The Insincerity Of Women Summary

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“The Insincerity of Women” an essay by Garber, was the first article by a female to have negative feelings towards the women in Twelfth Night. Garber feels that Olivia ‘did not gain any liberation through her experience with Cesario’ (356) because she essentially reverted to societal norms by marrying Cesario/Sebastian. However, I disagree with this, although Olivia does eventually marry, it is not a sign of submissiveness, rather a sign of independent authority in that she chooses whom she marries, someone of her own choice rather than of ‘eligible’ status. Furthermore, it is Olivia who proposes marriage, which was a very unorthodox act in the Elizabethan era. Her resolve to marry Cesario/Sebastian highlights what the feminists of this period

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