Abstract
Act III opens in Olivia's garden. We can say that this scene is light and jovial because Viola (disguised as Cesario since Act I) has just encountered Olivia's Clown Feste. It is mainly a scene between Olivia and Viola, and we may say that the last time they were together on stage was in Act I scene 5 and that right after Viola's departure, Olivia sent her a ring by Malvolio as an excuse to express her feelings. However Viola always comes to speak to Olivia for Orsino's interests since she is his servant and because he is in love with Olivia.
We may wonder whether this extract of Act III scene 1 proves that Twelfth Night is a comedy, and whether it is a climactic scene (like the third act of all plays). Therefore on the one hand we will focus on the elements which prove that this extract is comic, and on the other hand we will concentrate on those which prove that it is a climactic scene.
A scene reflecting that Twelfth Night is a comedy.
Firstly, we have to mention that in Twelfth Night, there are two types of characters referring to the two main plots of the play which are the world of high-life romance, and the world of low-life comedy. Therefore there are high-life characters belonging to aristocracy, and low-life characters, and some characters keep criss-crossing between low-life and high-life. We will see that in this scene, low-life characters and the characters who keep criss-crossing between the two worlds provide comic effect, but at different level.
