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Paradoxes within Shakespeare's ironic drama Twelfth Night In Shakespeare's uniquely constructed comedy, Twelfth Night, there are several paradoxes within the characters. Misinterpretations as well as false presentation of reality are both common occurrences within the characters. Nearly the entire cast of characters use or fall victim to some form of deceit. Both Andrew and Viola present themselves as people they are not, and Orsino and Malvolio are fooled themselves about who they are and where …

…and sharp come backs to the superiors. Normally, as their name suggests, fools would be most unintelligent and entertain by simple-mindedness. Those that, according to their social status, should be dull-witted are in fact the wittiest when it comes to deceiving in order to achieve their goals. Whether their goals are to destroy those that have a false sense of dominance, or to climb the social ladder, deceit is a powerful and extremely effective tool.