William Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night

People tend to judge others based on many aspects. Sometimes they may try to force people to act upon certain rules that define their place in society. They often try to meet expectations that society has made for them based on gender and social status. William Shakespeare reinforces these ideas in his play Twelfth Night, which introduces many meaningful messages about situations that still occur in society today. He clearly develops important themes worthy of analysis. A few of these strong themes are about stereotypes and society’s expectations and rules, which he proves to be irrelevant most of the time. Many situations in the play falsify commonly held stereotypes about gender and social status by showing how they are sometimes invalid. He also shows how these stereotypes can affect the way people behave towards and judge others.

Orsino's love, however, is a courtly love. He claims to be in love with Olivia but seems rather to be in love with the idea of love and the behavior of a lover. Orsino is a Petrachan lover who chooses an object that will not return his love. Because he is not ready for commitment, he courts Olivia in a formal way. By sending his messengers to her house instead of going himself, he does not have to speak to her directly. Early in the play, Viola realises that Orsino's love for Olivia is denied and that she would also reject all men for a period of seven years. Viola believes that Orsino might not be rejected if he visited Olivia himself and says to him: "I think not so, my lord," but Orsino, not wanting to see Olivia himself and wanting to keep up the role of the disappointed lover, insists that Cesario woo her.

One interesting character, Viola, spends most of the play cross-dressing, something that was very taboo at the time. Her disguise causes a difficult love triangle between herself, Olivia, and Duke Orsino. While this creates quite a bit of confusion, it also plays a key role in the denouement. Viola’s disguise allowed her to explore the ways in which she would like to be wooed, which resulted in her feelings toward Duke Orsino. It also allows Olivia to end the mourning of her brother and to come out of her shell, resulting in her marriage to Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian: “There, before him and underneath that consecrated roof, plight me the full assurance of your faith, that my most jealous and too doubtful soul may live at peace” (Shakespeare 1240).

The play opens with Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, expressing his deep love for the Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, the shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as a man and endeavors to enter the Duke’s service. Although she has rejected his suit, the Duke then employs Viola, who takes the name of Cesario, to woo Olivia for him. As the

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

Viola has this weak heart because she falls in love with the Duke, Orsino, act one scene four, and can not show her affection for him because she is disguised as a male. The audience finds out that Viola is a female when she tells Orsino of love, then states, “ I am the daughter of all my fathers….and all the sons”(Act, Scene). Viola’s weakness does not help her during this play because she has to hide everything from everyone and ,in act three scene one, Feste has a suspicion of Viola about her being a female dressed as a male and he makes a speech about how smart a fool can actually be. He also makes a reference to Viola being Cressida,( a Trojan woman who was portrayed as the lover of Troilus, whom she deserted for Diomedes), as well as how she pretends to be something she is not and that one day someone will find out who and what she actually is and she will one day maybe get punished for not revealing who she really

through his vanity is easily fooled into thinking it is he who she loves although

was Olivia, a rich countess, ends up falling in love with her. Viola/Cesario did not

Much of the first half of the Twelfth Night is about disguised identities and general misconceptions about who is actually who. The play opens on a note of melancholy and death, Orsino grieving because Olivia refuses to love him and Viola and Olivia mourning the deaths of their brothers. It is following a shipwreck that Viola disguises herself as a male, ensuring that confusion will be part of the plot. The idea of masquerading as a member of the opposite sex is a familiar device and the “complications, artificial as they may appear, are an essential part of the play’s complete development.” (Travers 308) It is interesting to note that unlike other comedies such as “The Tempest”, Shakespeare does not create an older generation who prevent the young lovers from being together; instead it is the perplexity about gender and that keeps them apart. Sebastian, Viola’s identical twin, is the solution to all of the problems, though his appearance does add to it for a short while. Viola, dressed as Cesario, is mistaken for Sebastian by Antonio, and is asked for the money that he gave to Sebastian. However, this type of confusion adds to the comic nature of the plot as the audience is aware of the concealed identities. Order eventually comes from the chaos, disguises are shed and identities are revealed. The appearance of Sebastian ensures that the marriage will be possible for the main characters; Viola is free to marry Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, although she

Viola is sent by the Duke to woo Olivia even though Viola wants to marry the Duke.

In the movie, the real Sebastian returns to America faster than Viola expected. Olivia sees Sebastian exit the cab he rode back in and kisses him, thinking it’s the Sebastian that was actually Viola. He goes along with it and kisses back until she breaks it off and leaves. Orsino, seeing this exchange, thinks Viola as Sebastian has betrayed him in kissing his crush. Later, they have a verbal fight where they stop being friends. This fight impacts the big soccer game the school has later, because Orsino refuses to pass the ball to Viola as Sebastian, costing the team many goals. “Duke! Duke! I'm open! Give me the ball! Duke! Hey, over here! I'm open”, exclaims Viola as Sebastian, “...Shut up, man”, Orsino bitterly replies. “Duke, I know you're mad at me,” Viola pleas. But it falls on deaf ears when Orsino angrily remarks “Don't talk to me. Get out of my face”. This discourse resembles the banter between Viola and Orsino after he finds out that Cesario may not be who he seems. He distrusts Cesario and refuses to speak with him or heed to reason until the real Sebastian shows up and diffuses the situation. Both iterations have a point where they don’t know what to believe, so they cut it short by cutting the masquerading Viola out entirely until all resolves and both Violas forgiven and even courted. Overall though, it is truthful that while the movie and the play mirror each other’s plots, the

Even though she is falling for Duke Orsino, she continues to be a man, and help him get Olivia. “My master loves her dearly, and I, poor monster, fond as much on him. Ands he, mistaken, seems to dote on me. What will become of this? As I am a man, my state is desperate for my master’s love.” (Act II. ii) She even delivers love letters from Duke Orsino to Olivia. Her love for Duke Orsino is growing, and the pressure is building up. Although, she keeps staying strong and continues to help him. Another example is in Act II. iv. Viola and Orsino discuss love, and the beauty of love. Viola starts to hint about loving Orsino, her passion and love for him taking over. Even though he doesn’t notice, her determination to be Cesario starts fading. “Too well what love women to men may owe, In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man. As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your

The duke's love for Olivia is reciprocated by Olivia toward Cesario. Another problem that arises is that Viola falls in love with Orsino while working with him for a few days. She can not do anything about it because Orsino thinks she is a male. This gender uncertainty allowed Viola to get a job within the walls of the house but does not allow her to follow her heart or her feelings for Orsino.

Viola, one of the main protagonists, experiences suffering when she falls in love with Orsino, whom she cannot pursue or express her true feelings for. After a shipwreck, Viola finds herself stranded in the country of Illyria. In order to work for the Duke Orsino, she disguises herself as a man named Cesario, which makes romance with the duke impossible. After spending three days with him, she falls in love. Not only does she have to repress her feelings toward Orsino, but to add to her pain, Orsino assigns her to spend her time trying to persuade Lady Olivia to marry him. Viola says to the audience, “whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (1.4.42), because she wishes to marry Orsino.

Critics call Twelfth Night one of William Shakespeare’s most poetic and musical plays. Shakespeare writes poetic lines for the major characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, and gives the Fool, and other minor characters, songs to sing throughout the play. The particularly romantic lines of the play make it seem as if the characters are professional poets themselves. Shakespeare also uses the music and poetry in Twelfth Night to foreshadow what is going to happen for the rest of the performance and to reveal major themes in the play. Music and poetry become major characters in the play themselves.