William Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night

While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons.

Gender stereotypes have long dominated the controlling arenas of society. These very institutions were consequential in facilitating the modernization of the world. Only later, after the renaissance had catalyzed newer forms of thought, were women allowed the same institutional privileges as their male counterparts. Shakespeare is famous for including Kairos—or the reflection of the present period in literary works—and commonly wrote in the traditional patriarchal perspective of society. In the Twelfth Night, he masterfully challenges the stereotypical gender roles of his age, through the depiction of Viola’s perplexing masculine and feminine qualities. The view of gender in society can be directly influenced by actions an individual chooses

Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night is a critical Elizabethan-era work that explores attraction and sexuality within the relationship between Viola (as Cesario) and Duke Orsino. Her role is one of steadfast love towards Orsino; she willingly courts Olivia on his behalf as Cesario, burying her feelings for him because she cares that he is happy. There is a rigid dichotomy between Viola and Orsino’s passion; where Viola is steady, Orsino is inconsistent. Feste states directly to Orsino that his “mind is a very opal” (2.4.71) which implies he is constantly changing what he wants and is more in love with the idea of love rather than Olivia. Duke Orsino’s evolution from a typical Petrarchan lover to passionate love, through trials of gender confusion

Throughout Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, the audience tends to recognize Viola's courage to gain protection in what seems like a world filled with men. As she pertains her brother’s image through camouflage, it encourages protection and the right to speak as an equal to others even her same gender. The theater is full of irony when surrounding the characters, especially Viola. She is able to hide through her brothers’ image but also ignites the illusion of sexual attraction that Olivia and Orsino hold for Viola. The gender ‘neutrality’ that Viola represents lets the audience know that gender is playing multiple roles in this certain play. Instead of just identifying and classifying Viola once she becomes Cesario, her primary gender doesn’t prohibit her from doing as she pleases anymore.

William Shakespeare’s plays “Hamlet” and “Twelfth Night” are completely opposite plays. However, there are many connections that can be made between the two. Seeing as “Hamlet” is a dark tragedy and “Twelfth Night” is a romantic comedy, both seem to have romantic twists to them developed by the hindering of the truth of one’s appearance. These are shown through major themes, such as deceit through disguises, complex love triangles, and varying opinions of marriage.

The first scene starts off at the Duke’s palace, where we, as the audience, are introduced to the duke, who is thinking to himself. Next, it is revealed that the Duke is listening to music, and is in love, as indicated by “O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,” (I, i, 9). However, suddenly, he decides that he does not want to listen anymore, as indicated by: “Enough, no more!” (I, i, 7). After this, we are introduced to a character named Valentine who tells the Duke that Olivia “Shall not behold at face for ample view;” (I, i, 28) for 7 years, due to her mourning her brother’s recent death. This does not sadden the Duke, however, as he enthusiastically says that

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”-Malvolio act III, Scene V. Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy entailing the life of Viola post-shipwreck in Illyria, during this play she assumes that she has lost her brother, Sebastian. In order to make a living, she disguises herself as a man and becomes a servant for the Duke, Orsino. In the end, Orsino and Viola marry, and all are united -living happily ever after. One important character to the development of the subplot of the play is Malvolio, he is the antagonist and without him, the storyline would be rather flat. Malvolio is an underappreciated character, who is vital to the story as he provides a contrast to the other servants, is the central cause of the conflict in the sublot, and teaches readers that arrogance is one’s greatest downfalls.

In Twelfth Night Shakespeare uses gender roles and cross dressing to create disguise. This creates a sense of gender ambiguity and this is what makes the audience laugh - but although it creates a sense of fun and liveliness it also examines

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.

Shakespeare, the favorite dramatist of all time fascinates himself with the usage of the language of Elizabethan poetic drama. His plays were lived to a full appreciation and pleasure. One of his most common plays full of comedies, twelfth night published in 1623, was written with a well hatched plot where the analysis on love is brought in both comic and tragic situation. The reader will note the three very different story lines within these paragraphs. The following prognostications will outline the final act.

This semester we have learned about the differences that exist between theatrical and cinematic elements in plays and films. Slowly with the knowledge gained, we transitioned into examining the adaptations of the world famous playwright, William Shakespeare. For this assignment, we were to choose a modern Shakespeare adaption and compare its successes and failures to its traditional script. With the choices given, I decided to choose the Twelfth Night to its modern adaption directed by Andy Fickman called, “She’s the Man.” I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it as an option, therefore I felt as though it would be a great option to explore. I have seen the movie several times since its release in 2006, however I was unaware that it was based off a Shakespeare play. In my opinion, I believe that Andy Fickman did a fantastic job in adapting the play to its modern audience. I was able to find some similarities and differences between the play and the film. This paper will highlight each individual aspect of the play, film, its elements and my analysis.

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

love when actually they just loved the idea of it. One such a man is

I believe that excessively relying on others is another lesson to be learned in Twelfth Night. Relying on others excessively is a lesson to be learned in Twelfth Night because Orsino never went to confront people that he loved. He said to Cesario “Thou know’st no less but all. I have unclasped / To thee the book even of my secret soul. / Therefore, good youth, address thy gait unto her; / Be not denied access, stand at her doors, / And tell them there thy fixed foot shall grow / Till thou have audience. (I.iv.13-18)”. Eventually when he asked Viola to woo Olivia for him she fell in love with Cesario instead. Leaving him without the love of his life for the time being. Moreover, relying on others excessively is a lesson to be learned because

William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest playwright of modern Western civilization. He wrote 37 plays in his lifetime, all of which have some varying degree of fame, such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Twelfth Night. Although he has been dead for 400 years, these pieces are still being read and analyzed under scrutiny today. One of the plays that seems to get the most attention is Hamlet. Much of the diction uses double entendre which causes much dispute among critics, and because of this there have been many elements of this play that have been put under a very fine microscope. One of these is the main male characters’ treatment of the women in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia. It is very apparent from the very beginning that on the surface the characters Polonius, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet think very little of these women as people, often citing sexual references in a few different ways directly in front of them with total disregard for their feelings, yet they also show true compassion toward them and seem to care for their well-being. These women provide much more, however. Ultimately it can easily be said that, based on the evidence, the entire reason for Hamlet’s, as well as the other male character’s, motives have to do directly with the influence these women have on them, so in many ways these women are responsible for the entire outcome of the play. Though they may appear on the surface to be one-dimensional characters, Gertrude