For my project, I intended to write about the gender and sexuality portrayed in Twelfth Night as well as the possible reactions to the contents of the play when Twelfth Night was first staged and current productions of the play. With gender, I want to look at the ways in which gender is presented and the effects of crossdressing on gender. The effects of crossdressing also links into what I want to discuss with sexuality. I want to look at what is both said and implied about sexuality in the play. What part does crossdressing play in the presentation of sexuality? After I have observed these aspects of the play, I want to take a look at the time in which the play was written and then staged. I am curious about how the viewers reacted to the play. After this, I want to look at reactions to the play in more recent times and compare both the reactions and the implications. What adaptations have been made, and are there still all-male castings? If so, how does the audience react to an all-male casting? To complete this task, I intended to focus on literary analysis of the play, history of the plays staging, the time period of when the play was written and staged, and present day adaptations. The topic that may give me the most trouble is researching how the audience would have reacted to the play. Because of …show more content…
The play is now more widely available, and there are many different productions, so I may do research on this topic but not include my findings in my paper. For my research, I am going to look at the ways Twelfth Night is currently being presented. There are a mix of all-male and female and male presentations, so I will talk about the effects of the gender of the actors on the play. I may also look at how other writers use the play to highlight their own work and how this also effects current views on Twelfth
Trevor Nunn’s (1996) adaptation of Twelfth Night illustrates the complexity of Feste’s character and how important he is to the overall play. Ben Kingsley, the actor, presents Feste as sympathetic and gentle choric figure. It is Feste who allows the audience to see the films respect for the original play, and the existing issues within it. This includes the defencelessness of women, and the attractive, but dangerous, qualities of altering one’s true sexual identity. Interestingly, unlike the original script, Nunn opens his first scene with Feste observing Viola struggle to shore after the shipwreck she has experienced. In this context, Kingsley’s Feste is revealed for the first time. He is shown as a mysterious and isolated individual, who
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. The play centers on the lead female role and protagonist, Viola, who
Many, if not all, plays are written to evoke thoughts from people in the audience. Through their scripts, authors deliver messages about their opinions on various issues ranging from gender roles to class ranks. These messages are developed to provoke thoughts and questions from people who experience performances. In the play Rome Sweet Rome, the Q Brothers Collective use both new and old theatrical techniques to make parallels between the Roman and United States governments by addressing issues involving women’s roles in society, class rank, and homosexuality. The play uses methods both similar and different to other classic plays to deliver a message that is relatable to issues in today’s world. This message is enhanced through the use of acting styles, set design, costumes, music, and lighting.
11. Point out some moments in the play when the playwright conveys much to the audience without dialogue
Second, the transvestism of the English renaissance theatre creates a "space of possibility" for "structuring and confounding culture" as well as enacting a "category crisis" which reflects a potential destabilization of the dominant hierarchy (Garber 16, 17). Greenblatt points out that the enactment of such difference is an instrument to increase audience anxiety before reifying the normative and conventional in the play's res-olution, a pattern played out in The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night; yet this cannot account for the defiant and yet compassionate resolution of Dek-ker's The Roaring Girl, where the mannishly clad Moll blesses the marriage of Sebastian and Mary Fitz-Allard and their reconciliation with their fathers, at the same time refusing the conventional solution for herself.
In spite of the promise of three weddings to be celebrated, the play concludes on a sour note when Feste, the clown, depicts life as grim, "for the rain it raineth every day" (Act V Scene i). They play’s primary central theme is that of the comic relationships between men and women. Furthermore, it illustrates the traditional, societal notions of “interdependence, and the newly emerging attitudes towards individual choice and personal desire, or as the play puts it, ‘will’” (Malcolmson 163). Although Twelfth Night is a story of love and courtship, nevertheless, it is also a “comedy of gender,” because of its ability to override the traditional Elizabethan notions of the female role through the characters of Viola and Olivia.
She’s the Man is a modern adaptation and interpretation of The Twelfth Night but the
In the book “Gender Trouble” (1990), feminist theorist Judith Butler explains “gender is not only a social construct, but also a kind of performance such as a show we put on, a costume or disguise we wear” (Butler). In other words, gender is a performance, an act, and costumes, not the main aspect of essential identity. By understanding this theory of gender as an act, performance, we can see how gender has greatly impacted the outcome of the play in William Shakespeare’s Othello. From a careful analysis of the story, tragedy in Othello is result of violating expected gender roles, gender performance by Desdemona and Othello, and the result of Iago’s inability to tolerate these violations.
The play Twelfth Night encapsulates what it meant to be a man and women throughout
Through symbolism and imagery, the subject uses disguises, indistinct gender roles all through Twelfth Night. Moreover, it suggests that males played female roles—a male actor would play a female character (Viola) who disguises as a male (Cesario). Furthermore, the idea brings out the comical essence of the piece. The motif shows that one’s physical features, and how a person presents, possesses an important part of what you identify
In 'Twelfth Night’, gender and sexuality in many ways add to the play’s themes of madness. 'Twelfth Night ' is a reflection of renaissance thought and culture, the renaissance was a transitional period from the medieval to the radical Elizabethan era. The culture of the time was a contradictory one, as from one aspect it was influenced by the patriarchal medieval time, where women were under the rule of men and seen as needing the protection of men, however, from another perspective, the culture was a changing one as women were starting to receive education and many humanists believed that women should be given more rights. The play reflects these attitudes and often challenges the social hierarchy and establishes ideas on gender roles, sexuality and cross-dressing. These factors indeed undermine the expectations of male and female behaviour, and in turn further the play 's theme of madness which has a comedic effect on the audience due to the shock humour it provides.
In Shakespeare's plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It both of the lead female characters dress as men. Both plays are comedies and the change in gender is used as a joke, but I think it goes much deeper. A woman can become a man, but only if it is not permanent. The affect of the change cannot be too great because she must change back to female once everything is settled. They are strong female characters, but must become men to protect themselves and ultimately solve the problem of the play. In the book Desire and Anxiety: The Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearian Drama Valerie Traub calls the characters, "the crossed-dressed heroine who elicits and enjoys
“How would a modern audience view this play in a different way to an audience in Shakespeare’s time, particularly in relation to the role and status of women and attitudes to marriage and courtship?
Deception and disguise are two key themes in Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. As in most comedies, Twelfth Night celebrates different forms of disguise and deception in order to make the play more entertaining. It also develops a strong connection between the main plot (with Viola, Orsino, Olivia, and the others) and the sub-plot (involving Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, Malvolio, and Maria). Disguise and deception appear in many different ways throughout the story.
According to Chris, Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’ touches on sensitive concepts within the society (1). Similar to the majority of his literary works, Twelfth Night captures the concept of love and how individuals use love through marriage to achieve power or a higher social status. Throughout the play, there is an apparent struggle for social status by the key characters. Lindheim asserts that there are some characters in the play, such as Antonio who would do everything within their means in order to achieve their sexual desires (2). For example, in a more traditional society or contemporary setting, Antonio could never hope of