Gender Roles And Conformity In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

Gender Roles and Conformity in Twelfth Night William Shakespeare is known for his masterful way of writing and using love and romance to strengthen his work. In his phenomenal romance comedy, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare redefines and mocks the idea of gender roles and the motifs of love. Shakespeare achieved this theme by using the main character, Viola, to give the readers the thought that the play’s intentions were to disrupt and throw out gender roles and present the concept of cross-dressing through Viola. Although this concept was a twist to the plot by itself, Shakespeare then uses Viola’s language and interaction with other characters to reaffirm stereotypes and expectations of her specified gender background. Throughout the play,

In Act 3, Scene 1 Olivia tries to court Cesario, disguised Viola, by trying to woo him into falling in love with Olivia. The goal was never reached and inevitably her attempts failed due to conditions that only Olivia knew about it. Once the reading comes across this text, it’s clear that Shakespeare is trying to prove he is breaking the traditional and accepted norms by society by having Cesario, also known as Viola, being what Oliva desires most. Shakespeare appears to use the words and actions a suitor or someone of interest would use or perform for his beloved or desired, but he ensures that the receiving character was in fact, Cesario. Based on cliché theories, Viola should have fallen in love with Olivia so does her character not do so? The intention was not in fact to bend gender roles but to show Shakespeare’s real opinion on how foolish it is for women to try to woo a man into loving her, thus contradicting the idea of him wanting to change the interpretation of his take on gender conformity. This understanding can go on to say that Shakespeare wanted to have a comedic moment that involved a man dressed as a woman, Olivia, tries to get the attention of a woman dressed as a man, also known as Cesario(Lindheim). This unquestionably mocked and made fun of gender roles and stereotypes, making this scene a great example to address.

The play, Twelfth Night, is undoubtedly a phenomenal romance comedy, mocking courtship, love, and gender roles. Although many readers feel that Shakespeare is a feminist based on his bold move to break gender roles throughout his play. However, it can also be debated that he switched roles in the Twelfth Night. By using cross-dressing antics, interactions with characters, and the language of the characters on his main character, Viola, Shakespeare conforms to gender stereotypes and