Sir Andrew
Aguecheek is one of the most comedic characters in the play. Andrew is described as a “foolish
knight” who is a wimp and a coward. He is good friends with Sir Toby Belch, a drunken knight
who takes up residence at the Countess’s house who’s described as a heavy drinker. Andrew
adds
to the fun in Twelfth Night due to recurring reasons. His low intelligence, his relationship with
the ladies and his appearance. These reasons help add humour and fun to the play while also
making Sir Andrew’s character particularly comedic.
One of the major flaws of Sir Andrew Aguecheek is his low intelligence. Admittedly this is
because he often gets in dangerous situations that are planned by his friend Sir Toby. Toby
sees Andrew as an easy target to plan a trick on and describes him as “if he were opened and
you/ find so much blood in his liver as will clog the foot of a/ flea.” (3.2.55-77) The trick played
on Sir Andrew results in him getting hurt and beaten. This adds to a con argument as Sir
Andrew’s lack of intelligence gets him in a situation where he unexpectedly gets in trouble
resulting in mass confusion. However, Sir Andrew’s foolishness helps add to the festive spirit in
Twelfth Night. Andrew's misunderstanding of Illyria results in a lot of humor as he navigates
through the situations, he faces in the play. A really comedic scene involving Sir Andrew takes
place in Act 1, Scene 3 when Toby introduces Andrew to Maria with praise saying lines like
‘he's
as tall as any man in the Illyria” (1.3.18) complementing his height. Unfortunately, when Sir
Andrew arrives, Sir Toby's hype dies down when Maria realizes his foolishness. This is shown
with lines mistaking Maria’s name and lines that include Andrew attempting to flirt with Maria
leading to failure. Therefore, this shows how Andrew’s low intelligence creates problem
but also adds humor to the play.
It is also true that Sir Andrew's character lacks a stable connection with the ladies in the play.
His foolishness results in him having trouble with his relationships with women in Illyria. This
quality of his affects Sir Andrew’s and even his friend, Sir Toby's reputation. In Act 1 Scene 3
when Andrew’s introduced to Twelfth Night, the scene includes Toby using Andrew to get with
Maria. Unfortunately, Andrew’s foolishness affects any chance with Maria. After rejecting his
love Maria says the line “let go your hand, I...
