A Study of Conflicts in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the conflicts in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The play tells about the story of a twin brother and sister Viola and Sebastian which are apart in a shipwreck. Each of them thinks that their twin died. Conflicts rise when other characters make mistake in recognizing their appearance. This thesis uses psychological approach and sociological approach. The psychological approach is used to explain the mental condition of the characters through their action. While sociological approach is used to help analyzing the characters’s relationship toward the other character. The method of analysis in this thesis is inductive method. It analyzes the data from the specific cases to the general conclusion. This method begins with specific discussion by observing a number of facts, actions, and events about the mistaken identity, jealousy, hatred, defense, love and then the writer concludes that on the play there are the social and psychological conflicts. The data, information, and materials are collected from books, encyclopedia, and dictionaries. The results of the research show that: firstly, there are two kinds of conflict in the play namely psychological conflict and social conflict. Besides, there are five causes of the conflicts namely love, hatred, mistaken identity, defense and jealousy. Finally, the effect of the conflict makes some of the characters fight or quarrel and some of the characters experience happiness at the end of the story.