Comparing Mistaken Identity in Merchant of Venice, Comedy Errors, Twelfth Night and As You Like It

Ancient river civilizations are agricultural civilizations that grew along rivers as the name suggests. Such civilizations benefited much from the benefits provided by the river which included drinking water supply, fish for food, transportation of people and goods as well as fertile land for the growth of crops. Ancient Egypt is an example of one of these early river valley civilizations, as it developed as a result of the Nile River. These river valley civilizations shared a quite a number of similarities, one of the being the construction of large structures as a show of wealth or way of appeasing gods and the development of unique building strategies.

Self-expression is the human capability of revealing the attributes and features of one’s self. However, humans have the ability to methodically select how cohabiting individuals will perceive his or her character. Through lies and secrets, a human being distorts their true self from the perception of another. William Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice contains situations in which characters lie to conceal their secrets and self. First, Jessica, the Jewish moneylender’s daughter, uses lies to escape her father’s house and elope with her love. Secondly, Shylock, the Jewish moneylender in Venice, suppresses his motives and thoughts in the presences of his Venetian neighbours. Lastly, lies are used by Bassanio, an Italian lord of Venice, as he appears to be a wealthy man but is truly in debt. Clearly, Shakespeare uses the theme appearance versus reality to disguise true intentions and deceive characters.

One key component to making a story thought provoking and leave a lasting impression on the reader is efficient use of rhetorical devices. Flannery O’Connor implements symbolism, irony, metaphors, and strong imagery to supplement her plots with a message that isn’t found on the surface but requires the reader to divulge and explore all the possibilities of representation in her text. Whether illustrating a stormy backdrop as a metaphor for turmoil or three bullet shots as a final offering of atonement, O’Connor depicts a road to salvation through the unlikeliest of representations. This trend becomes apparent as one can identify the path to penance made by the protagonist in such stories as “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “The Life You Save

The masking of an identity is a common solution that many people of today’s society turn towards. Whether it is to hide something from someone or to use it as a form of protection. William Shakespeare’s popular play Much Ado About Nothing is an excellent example of masking that is achieved by some of the characters. The story reflects events of people masking themselves intentionally, unintentionally or having the ability to see through other’s masks. It demonstrates that masking can end in deception, although not constantly.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a selfish Scottish thane becomes over-ambitious and commits several murders in order to gain and stay in power. After the murders, Macbeth evades suspicion by hiding his guilt and intentions, therefore deceiving others into thinking that he is innocent. Other characters including Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish thanes also use their appearances to hide the truth and deceive others. With these examples, Shakespeare shows that appearances can be deceiving.

In the play "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare shows how anyone can be blinded by love and act so impulsively to satisfy their appetite for love, that often they fall in love with a façade rather then the person behind the disguise. Also Shakespeare also shows how people are apt to ignore the evidence that disproves the disguise they have fallen in love with. Almost all of the characters in "Twelfth Night" fell in love with a disguise; I will detail the confusing relationships and disguises used in the play to show the blindness of love.

Disguise in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has many purposes. Even though disguising one's gender is a common theme in Shakespeare, some say it is instates bonding and allows a way for it to happen. It is known that it is used as a necessity for survival. In Twelfth Night, Disguise and Identity is shown in feelings, appearances and decisions. Disguise is an occasionally seen force which drives one’s mind into believing in something unrealistic. Disguise and Identity get mixed up which causes confusion. Both factors are compared in the meaning of Truth.

I believe that the role of an advocate is a vital component within the nursing profession. Nurses that are willing to fulfill the responsibility of being an advocate can not only help to improve their patient outcomes, but also promote nursing as a profession. As a student nurse, I realize that being willing to be a true advocate for my patients will not always come easy and will be a role that I will continue to develop throughout my entire career as a nurse. A research study conducted by Kerri Kelland et al. revealed that there are eight essential attributes that are crucial for success when assuming the role of a patient advocate. These eight attributes include perseverance, humility, communication, collaboration, scholarly practice, management, professionalism, and passion ( Kelland et al. 2014, 79). The study also found that in order for nurses

Shakespeare uses the literary device, motif with the image of the masked characters and with the masked language of Benedick and Beatrice. In each instance that a masked character or masked language is used, deception intensifies. In Act I, Scene 1, Claudio says about Hero, “That I love her, I feel” (Shakespeare 1.1.205). Bear in mind, Claudio just arrived in Messina and laid eyes on Hero for the first time. Thus, his declaration of love seems impulsive and uncertain. Claudio knows little about Hero, so his desire to have her must rest on her appearance alone. Still, Don Pedro offers to help unite Claudio with Hero. He initiates a matchmaking scheme. He says, “I will assume thy part in some disguise / And tell fair Hero I am

    All is not as it seems in The Comedy of Errors.  Some have the notion that The Comedy of Errors is a classical and relatively un-Shakespearean play. The plot is, in fact, based largely on Plautus's Menaechmi, a light-hearted comedy in which twins are mistaken for each other. Shakespeare's addition of twin servants is borrowed from Amphitruo, another play by Plautus. Like its classical predecessors, The Comedy of Errors mixes farce and satire and (to a degree) presents us with stock characters.

Shakespeare has been called a “two-eyed playwright” (CITATION), and seems ultimately aware of his characters motivations and desires. However, when looking at the intrinsic identity of the characters within his work, it is possible to note that some go through more drastic or challenging changes of identity than others. This calls up the question: how fixed is personal identity in Shakespeare’s work? (CITATION YOuTuBE) claims that personal identity is either the way a character presents themselves, or the way a society perceives that character. When analyzing specific characters in King Lear, Othello, and Hamlet it is possible to see that while the flexibility of identity is dependent on the character and their circumstances, some character’s identies primarily the title characters of each of these plays, have identities which are far more flexible than others in their story.

William Shakespeare, in his well-known comedy Twelfth Night, creates a plot that revolves around mistaken identity and deception. Mistaken identity, along with disguises, rules the play and affects the lives of several of the characters. Shakespeare's techniques involve mistaken identity to bring humor, mystery, and complication to the play. Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola who is disguised as a eunuch, Maria who writes a letter to Malvolio as Olivia, and then the mix-up between Sebastian and Viola are revealed.

Throughout history there has been a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. A person may go through life without anyone understanding the true reality of their character. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, understood the relationship between appearance and reality and often gave characters two sides to their personality.

“King Lear” is known as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. “King Lear” is a play which tears off the outer coverings of human character. Two prominent themes that can be found in “King Lear” are disguise and deception. Disguise and deception are connected to each other because if you put on a disguise, you are masking yourself. If you are masking yourself, you are misrepresenting the truth, which is also known as deception. The characters constantly deceive each other throughout the play by either changing their physical appearance or changing their personality to mask their true identities and motives. Shakespeare’s exposure of the connection between disguise and deception reflects today’s culture and is still relevant today.

Shakespeare uses the idea of disguise in many of his plays. It is used as an escape from the characters’ personalities and sometimes for comic effect. In As You Like it, the disguise becomes very comical as in the time it was written only men could act on stage. This could lead to much confusion and comedy in the roles of those in disguise. Disguise can give the freedom to a character to act how they like and a chance for them to show their views. It was in the 16th Century that there became an increased sense of self consciousness and identity. This led to people creating an image for themselves. If one can create a self, they can create many different versions of themselves each showing a different aspect of that person. This links in