IDEAL TWINS IN CARNIVAL ELEMENT OF "TWELFTH NIGHT" BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The given article deals with W. Shakespeare's comedy “Twelfth Night, or What You Will”. The main focus of the paper is twin heroes, brother and sister, man and woman, two parts of an ideal, perfect human being. In order to clear up the functions of twins in “Twelfth Night”, the author of the article appeals not only to the textual analysis as it is, but also to a wider context of Shakespeare's works and theatrical traditions. Shakespeare's cоmedies are basically carnival. Their main theme is love, and plots are built with accidents and incredible coincidences, in which twins play a particular role. Ideal twins - male and female, Sebastian and Viola - can be found nowhere but in “Twelfth Night”. Viola is leading in the pair, performing at once a female heroine and a pageboy. Every character in the play meets his or her fortune, rejecting false ideas and getting to self-actualization through self-delusion, assuming their essence along with love.