Different Forms of Disguise and Deception in Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is said to be Shakespeare's most complete comedy. As in
most comedies, Twelfth Night celebrates different forms of disguise
and deception in order to make the play more entertaining. ”There's
something in it that is deceivable”(ActIV, ScIII), indeed the crux of
the play is based on disguise and deception. The most significant
deception would definitely be Viola’s disguise as Orsino’s page,
Cesario, which makes the story remarkably intriguing. In addition to
Viola’s disguise, the deceptions of some characters further intensify
the amusement of the play. The different forms of disguise and
deception paradoxically throughout the play lead to a lot of
misunderstanding and subsequently, a lot of humour.
Viola’s disguise as Cesario is the origin of much of the deception in
the play. At the very beginning, Viola has been warned of the dangers
of being alone in Illyria, therefore she is determined to go into
disguise, “conceal me what I am” (ActI, ScII). Viola is then disguises
as a male eunuch and works for the Duke Orsino. Under the impression
that Cesario is a boy with youthful looks, the Duke sent Cesario to
woo the Lady Olivia on his behalf. Sarcastically, a love triangle is
formed since not only Viola who has fallen in love with Orsino, Olivia
has fallen in love with Cesario as well. As Cesario is a boy in
Orsino’s eyes, Viola is unable to confess her love for Orsino, “I'll
do my best to woo your lady/ Yet, a barful strife! Whoe'er I woo,
myself would be his wife” (ActI ScIV). The reality is always kindless,
Olivia is not interested in the Duke, “Your lord does k...
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...alls in love with Cesario at first sight,
“Methinks I feel this perfections” (ActI ScV) Malvolio deceives
himself as an important person, “See himself as surrounded by idle
things” (ActIII Sc IV) as well as his role of Olivia’s suitor. All
these characters are trapped by their illusions.
Among the many characters in Twelfth Night, some are disguised as
someone else, some are deceving themselves, some are being deceived
and some are deceived about their true natures. The different forms of
disguise and deception has numerous effects, namely to give way to
ironic humour, to further explore characters and relationships, to
develop the connection between the main plot and the sub-plot and so
on. Overall, the play brings up great comic effect by using disguise
and deceptoin, making Twelfth Night a truly exceptional piece.
People are not always whom they appear to be. Whether it’s that fierce tattooed muscle man or that sweet elderly lady smiling from a few seats away, what is perceived is not always what is true. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night portrays many a character whose identities do not align with their inner character. Olivia’s polite ladylike demeanour, Sir Toby’s guise of nobility, and Feste’s job as a fool all demonstrate how social identities don’t always align with inner character.
... He speaks to Viola, before Feste, Olivia’s Jester, sings to signal the ending. “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.” The characters in Twelfth Night each play an important and specific role, especially when it comes to interfering or setting fate for romantic interests.
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Folly is one of the main weaknesses in Twelfth Night with a number of characters portraying their own strange foolish ways. Feste is the professional fool; he is the most noticeable fool and is very quickly recognised by the audience as an intelligent man. Orsino and Olivia are really foolish because of the decisions they make but they are regarded as intelligent. The biggest fool of all is Olivia's steward, Malvolio.
Similar to this celebration, many characters wear physical or psychological masks (Williams 193). For example, Duke Orsino is deluded by believing he is in love with the only woman who won’t have him. Orsino’s “love” for Olivia is self-destructive and unstable (Salingar, 124). Orsino tells “Cesario” about this form of love in this passage: “Unstaid and skittish in all motions else / Save in the constant image of the creature /That is beloved… For, boy, however we do praise ourselves, / Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, / More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn Than women's are,” (Shakespeare 1211). Salingar states that Orsino’s delusional love for Olivia seems to be without a clear object, impossible to satisfy, to the point of death (124-125). Forbes says that Orsino thinks he needs Olivia so desperately he cries out for the heart to kill Olivia rather than lose her (479). Further, Viola tricks Orsino by disguising herself as a man, but it is done with a purpose. Lydia Forbes states that “He is a good man and worthy of her, but temporarily so confused by a romantically far-fetched notion of love that he would not be able to appreciate her in her own feminine dress… Since [Viola] has apparently heard of Orsino as a potential husband, she becomes a
Unlike the other characters in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Viola's feelings of love are genuine. She is not mistaken about Orsino's true nature and loves him for who he really is, while the other characters in the play seem to be in love with an illusion. Viola's love for Orsino does not alter during the play, nor is it transferred to another person.
Viola, as Cesario, manages to win the favour of Orsino He truly believes that she is a he. Orsino, still convinced of my majesty, believes that he can win the love of a woman, via a proxy. By having Viola merely read the words he has prepared, he thinks that Olivia will fall immediately in love with him. But while Orsino had his head in the clouds about his love, Viola is attempting to conceal from him, her love for him.
As in most comedies, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night extensively. uses disguises, masks and mistaken identities to add to the comical nature of. the play. Viola's disguise as Orsino's page, Cesario, becomes crucial to the action in the play. Without this important element, the action in the play would slow down dramatically, making the story much less intriguing.
Twelfth Night consists of a large number of love triangles, however many characters are too indulged in love that they are blind to the untrue, and the weakness of their relationship, they are deceived by themselves and many people around them ( ex. Malvolio is tricked by Sir Andrew, Feste ,Sir Toby and Maria),but there are certain incidents where the love is true and two characters feel very strongly about one another. In the play, Viola and Orsino have the most significant relationship. The way they interact with each other causes the complexity on which the play is all about, their relationship turns from strangers to friends then lovers .In the First Act Viola is not honest with Orsino because she disguises herself as a male servant named Cesario in order to get closer to the duke. Orsino. Orsino quickly trusts Cesario and sends him to Olivia to declare Orsinos Love for her, the girl he most dearly loves. This quick bond is the fast example of their relationship. At the beginning of the play, Viola thinks her brother (Sebastian) is dead (after they’re deadly boat crash, where they get separated) when actually he is alive and thinks she is dead, Viola always seems to have a part missing from her which shows her bond with Sebastian is strong, and a part of her but in a brotherly/sisterly way rather than a proper relationship like viola and orsino, At the end of the play they meet and both fall in love , Viola with Orsino and Sebastian with Olivia.
It is said that the philosophy on human nature is that we ought to be
Twelfth Night or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. It has been performed hundreds of times and adapted into a number of modern films. The main plot of the play follows Viola, a girl who is rescued from a shipwreck and enters into the service of the Duke Orsino disguised as a man. Rising quickly in his estimation, Viola begins delivering messages of love on his behalf to Olivia, a noble woman who has no interest in Orsino’s advances. Over the course of the play Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola, Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, who supposedly died in the shipwreck, returns. Following Sebastian’s return the twins are mistaken for each other, leading to both misunderstanding and marriage in the final scenes of the play. Alongside the main plot of Twelfth Night is an almost equally prominent subplot involving Malvolio, a servant of Olivia, who falls in love with her and who falls prey to a prank planned by the other members of the household who despise his abhorrence of fun. In the article “The Design of Twelfth Night” by L.G. Salingar, Salingar examines the plot and structure of the play and addresses the significance of the subplot. The purpose of this essay is to examine both evidence from the play and articles from other authors, with a focus on Salingar, who have written on the subject in order to determine the purpose of the subplot. In his article, Salingar comes to the conclusion that the purpose of the subplot is to provide a comic mirror of the main plot while amplifying the main themes of delusion, misrule and festivity. Salingar presents a solid argument, however he has neglected another lesser but significant element of the sub-plot which illustrate...
William Shakespeare's, Twelfth Night has many themes, but appearance vs. reality is the theme that illustrates a different picture from two perspectives, there are many characters behind their masks and disguises. Some are hiding love behind these disguises and some are trying to show their love through a different disguise. They both still being servants are using disguise differently. Malvolio, servant of Olivia, falls in love with the trap (the letter) thinking his lady likes him, and to show his love he uses a different appearance to express it. Viola, servant of Orsino, falls in love with him, but secretly, not wanting to express her love for him, because of her disguise as her barrier for that case. Viola/Ceasario is wearing a disguise and secretly loves Orsino. Malvolio, on the other hand, is also a servant but still changes his appearance to express love for the great lady Olivia. This essay will prove that disguises and appearances are symbolic of the characters named Viola and Malvolio and are differently used for both.
Throughout Twelfth Night, disguise and mistaken identity works as a catalyst for confusion and disorder which consistently contributes towards the dramatic comic genre of the play. Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola, who disguises herself as a man in order to serve Orsino, the Duke. By dressing his protagonist in male garments, Shakespeare creates ongoing sexual confusion with characters, which include Olivia, Viola and Orsino, who create a ‘love triangle’ between them. Implicitly, there is homoerotic subtext here: Olivia is in love with a woman, despite believing her to be a man, and Orsino often comments on Cesario’s beauty, which implies that he is attracted to Viola even before her male disguise is removed. However, even subsequent to the revealing of Viola’s true identity, Orsino’s declares his love to Viola implying that he enjoys lengthening the pretence of Vio...
Function of Disguise in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a play based around disguise in the form of deception and becoming someone different. In Twelfth Night, disguise takes many different shapes from physical disguise to mental disguise. Disguise is one of the main topics of the play and helps to create the plot. It brings in confusion and comedy as well as the darker and sadder side of the play which is disguised as fun and happiness. Disguise is evident from the very beginning of the play.