In William Shakespeare’s comedy play Twelfth Night, a love triangle between the characters Viola dressed as Cesario, Orsino the Duke, and Olivia runs rampant throughout the storyline. This conflict comes to a head in Act 5 Scene 1 lines (in my copy) 109 through 147. This is the first, and only, time during the play that the audience sees all three characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, together. In this climaxing scene, it is apparent that Orsino is distraught with more than friendly feelings for his manservant Cesario, and that Olivia is in love not with Cesario, but with Viola under male clothing. I will be describing this scene as a stage production rather than a screen production. With this in mind, setting for this scene would be …show more content…
This change in lighting, now in Act 5, would provide to the audience a sense that the play is coming to its end. This scene would be efficient in this setting because it would bring the story full circle. In the scene previously described, Olivia first realizes her love for Viola, and Viola expresses her own love for Orsino. For this triangle of confusion to end in the same place it began would be representative of tying up loose ends. A foyer setting for this scene would also make sense because many people enter and exit throughout the scene, and a foyer is a place where people come and go. However, setting is not the only technical issue that is important during a production. Along with setting, costuming is also, if not equally, important as it will show the characters’ differing personalities, rankings, and expectations for what may transpire. Viola, of course posing as the male Cesario, would be wearing time-appropriate informal clothes. I will not pretend to know exactly what this would entail, but I would have Viola be dressed in darker colored pants and stockings with a matching shirt, but with little to no detail on the clothing. The clothes should also be a size or two too big, as most times women cannot fill out men’s clothing. Additionally, the simplicity of her clothes would demonstrate her lower ranking in comparison to Orsino. Her hair also would be short, but in a ponytail to display her femininity underneath her
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)
Throughout Twelfth Night, Viola plays the part of a fascinating contradiction. During her courting of Olivia on behalf of the heartsick Orsino, Viola describes how she would woo Olivia if she loved her as Orsino does: “Make me a willow cabin at your gate, / And call upon my soul within the house, / And sing them loud even in the dead of night; / …Cry out ‘Olivia!’” (1.5.237-45). Later, she directly compares her own love for Orsino to his love for Olivia, yet she does not cry out his name in heartbreak for the world to hear – like her identity, she keeps her feelings hidden. In Act 2, when conversing with Orsino on the topic of love and gender, she claims that although men are more performative in their declarations of adoration, women are
All throughout Illyria, there is romance, passion, royalty, and an immense amount of gender stereotypes. William Shakespeare imagines the kingdom of Illyria to have very traditional norms for both women and men in his play Twelfth Night. In Scene 2 of Act 1, Viola, recently rescued from a shipwreck, hears about a duke named Orsino and instantly comes up with a plan to get closer to him. Her plan is to disguise herself as a boy who she will name Cesario and become one of Orsino's’ attendants. Right off the bat, we begin to see gender stereotypes. Why must Viola become a man in order to work for the duke? Elizabethan society “molded women into the form of the dutiful wife and mother” (Elizabethan Women). Viola could not have served duke Orsino as a woman because as a woman she was expected to work at home and be either a “dutiful wife [or a] mother”. Scene two prepares the audience for the idea of gender throughout the rest of the play. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is very traditional play due to its ideas of gender stereotypes in Elizabethan society.
Twelfth Night is a very feminist play once readers have been reading it. The story’s protagonist is a woman, Viola. Viola displays herself as a rational, strong, witting woman, who has to disguise herself as a man to be able to become a faithful attendant of Orsino. With Viola doing this it creates a big sexual mess as Viola falls in love with Orsino but cannot tell him since he still thinks she is a man. While Olivia, who is the object of Orsino’s affection, falls for Cesario, the disguise for Viola. Once Viola’s true identity is revealed Orsino declares his love for Viola which suggest that he may really just loved the masculinity she possessed. Orsino says to Viola, even after seeing her true identity, “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” (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night 5.1.2599-26001). After everything has been reveled Orsino still calls Viola by her disguise name…her boy name, Cesario. The readers can only wonder is Orsino truly loved Viola for her or if he was in love with the male persona she gave.
Broward College, Central Campus Theater in building 6, on Sunday, the 1st of November. The play was performed by Broward College students. The type of stage was Proscenium stage with extended apron. I thought it was a little bit small, but it did not show as a problem. The pre-show was dark and a feel of suspense. I felt excited to see how everything would play out. The play takes place down south of Chicago in the 1950’s.
In Twelfth Night, the protagonist of the story, Viola, is displayed as a rational, sacrificial, sincere, strong, witty woman, who disguises herself as a man, to become a faithful attendant of Orsino. Viola is one with sacrificial and patient love, willingly loving Orsino, and attending to his every need. Orsino, on the other hand, is shown as an emotional man, who has superficial and transient love for Olivia. This love is very abruptly shifted to Viola at the end of the play, when Viola reveals her true identity. Through this contrast of these two individuals, we can see that Shakespeare makes a distinct different between genders, and allows to draw a contrast between characters to think deeper into their characters and purpose in the story, beyond their surface appearances.
The scenes and props complimented the attire of the performers, blending together create a magnificent display. The scenery was realistic enough to afford the viewer an escape into depths of the show. The setting was beautiful and the structures almost lifelike, excepting the absence of a front screen door. It seems that almost all plays and television shows I have viewed neglect this detail. The stage lighting played a key role in the show by setting the mood of the performance during soulful, pensive songs. In contrast, the lighting proved to be a detriment by overbearing the performance of the artists, in that one’s attention was drawn to the glare of extreme quantities of makeup rather than the actions of the characters. This was most notable during the final portions of the production.
Obstacles are found in many situations, especially true love when disguise is involved. The mistaken identity of one has a powerful effect on the rest of the characters in Shakespeare’s twelfth night as it creates problems for true love. Aside from Shakespeare’s others, the play focuses on mistaken identity/disguise and unrequited love. Disguise truly is an obstacle for true love to prevail in twelfth night. The obstacle of disguise that occurs in the play will be analyzed by exploring situations, character’s thoughts, and the result of poor decisions made.
Thrilling yet confusing, and even troublesome, Twelfth Night’s theme of identity is showed within the romantic comedy through many ways. As an essential subject establishing rich symbolism and imagery, it uses disguises and crafty characters’, which causes much confusion between the characters. Furthermore, the idea brings out the comical essence of the piece. It examines the gender roles in Twelfth Night relating to the history of Renaissance/Elizabethan Theatre; males played female roles—a male actor would play a female character (Viola) who disguises herself as a male (Cesario), for women were forbidden to act. Through What You Will, it proves one’s physical features, and how a person presents them self, possesses
In this play, Viola’s cross dressing experience is important to both the central complication and resolution to the plot. In Act 1, scene 5, Viola, who is
through his vanity is easily fooled into thinking it is he who she loves although
As this journey ends in these lovers meeting, a counter-argument may assert that Orsino is not truly in love with Viola since he proclaims a love for Olivia only moments before. Throughout the play, however, he actually falls in love with Viola underneath Cesario; he simply does not realize it until the end. Despite Cesario’s identity as a man, Orsino cannot help but adore Viola’s female attributes that shine through the disguise: “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.5.34-37). Later, Orsino interviews him about a woman that Cesario has apparently fallen for; little does Orsino know that he himself is the “woman” that Viola as Cesario
What was also realistic was the costuming of each character. Laura, who played the teacher wore a long beige skirt with a blue blouse. I thought this was acceptable for a female teacher to wear, and with her hair tied back, it contributed to the look. Gil’s costuming was blue jeans and a chestnut colored jacket with workboots. I assume Gil’s costume was appropriate because the only trait we knew about him was that he is an alcoholic. Through the play, there is no mention of what he does for a living, only that he is drunk constantly. I have two different opinions towards Tyler’s costume because even though he wears a uniform since he attends a private school; I felt that he was dressed unprofessionally because he had a few of his shirt buttons
Equity between men and women is a deeply rooted battle. As the modern culture shifts further from patriarchal rule, it is interesting to question why females remained the submissive sex for so many centuries. When examining the play Twelfth Night, it becomes apparent that Shakespeare considered such an issue and used the character Viola and her interaction with Orsino as a vessel for gender equality.
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.