ABSTRACT
This chapter describes humorous techniques in Twelfth Night is, first, meant to be seen as a very practical, down-to-earth, investigation of some of the methods Shakespeare used to generate laughter in his play. Any production of Twelfth Night we might be attending is well acted and well directed, and take all of this as a given. It is possible, of course, for great performers to transcend mediocre or bad plays. But with great plays, such as Twelfth Night, and great performances and production values, the job is immeasurably eased and the pleasure is greater. In any case, there is good reason to argue that humor tells us a great deal about social and political matters, even though a play, such as Twelfth Night, or any other text might not be directly concerned with these matters. Obviously, people who attend a comedy at a theater come predisposed to laugh and be amused.
