Twelfth Night

“Hamlet” and “Twelfth Night” are two Shakespeare plays of complete opposites. Due to one being written as a tragedy, and the other as a comedy, many comparisons can be drawn between the two plays, on themes and motifs that develop throughout the plays. One of the themes that is easily recognisable in the early stages of both plays, is that of deceit and disguise. In “Hamlet”, we learn early on that Hamlet decides to act as a madman in order to try and weed out a confession from his uncle about the murder of his father. Although he does not actually reveal to any other characters his plan until Act 1 Scene 5, when he tells Horatio that he plans to “put an antic disposition on”, the audience can recognise very early that Hamlet is going to show some kind of deceptive characteristics in order to execute his plan.

She feels pity for Olivia and herself with the statement "Poor lady, she were better love a dream" (2.2. 25)! Viola's use of deception causes a cross gender love triangle with which she can not deal.

From the difference in character and personality between Viola and Orsino, we can see that Viola is displayed as a rational, witty, yet manipulative woman, who loves deeply and sincerely. This is shown from, “If I did love you in my master’s flame/With such a suff’ring/such a deadly life”, as it implies that Viola’s love towards Orsino, is true, and has depth, and other-centred. This is in comparison to Orsino’s love towards Olivia, displayed in his portrayal of love towards her. This can be seen from, “With adorations, fertile tears/With

Olivia fell so in love with Cesario that she now refers to him as husband and when Duke hears this, he is shocked so Viola try’s to cover it up, to protect her relationship with Duke. This is why disguise caused the wrong characters to fall in love with each other and create

Within the letter written by Maria, he receives instruction to complete tasks that will “please” Olivia such as wearing yellow tights and smiling often. However, Olivia despises these actions, for she is in mourning over her deceased relatives. Once Malvolio carries out these deeds in attempt to win the love of his Lady, he appears to be mad and causes Olivia to throw him in jail. She expresses her concern by proclaiming, “Let some of my people have a special care of him. I/ would not have him miscarry for the half of my/ dowry,” (3.4.67-69). Through the orders from Olivia to look after Malvolio, it is shown that his love-stricken actions have made him appear crazy. Also, because Lady Olivia expresses how much she values his work in the household, Malvolio’s confidence in himself increases, for he attempts to exert power over his arrestors and believes his captivity is all part of Olivia’s plan. Malvolio’s actions carried out for the sole purpose of love blind him to how he appears to those of the household and causes him to be thrown in jail because of accusations that he has become

This is an act of deception because she is changing her appearance to a male.. She is deceiving through her appearance. This shows the negative sides of humanity because it shows how humans deceives others for their own benefit. By dressing up as a man, she can be beside the duke which gives her power and a bit of wealth. In 1.5 in Olivia’s house, the character Olivia lies to Malvolio by asking him to return a ring to Cesario which doesn’t actually belong to him.

Diana’s lip/ Is not more smooth and rubious, thy small pipe/ Is the maiden’s organ” ( 1.5.34-36). This quote is ironic because, Orsino is saying that Viola’s features seem lady like, when in reality she is really a women. When Viola realizes that Olivia is in love with her, because she believes Viola is a man, Viola does not speak up. Since she does not speak up about her true identity, Viola’s disguise causes more problems in the play.

121-124). To recall, Olivia falls in love with the facade of Viola as Cesario. Olivia is then charmed by Viola, who has disguised herself as Cesario, and Olivia thinks Cesario likes her back. In this quote, Cesario states she does not love Olivia, but yet Olivia keeps on pursuing after Cesario. This proving Olivia is in denial of Cesario’s rejection regarding his love for Olivia. This in conclusion, is Olivia living a false reality in which she is being loved back. When in reality Viola doesn’t love Olivia. Olivia decides to keep refusing Cesario's denial of his love to her and persists in going after Cesario because she can not withstand the idea of partition between them two.

Viola is a very interesting and very likable character in the story “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare as she really doesn't have any flawed qualities or misfortune happen to her, as her brother turned out to be alive, she has a big part in the story. Her decision to dress up as a man really sets the motion of the story’s plot, confessions she did not wish to hear were heard from others and leads to her having conflicts with them and more. What ends up happening in the story is Viola no longer wants to be Cesario, she wants to be Viola, as conflicts between her first and second identities have piled up, and she wants none of it anymore. There are many confessions of love but Viola stays true to hers all through the story, not changing her feelings because of some events in the story

In the book or play Twelfth Night or What You Will Viola portrays the themes of identity, and love itself throughout the story, because she shows her love for Duke Orsino and she changes her identity to find her twin brother Sebastian.

Olivia, thinking Viola is truly a man, falls in love with her. Sebastian finds shelter with a local man. Upon travelling into town, Sebastian and Olivia meet and

Malvolio. Malvolio is tricked into believing Olivia is in love with him because of a

Maria and the conspirators decide to mislead Malvolio into thinking that Olivia is in love with him. Maria decides to lead him on by writing a letter, but means to be from Olivia. This love letter is meant to instruct Malvolio to do actions that Olivia despises. Maria is able to mislead Malvolio because she has the same print and seal as Olivia. Shakespeare is able to trick the characters and create many portrayals of them.

Meanwhile Olivia's drunkard uncle, Sir Toby; his pawn in the story Sir Andrew Aguecheek, are trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia with Sir Andrew. When Sir Toby takes offense at Malvolio's, the houses Stewart, constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved, telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and in hopes of becoming noble he, happily follows its commands. He behaves so strangely that

Another example is the way in which Olivia adopts the pretence of mourning and the puritanical Malvolio is tricked into the role of Olivia's suitor and becomes a smiling courtier.