Viola's Perseverance In The Twelfth Night

In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare contradicts vapid stereotypes about gender. Through Viola’s disguise as Cesario, he is able to prove that a woman is able to fulfill a man 's role in society. She is able to fool the other characters and is even able to woo another woman. This reinforces ideas about how invalid the rules and regulations society has made since Viola easily broke through them. Later on in the story, Sir Andrew challenges Viola to a duel. Viola expects Sir Andrew to be a great fighter, and he expects the same from her. This creates a comedic situation since they both are too afraid of each other to engage in the fight. (3.4, 223-298)

Though Orsino seems to have his eyes set solely on Olivia, he also looks at “Cesario” with some interest, commenting, “Diana’s lip is not more smooth and rubious, thy small pipe is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound, and all is semblative a woman’s part” (I. iv. 34-37). He recognizes some key features in Viola that pique his interest, but does not show his love for her because she disguises herself as a man. Shakespeare presents him by showing his ability to notice Viola’s masculine and feminine features, unlike with what he does with Olivia which he only looks at the broad characteristics that consist only on her shallowest features. Later on, he goes as far as to propose to Viola, “Meantime, sweet sister, we will not part from hence. -Cesario, come, for so you shall be while you are a man…Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen” (V. i. 407-411). To contrast Olivia’s swift rejection of her own love for Cesario because of “his” gender, Shakespeare presents Orsino as a character who quickly accepts Viola’s love for him, regardless of her current state of gender. However, unlike his stubborn, selfish desire for Olivia, Orsino’s blossoming relationship with Viola transfers his desire into a more selfless aspect of true love.

     Unlike the other characters in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Viola's feelings of love are genuine. She is not mistaken about Orsino's true nature and loves him for who he really is, while the other characters in the play seem to be in love with an illusion. Viola's love for Orsino does not alter during the play, nor is it transferred to another person.

Twelfth Night, a romantic piece by William Shakespeare expresses a complex love triangle in the village of Illyria. One of the primary protagonists, Viola is washed up onto the shores during violent storms that separate her and her biological twin brother Sebastian. Viola is uncertain if her brother Sebastian survived. It is a coincidence, that the tragic shipwreck carried Viola to the enemy state (Illyria). Unfortunately, this forces the character to go into disguise in order to survive on the male dominated land. Viola is perhaps the strongest character in this work, maintaining her roles and ignoring temptations. The character uses Sebastian strength in his absence. On the other hand, when in Sebastian’s presence Viola becomes weak

This rejection of love is doubled between Olivia and Orsino. The duke sends messengers to Olivia to declare his love to her and refuses to give up. She has clearly grown tired of this, and when Viola (Cesario) first arrives, she tells her steward to say she is “sick, or not at home” (1.5.104). To complicate matters more, both of the ladies suffer from unrequited love. As described previously, Olivia is denied love from Viola. Similarly, Viola herself is denied love from Orsino. In these ways, the parallels between Olivia and Viola’s relationships highlight that being rejected of love and rejecting love are both universal occurrences in the lives of human beings.

Throughout the film, Madden introduces a number of conflicting perspectives that only further emphasise the hindrance women faced from becoming “successful in a man’s world.” The foremost conflicting perspective is that of Viola’s versus societal norms, as Viola’s longing to be an actor culminated when she was unable to perform in Shakespeare’s play due to legal obligations that meant only men could appear on stage as actors. Madden blatantly emphasises this through the use of Viola’s nurse stating “Playhouses are not for well-born ladies,” thereby explicitly reinforcing the inequitable level of gender inequality in the 15th century. Furthermore, another conflicting perspective is that of Viola’s father, Sir Robert De Lesseps, versus Viola,

In the play Viola gets shipwrecked on Illyria and quickly goes to the conclusion that her brother drowned

In Act 1, Scene 2 of Twelfth Night, as Viola lays down her plans before the captain, she speaks about a major theme of the play: the way a person seems outwardly versus their true self. Viola says she is aware people cannot be trusted based on their looks, but trusts the captain. She then requests his help so she can be dressed as a boy for the remainder of the play. The way she behaves also hits on another theme, the contrast between people that can act as a balance. Through comparison, she can be seen as a counterbalance to Sebastian in the way they both conduct themselves.

In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare creates a comedy following the extravagancy and identity of characters within the land of Illyria. Illyria, home to the kingdom of Duke Orsino and noble lady Olivia, serves as refuge for the protagonist Viola, or better known as Cesario throughout the play. As the play develops, several formations of self-identity occur within the lives of the characters of Twelfth Night. However, boundaries established by society of the time limit the expansion of the characters within the play deterring, many from the creation of an identity of their own. The ability of people to step out of the bounds and search for meaning beyond the norms of society enables the development of a stronger sense of identity by their leaving what is

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s popular comedies, in which a female character, Viola, disguises herself as a man, creating a mess of same-sex sexual attraction along the rest of the play’s characters because of her breaking gender expectations. In the world in which the play takes place in, there are very sharp gender expectations, based on age, social level and appearance. In the play, surprisingly, Viola and her male character Cesario, are liked because as a girl she portrays characteristics that are expected from a male, and as a male, she is liked for her feminine characteristics. For instance Orsino falls for Viola because of her courage, heroism and independence which would typically be only be expected from men.

Through comedy, Shakespeare bends the rules for the gender in the play Twelfth Night. Viola and Olivia are two women who complicate the relationships they have. Viola dresses as a man who she calls Cesario, while her double life has her learning the roles of both male and female. She meets Olivia, who struggles with her own relationships and looks to Viola as Cesario for help. Both these women go through the same struggles of the gender roles, but because Shakespeare created by Viola to play both male and female her roles allow her to push the role of the female gender in society. These roles that they face are heteronormative verse binary gender, use of male and female communication, male power verse female power, relationships and identity.

Comedy, in the Elizabethan era, often included themes of wit, mistaken identity, love, and tragedy, all tied up with a happy ending. These themes are prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comical play that explores the pangs of unrequited love and the confusion of gender. Love is a powerful emotion that causes suffering, happiness, and disorder throughout the play. The play also demonstrates the blurred lines of gender identity, which ties into the modern day debate on sexuality and gender identity. The main characters in the play, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are connected by a love triangle, each person pursuing an unrequited love. Suffering from love and the fluidity of gender are the prevalent themes explored throughout the play and intertwined with Viola, Olivia, and Orsino.

Viola contributes a great deal to the theme of Disguise versus Identity in Twelfth Night. Viola must bundle up her personal emotions which she has for

Viola sacrificed who she was and expressing her love to Orsino so that she could create her voice in the world and be accepted in a dominate male society. Act one, scene two, lines 53 and 54, Viola says, “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become.” She portrays her courage when she decides to disguise herself as a young man. She does not have to mask her inner bravery while dressed as a man, because it’s acceptable for a male to be openly courageous constantly, while Desdemona showed moments of her strength which I will discuss. Viola becomes “Cesario” and Olivia becomes infatuated with him because he is unlike any other man she has encountered. Act one, scene five, lines 296-298, Olivia speaks to herself after Cesario has exited, “Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections with an invisible and subtle stealth to creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.” Cesario acts as a close female friend would, because he is actually a female. He listens, cares, and makes Olivia a priority. I believe that this is Shakespeare’s way of convincing or proving to 1600’s men in the audience that if they show compassion and understanding toward women, young ladies will fall in love with them easier.

Just like Portia, Viola, the strong female role in Twelfth night, also cares deeply for the people she loves. My opinion, Viola is the most faithful female character in the play. Her love for Duke is so pure and real. She would do anything to make him happy, even if that means eliminating her chances of being with him. Atlas, putting his feeling first shows the kind heartedness that she has with saying: “I’ll do my best to woo your lady-(aside) yet, a barful strife-whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife. (Act 1, scene 4). Also, another situation that shows her compassion side is her love for her brother. She never loses hope that he is alive. She thinks highly of him, doing everything she can for survival just in case he is alive.