Twelfth Night and Pygmalion

Shakespeare's use of cross dressing and deceitfulness extends beyond the actual writings in the plays and goes onto the stage. Women were not allowed to perform on stage in Shakespeare's time. ."..all the great women's roles in Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, from Juliet and Lady Macbeth to the duchess of Malfi, were written to be

     The date of the composition of Twelfth Night is fixed around 1600 “during a period before a woman’s place was imagined as separate sphere, since, for the Renaissance, a woman was considered to be analogous to other social inferiors in a hierarchical society” (Malcolmson 161). During this time, England was enjoying a period of socio-political security and respect for the arts. Unfortunately, Elizabethan society was a masculine society in which women had little part. The female in Elizabethan society was not only subordinate to the male because of her unpredictability but also because of her nature as the "gentler sex." A woman was considered to be fit for homemaking and child-bearing; she was considered to have no

It is said that Queen Elizabeth I’s controversial reign at the time informed the play’s content. She, in fact, used to like to invite theater companies to her palaces[2] and saw a performance of the play at Christmastime while on a campaign in Ireland[3]. In her medieval England, people met the idea of a female monarch with hostility[4], because there had never been one until[5] . The challenge to tradition that was Queen Elizabeth I’s reign most likely to lead the discussion of gender roles in Twelfth Night.

The actors were expected to perform their own stunts. They had to have a good memory to learn and memorize their lines in a short time period. William Shakespeare acted in some of the productions of the plays. Males had to act out the female parts of the plays because females were not allowed to perform in theaters at this time. Although, all of the actors worked hard, the males who dressed up as females got paid the least; this proves they had a lot of dedication to their work. The actors help make the plays at the theater a huge success and very profitable to The Theater.

The cause of the underlying despondency is the way in which Illyrian society works in reverse to social norms. This reversal is linked closely with the festivities of Twelfth Night. The central idea of Twelfth Night was derived from the old notion behind Saturnalia: a brief social revolution or period of "misrule" in which power, dignity, or impunity is reversed upon those ordinarily in a subordinate position so that masters become servants and servants become masters. A mock figure known as the "Carnival King" or "Boy-Bishop" was elected to head the festivities; a figure echoed in Twelfth Night both by Sir Toby Belch, who becomes a kind of "carnival king" upholding the feasting, revelry and license of the festival period, and by Feste who impersonates a clergyman in his attempts to "re-educate" Malvolio into his "right" mind. When challenged about his drinking by Maria; “Ay but you must confine yourself within the limits of order,” Sir Toby retorts, “Confine! I 'll confine myself no finer than I am." In the true style of Saturnalia, Sir Toby overturns all norms.

stereo typed to be full of greed just for the fact that he was a Jew,

Others have asserted that the roles of women in his plays were prominent for the time and culture that he lived in,his intent in creating characters to inspire much controversy. Two works, Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night, stand out particularly well in regards to Shakespeare's use of female characters. If you could examine these two plays, you would see that Shakespeare, though conforming to contemporary attitudes of women, circumvented them by creating resolute female characters with a strong sense of self.

During the Elizabethan Era, gender role was a big thing. Every man knew his role and his class and every woman knew her role. When Shakespeare was writing, the gender expectation was that a woman should serve and obey to her husband. If a man told a woman to do something, then it was her job to fully submit to him. When women do not obey their husband, they get punished.

This was the only woman in Europe who truly had power. Aside from queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare was in a time where men ruled and women followed. Women cleaned, took care of the kids, and obeyed their husbands. The women of this time were groomed. They learned from a young age that boys had more privileges and they were to do whatever the men deemed them worthy of doing. The women were rarely educated and knew nothing other than what they were taught by the men. The women’s sole purpose was to get approval from first their father and then eventually a husband once (once approved by her father). For them, there was little reason or opportunity to do anything beyond domestic tasks. When not performing these tasks, their role was to sit doll-like, looking prim and

In my opinion, I think the decision regarding to the roles of women in theatres was not wise. Women did not have freedom, unlike the men. They were considered as the weaker sex and is in need of protection. In the Elizabethan era, women did not have any sayings in their life. They spend their daily lives at home being housewives or being tutored. Women did not get to enjoy their lives the way they would want to. All their lives, they have to listen to their husbands as obedience was a part of the law. Women who acted in theatres were called prostitutes. I strongly believe that it not right for the actresses to be labelled as something that their not. Women not being able to have professions and not having to live their lives freely could lead

Pygmalion was a mythological character who liked to sculpture. He made a statue of his ideal woman - Galatea. The statue was so beautiful that he prayed to the gods it would be brung to life , his wish was granted.

Michelle Amartey Shakespearean Literature 11/22/16 Because of Malvolio’s interest in attaining a higher social class, it led him into his downfall. In Twelfth Night, Malvolio is the major target for a prank. Throughout the play, he was portrayed as a fun-hating character who nobody liked. He thinks highly of himself and thinks he’s too much of a gentleman for the rest of his peers in the castle. This leads to other characters disliking him and making him their target or the other characters and drive his role in the plot and humor of the play.

Main Idea: Shakespeare was not a sexist: All though the main three females in the play were seen as important and contributed tremendously towards the plot of the play. The readers see Shakespeare pushing the ideology of men and women being equal with the slow occurrence of many plots towards the play, and how it all unravels itself. These were proven in the play by when;

It was a mad time full of pranks and confusion, just as in the play. This name, ‘Twelfth Night’, therefore seems appropriate for this play due to all the confusion and the banter that goes on in the confusing storyline. In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the word play, the vulgar humour of Sir Toby, stupidity of Sir Andrew, Malvolio‘s foolishness , and the general confusion caused by Viola's disguise.

In Twelfth Night there are many characters that are greatly disliked by others, many would say Malvolio is the most disliked due to his profound traits. Twelfth Night is a well-known romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare has written more important plays than this one, Twelfth Night is an admirably well-written romantic comedy. Malvolio, Lady Olivia’s steward, is not a character many would like to be compared to as his ego, gullibility and sternness causes him to be mistreated and greatly disliked. One of Malvolio’s greatest vice’s, is that everyone that looks upon him loves him, this vice of his ties together his personality. Malvolio’s egotism is portrayed throughout the play because it is a trait that affects him always. His gullibility is mostly seen during the major prank that is played on him in scene two act five. We see Malvolio’s sternness throughout the whole entire play because it is another trait that is always with him. Malvolio’s egotistical, gullible and stern personality causes him to be “justly abused” and easily disliked by others.