This paper compares Shakespeare's comedic play Twelfth Night with Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, arguing that despite stark differences in genre, tone, and subject matter, both works share significant thematic common ground. The analysis focuses on three major areas: the use of disguise and deception as narrative devices, the theme of world order and the consequences of its disruption, and the symbolic role of setting as a representation of paradise. Through close reading of key passages and reference to literary criticism, the paper demonstrates that both authors construct stories in which characters face real consequences for departing from truth and moral balance, and in which order is ultimately restored.
This paper demonstrates comparative literary analysis: the writer identifies a tertium comparationis—a shared conceptual framework (disguise; disruption and restoration of order)—and uses it as a lens to read two very different texts side by side. This technique shows how surface-level contrasts (comedy vs. epic, secular vs. theological) can mask deeper structural and thematic parallels, which is a standard move in upper-level literary studies.
The paper opens with an introductory comparison establishing the thesis, then devotes separate sections to the element of disguise in each work before addressing the shared theme of world order. A brief section on setting follows, connecting the symbolic landscapes of Illyria and the Garden of Eden. A short conclusion synthesizes the argument. This parallel-then-unified structure is well suited to comparative essays and keeps the argument coherent across two very different source texts.
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Milton's Paradise Lost are two examples of great works that seemingly have little in common. The differences in subject, approach, language, and style contrast greatly, but these works also share many common themes. Although Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy and Paradise Lost is an epic poem dealing with far heavier subject matter, both present the reader with stories about the consequences of disruption in world order and balance, while incorporating elements of disguise and character consequence.
Shakespeare's work is consistent with the witty, bright comedies popular during its time. According to Warren and Wells, these comedies typically included a mixture of dialogue, singing, stage fights, and suspense, and the lighthearted language used was commonplace during the early 1600s (1994). Critic Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare's work — and Twelfth Night specifically — was a work "not of an age, but for all time" (Notkoff, p. 12).
In the tradition of classic epics such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Milton's Paradise Lost is considered the greatest of its genre. Generally regarded as the climax of the epic poem tradition, Milton's work was so towering that it discouraged other writers from attempting to match it. As Voltaire wrote, "Paradise Lost is the only poem wherein are to be found in a perfect degree, that uniformity which satisfies the mind, and that variety which pleases the imagination — all its episodes being necessary lines which aim at the center of a perfect circle" (Voltaire, 1727, in Elledge, 1993, p. 478).
What makes both works deserving of such praise is the manner in which their authors construct a story through the effective use of various creative tools. Through carefully crafted humor in the case of Twelfth Night, and through poetic verse in Paradise Lost, both pieces have distinguished themselves as timeless works relevant to any society.
Shakespeare uses the element of illusion and reality through mistaken identities, disguises, and deception. The characters create a false "reality" by disguising the truth about themselves. Examples include Malvolio as a man obsessed with the illusion of power; Maria as the author of the forged love letter supposedly from Olivia to Malvolio; Olivia as the mourning daughter and sister who claims she cannot love because of grief; and Orsino as the lovesick nobleman who inhabits a fantasy world of music and solitude. It is Viola, however, who sets things in motion by disguising herself as Cesario.
To underscore the theme of disguise, Shakespeare employs a fool whose sole purpose is to cleverly expose the illusions maintained by other characters. Feste, a central character in Twelfth Night, is more than merely the "king of misrule" — he is the one character who recognizes the reality behind all the disguises in the play. As Dower points out, it is common for the fools in Shakespeare's works to be the wisest of all characters, and Feste is no exception. Dower argues that Feste is
"more deeply involved in the play than simply the commentator … The Fool is as conventional in Shakespeare's comedy as the intriguing slave or parasite in Plautus or Molière. But, while Feste shares some of the characteristics of such characters, he does not, like them, dazzle our eyes by juggling the elements of the plot into a complex pattern which only he can sort out for the necessary fortunate conclusion. Until the last act of the play, he does little but jest or sing. But for all his failure to take a positive part in the intrigue — emphasized perhaps when he drops out of the baiting of Malvolio — for all that he is not, that is to say, a protagonist, he nonetheless propounds the theme which gives Twelfth Night its unity and makes a single work of art out of what might have been a gorgeous patchwork" (Notkoff, 2001, p. 95).
Throughout the play, Feste's insight leads to the exposure of many disguises. For example, in Act 1, when he is conversing with Olivia about her decision to remain in mourning for seven years, he exposes her true nature in one short passage:
FESTE: Good Madonna, why mournest thou?
OLIVIA: Good fool, for my brother's death.
FESTE: I think his soul is in hell, Madonna.
OLIVIA: I know his soul is in heaven, fool.
FESTE: The more fool, Madonna, to mourn for your brother's soul, being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen (1.5.72–78).
This passage illustrates how the fool carefully reveals the true nature of the characters and provides evidence of the depth of Shakespeare's use of disguise.
Viola represents the most obvious use of disguise in the play because she masquerades as someone she is not — Cesario. By presenting herself as Cesario, she deceives several characters, including Olivia and Orsino. In Olivia's case, she is deceived into thinking Cesario is a man, and subsequently falls in love with him/her. In another instance, Cesario fools Orsino into believing she is a man, and while serving as his page she falls in love with him. Although deceived, Orsino comes to know and care deeply for Viola, and when she is finally revealed for who she truly is, the two marry.
Malvolio also plays an important role in the plot, frequently appearing to be something he is not. His relationship to the other characters is crucial in linking the common theme of disguise. According to Warren et al., "by representing Malvolio as an extravagant wooer of Olivia, the play provides a perspective on the Orsino/Olivia/Viola story and binds the main plot and the sub-plot tightly together, with Olivia at the center of both, wooed by Orsino, Viola/Cesario, Sir Andrew, and Malvolio" (Warren et al., 1994, p. 42).
Milton also utilizes the element of false reality in Paradise Lost. Images of reality are replaced by false appearances, with the result that value systems are turned upside down and order is thrown out of balance. Satan replaces true service to God with tyranny over hell. In Book II, we learn of his plan and the journey he intends to embark upon:
I give not Heav'n for lost. From this descent
Celestial Virtues rising, will appear
More glorious and more dread than from no fall,
And trust themselves to fear no second fate … (II, 13–16).
In other words, Satan suggests that it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. Also in Book II, Satan's temptations appeal to what only seems to serve the self-interest of others.
Perhaps the most significant and most obvious use of disguise occurs when Satan appears to Eve in the form of a serpent and convinces her to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit. Satan assumes a disguised form and, exploiting human weakness, convinces Eve to eat the fruit. Milton describes this exchange in considerable detail:
"Satan having compassed the earth, with meditated guile returns as a mist by night into Paradise, enters into the serpent sleeping. Adam and Eve in the morning go forth to their labours, which Eve proposes to divide in several places, each labouring apart … Adam at last yields: the serpent finds her alone; his subtle approach, first gazing, then speaking, with much flattery extolling Eve above all other creatures" (Milton, IX, p. 187).
Adam and Eve present a kind of irony. The Garden of Eden is clearly a symbolic representation of Milton's vision of perfection, but it is introduced to the reader at the moment Satan enters it, so that innocence and happiness are perceived only under the shadow of evil — creating a pervasive cloud of disguise.
Although Adam and Eve are warned by God's angels, Eve is overcome by an appeal to her vanity and ambition, and Adam places his love for Eve above his love for God. Both fall far short of attaining godlike knowledge. Yet when they seek God's grace and penitence begins to work within them, they find a strength beyond the reach of Satan. The grace of God is thus hidden within Satan's evil agenda.
Adam refuses to give up Eve because she was made from his rib and therefore represents a part of him. What appears to lead upward actually leads downward. After the Fall, however, the reverse becomes true. Eve humbles herself at Adam's feet and offers to take sole blame, and, redirected by Eve's example, Adam proposes that they both bow down "in humiliation meek" (XI, p. 194) before God.
In the eyes of many critics, Milton and Shakespeare are among the most significant authors in the English language. Their writings and influence form an important part of the history of English literature and culture. Shakespeare is best known for the wide variety of plays he created — tragedies, comedies, romances, and historical dramas that have yet to be matched by another playwright. Milton is perhaps best known for Paradise Lost, generally regarded as the greatest epic poem in the English language, though his prose works are equally important contributions to English culture.
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