Twelfth Night Viola Disguise Essay

Orsino provides an example of the male norms in Twelfth Night, making the play very extremely traditional. In act 2, Orsino and Viola begin to talk about love. Orsino says to Viola, “No woman’s heart /So big, to hold so much; they lack retention. /Alas, their love may be called appetite, /No motion of the liver, but the palate, [...] /But mine is all as hungry as the sea, /And can digest as much” (2.4. 105-111). Orsino is telling Viola his opinions on love in Elizabethan society. Orsino thinks

When Antonio is dragged to the Orsino’s court by his guards, he claims that Viola (whom he thinks is Sebastian) is the cause of all his troubles. Antonio tells the duke his entire story about how he met Sebastian and Sebastian's supposed betrayal of Antonio:

Was it a good thing that her charade was burned? At the very beginning, Viola created this to protect herself. It worked very well, but ended in disaster. Or did it? Her whole act was a problem for her, and caused her a lot of unnecessary grief. At the end, she did end up getting Orsino. “Your master quits you; and for your service done him, So much against the mettle of your sex, So far beneath your soft and tender breeding, And since you call'd me master for so long, Here is my hand: you shall from this time be Your master's mistress.” (5:1:2528) Here Duke Orsino forgives her and decides to take her as his wife. “Cesario, come; For so you shall be, while you are a man;But when in other habits you are seen, Orsino's mistress and his fancy's queen.” (5:1:2598) It ended well for her considering the many directions it could have gone. Everyone in the end had their wants fulfilled, shy of a few

Many characters within Twelfth Night create disguises for themselves, beginning with Viola, who disguises herself as a male in order to make everyone in Illyria believe that she is in fact a man. By deciding to dress Viola in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual and gender confusion with the Olivia-Viola-Orsino love triangle.

Charles is of opinion that, “the representation of homoerotic attraction in Twelfth Night functions rather as a means of dramatizing the socially constructed basis of a sexuality that is determined by gender identity” (Charles 1997:122). As mentioned above, homosexuality was not acceptable in the Elizabethan society for the most part. It was even considered as sodomy. Before the twins, Viola and Sebastian, are married to heterosexual partners, both are involved in some form of homosexual relationship. While Oliva seems to be unaware of Cesario/Viola’s true sex, the hint at the possibility of homoeroticism through dramatic irony is already enough to disrupt the stereotypical gender system. After Malvolio presents Viola/Cesario with Olivia’s ring, Cesarios says, “I am the man; if it be so, as ‘tis,/Poor lady, she were better love a dream” (Shakespeare 2004:84). Charles explains the best stating that dramatic irony tells us Oliva’s true hidden passion is for the female character (Charles 1997:133). In addition she

This also occurs while Count Orsino is courting Countess Olivia. This is shown by the following quotation, “My servant, sir? ’ Twas never merry world/ Since lowly feigning was called compliment./Y’are servant to the Count Orsino, youth/.”(Shakespeare, 3.1. 83-85). This quote shows how Olivia doesn’t see the drama she would be creating by taking the servant of the man that is courting her and marrying him.

William Shakespeare has written a number of romantic comedies. Twelfth Night is one of the finest comedies of the author. Shakespeare is driven by Viola’s decision to voluntarily conceal her identity and go to work as a servant for the lovesick Orsino.This disguise and gender confusion are there in the beginning of the play and finishes with happy ending. This paper tries to ascertain how Viola in Twelfth Night perform her disguise and become an ideal woman of Shakespeare’s own concept. There may be many reasons why, he keeps his female characters in disguise position. Shakespeare’s subjectivity can easily be seen at many places in the play. Viola disguises her identity, self-involved behaviour, beauty, nobility, sincerity, and loyalty

Consequently, Viola learns that in the role of Cesario, she had to be quick on her feet and defend the probing questions and statements as to her love and others love for her. Also, she acquired the skill to bide her time, until the time was right, in case she reveal her true self or intentions.  The disguise also prevents Viola from expressing her love for Orsino, it contributes to the dramatic ironies by causing complications of mistaken identity. Moreover, Viola cannot show her love for Orsino, the only way she can express them is in her soliloquies to the reader, this contributes to the dramatic ironies. For example, when Viola conveys to Orsino what Olivia told her concerning love by saying:

The audience notices this many times throughout the play and with a plethora of characters. For example, after Viola has delivered many notes for Orsino, Olivia has truly fallen for what she thinks to be Cesario and says, “Come, I prithee. Would thou'dst be ruled by me!” (Shakespeare IV.i. 67-68). Olivia has pledged herself to seven years of chastity, but now asks Sebastian, whom she thinks is Cesario, to marry her. This is very unexpected behavior from her as a result of her pledge. Even Viola carries out actions that are not of the ordinary. She pretends to be a man so that she may get closer to Cesario and asks the captain to not reveal her secret when she says, ‘I’ll serve this duke. Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him” (Shakespeare I.i. 58-59). Because she desires to come close with Orsino so that she may eventually reveal herself and win his affections, she pretends to be a man so that she may serve him. This action is a very strange one, but yet again is what helps Shakespeare develop this theme

A clash of confusion and euphoria, occurred between Viola and Sebastian after having found each other alive. At first Sebastian was appalled,“Do I stand there?...”(Shakespeare 5.1 l 222) but, they later . Yet, Viola’s disguise also created conflict between her and Duke Orsino. “Say that some lady.../Hath for your.../As you.../You tell…”(Shakespeare 101 2.4 ll 89-93) hints Viola’s love for Duke Orsino. But, due to Viola’s disguise as Cesario, this is forbidden love. It is forbidden because Cesario is a boy. In which, Viola’s disguise provoked many mishaps in Illyria. Hence, disguise is powerful enough to hamper with love and cause major conflict.

Twelfth Night (c. 1600-01) is a complicated play which deals with the nature of love, gender role and the intricate comic and tragic experiences of love. The characters have multiple layers of gender roles and sexual attractions which makes the issue of gender identity more complex. For example, Viola, the heroine of the play is dressed as a male, Cesario, throughout most of the play. As a male, Viola woos Olivia for Orsino, resulting in Olivia falling in love with Viola-as-Cesario. At the same time, Viola, dressed as a man, falls in love with Orsino.

The play immediately opens on a man named Duke Orsino, a man so madly in love with another character that he’s completely fixated on her, giving a monologue on how great it is to be in love. He aspires to one day capture the heart of his beloved, the Lady Olivia, whose father, and brother had passed away recently, and so decided to never love a man for seven years. The Duke cares not of this proposal, and continues to dream of a life with Lady Olivia. He even believes that her strong love for her brother will translate to a love for the Duke as he says, “To pay this debt of love but to a brother/How will she love [me]…” (I. i. 33-34). The Duke’s intense love for Lady Olivia only seems to create problems as he sends one of his best men Cesario to try and woo the lady for Orsino. What Orsino doesn’t realize is that Cesario is actually a woman named Viola, hiding her female identity in order to make use of herself as she had just been shipwrecked and believes to have lost her brother in the wreck. As Viola continues with her orders from Orsino, Olivia starts to fall for her, instantly breaking her seven years of no love

Twelfth Night is a story that follows a woman named Viola who, shipwrecked, washes ashore and decides to disguise herself as a man named Cesario. Cesario becomes a servant to Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. Viola, disguised as Cesario, quickly falls in Love with Orsino. Orsino is preoccupied with trying to win over Olivia, the woman in which he was formerly courting. Olivia was distraught and struggling over the death of her brother. Olivia claims that she refuses to court a man for 7 years. The story takes an interesting turn when Olivia creates a Love triangle by falling in Love with Cesario, who is secretly Viola posing to be an attractive man. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother was separated from her after the shipwreck and they each think the other is dead. However, neither of them are dead, and the play takes a very

The opening lines say a lot about Orsino’s personality and his views about love. One of the first clips I looked at was a BBC production. This version was modernized and took place with Orsino alone in his bedroom, getting ready in front of a mirror. He gelled his hair back and did a slight collar pop of his satin button up shirt, grinning smugly as he recited the first few lines. This made him seem cocky. His over confident attitude made his lines about love not seem as sincere. Particularly because he was speaking to himself in the mirror as he says, “Give me excess of it, that surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken and so die” (lines 2 – 3). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, surfeit means to over indulge in something (OED 1a). Speaking to himself as he says those lines makes it seem as if he is thinking more of himself than the feelings of love. Shakespeare having Orsino say he

People often dream of the one day they find their true love, but the constant treachery and adultery that haunts the modern world are causing these unfortunate individuals to question the existence of this elusive creature and increasingly ponder whether something so pure can truly exist. One such person subtly declares his doubts under the guise of a light-hearted play. This person is Shakespeare. His comedic play Twelfth Night initially focuses on the Duke Orsino’s love for an Illyrian countess Olivia. However, Olivia falls in love with Viola, disguised as a male named Cesario, while Viola falls in love with Orsino. As the play develops, the love triangle becomes a “love rectangle” when Sebastian, Viola’s look-alike twin brother, comes to town. Sebastian meets and falls in love with Olivia, who is under the impression that he is Cesario. In the end, Sebastian marries Olivia on the same day that Orsino marries Viola, all within the span of just three months. The incredibly short time that it takes for Orsino and Olivia to fall for their respective partners, as well as the time it takes for their partners to reciprocate their love exemplifies Shakespeare’s thoughts on how easy it is to fall for someone due love’s superficial origins.