1. Literature Essay Planning
Done By: Jerica Kuah (17), Kiruthika (18) & Jing Xuan (21)

2. QUESTION
How does Shakespeare view social classes in Twelfth Night? Support your answer with evidence from the play.

3. Introduction
In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare portray the views of Social Classes differently. Shakespeare portray the views of upper Social Class to be foolish and shallow and presents the lower social class as clever. Through the characters in Twelfth Night, we can see that Shakespeare wishes to challenge the common perception that the lower class is inferior to the upper social class.

4. Body Paragraph 1
Point: Shakespeare portray the social class to be shallow.
Evidence/Selected Quotes: “Good Mistress Accost, I desire better acquaintance.”
Elaboration: Sir Andrew thought that Maria name was Accost and greeted her. The perception of Social Class have been changed through this as Sir Andrew who we believed to be in a higher social class is acting foolish and not knowing the meaning of the word accost.
Personal Response: In addition, it also can be seen when Sir Andrew comprehend the literal meaning of ‘ I pray you, bring your hand to the buttery-bar and let it drink’ as he asked Maria what was her metaphor. The hierarchy in social classes during the Elizabethan era has resulted in socially-accepted behaviour within each social class. Lower social classes are also expected to be subservient and dutiful towards their masters who are usually in the upper social class. Upper social classes are mostly perceived to be educated, well-respected and learned.

5. Body Paragraph 2
Point: Shakespeare portrays the upper class to be foolish
Evidence: “Fair Lady, do you think you have fools in hand? Sir, I have not you by th’ hand. Marry, but you shall have, and here’s my hand” 
Explanation: Maria is referring to Sir Andrew as the fool in hand, and he does not realise it, therefore proving, that the upper social class is foolish as he is mocked and made into joke by someone who is of a lower social class.  
Personal Response: This shows the superficial sense of being educated of the knights from the upper class, as coming from a higher social class as compared to Maria, Sir Andrew is expected to be better educated and more intelligent.

6. Body Paragraph 3
Point: Shakespeare portrays the lower class as clever which is in contrast to the common perception in the Elizabethan era that the upper social class is cleverer.
Evidence: Shakespeare challenges the social class distinctions through the characters such as Maria from the lower class and Sir Andrew who is from the upper class. This can be shown in Act 1 Scene 3, where Maria says "bring your hand to th' buttery bar and let it drink" Sir Andrew replies" Wherefore, sweetheart? What's your metaphor?" Maria replies "It's dry, sir" Sir Andrew says"Why I don't think so. I am not such an ass, but I can keep my hand dry."
Explanation: In this conversation, Maria was using 'dry' to mock Sir Andrew to be lacking of wit, not being clever. However, Sir Andrew takes the word dry for its literal meaning. We can thus see that Maria is very clever as she is capable of using wordplay to mock Sir Andrew who is of higher social class. Sir Andrew however is portrayed to be foolish and unable to understand the wordplay used against him.
In the Elizabethan era, people from the higher social classes are considered to be cleverer as compared to those of the lower social class, however Sir Andrew is presented as a fool who is unable to understand the wordplay used by Maria from a lower social class. Thus, this contradicts what is expected of the upper social class, to be clever, since they are supposed to be more educated and that the lower class are supposed to be less intelligent, since they are less educated as compared to the upper social class. Shakespeare challenges this common perception through the characters to prove that the social class distinction is not an accurate reflection of one's ability.

7. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can say that Shakespeare portrays the view of the upper social class as foolish, shallow. Shakespeare also portrays the lower class as clever. Overall, Shakespeare was trying to challenge the common perception in the Elizabethan era where the upper class were considered to be better as compared to the lower social classes.