Johns Hopkins University Press Feste's "Whirligig" and the Comic Providence of Twelfth Night Author(s): Joan Hartwig Source: ELH, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter, 1973), pp. 501-513 Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2872556 Accessed: 29-10-2015 16:22 UTC

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FESTE'S " WHIRLIGIG " AND THE COMIC PROVIDENCE OF TWELFTH NIGHT BY JOAN HARTWIG

counterposethe powersof huShakespeare'splays frequently usuallygenerates man and ofsuprahumanwill,and the antithesis a definitionof natures,both human and suprahuman.These vary,however,accordingto the play. For instance, definitions " does not seem the same as the darker, Hamlet's " providence Macbethto pithiswillagainst powerthatencourages equivocating fromDiana and Apolloin a largerorder;and thesecontrolsdiffer the later plays, Periclesand The Winter'sTale. Furthermore, Hamlet's submissionand Macbeth's submissionto non-human controls(ifindeedtheydo submittheirindividualwills) cannot as the same actionor evento implythesame kind be understood ofhumanvision. of TwelfthNightseem to be concerned Many of the conflicts withthe contestbetweenhumanwill and suprahumancontrol; itselfinvariouswaysandis calleddifferent yet,thelattermanifests themselves.'As each contestbetweenthe namesby thecharacters humanwill and anotherdesignerworksitselfout, the involved but not according charactersrecognizethattheirwillis fulfilled, to theirplanning.The individual'swillis finallysecondaryto a accordswithwhat but unpredictably, designthat benevolently, he trulydesires.2For example,whenOlivia,at the end of Act I, imploresFate to accord withher will in allowingher love for Cesarioto flourish, she has no idea thatherwillmustbe circumof Sebastian ventedforherown happiness.Yet the substitution than forCesarioin herlove fulfills herwishesmoreappropriately ' Viola's Captain calls this power "