Identity

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Recommended: The role of mistaken identity in twelfth night

A book is simply a compilation of related words which the author, a linguistic craftsman, expertly places and strings together with specific intent; a web of lies is nothing but a bundle of words which the trickster weaves to obstruct the mental senses of the deceived. And yet, the inversion or even the slight variation of those same words allows for the reversal of black and white, and lies can subsequently become truth. Further, this language alteration allows the masks and disguises assembled by words to transform into means for self-discovery, as opposed to their original aim to conceal the wearer from others and, inadvertently, the self alike. After all, as the Feste says, “A sentence is but a chev’ril glove to a good wit. How quickly the wrong side may be turned outward” (Shakespeare 3.1.10-11).
When readers flip the fabric of Twelfth Night over, they discover its alternate side, an illusory world which causes audience members to question the rigidity of truth itself and the very meaning of identity. Shakespeare spins this world into a flawed reality and, through its many falsehoods, illustrates the ethereal and ever-changing quality of a quest for the self which love’s confusion both taints and enhances. The discrepancy between the audience’s knowledge and the characters’ awareness serves to further establish and increase the gap between illusion and truth, while language merges with love to create mass confusion. But amid the chaos, the characters somehow manage to mature, learning to define themselves after attaining the ability to love selflessly.
Shakespeare manipulates word orientation and infuses his language with meaning until each sentence holds a proper place and purpose in the story’s evolution. When coupled wit...

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...n easily alter the entire meaning of a phrase and therefore cause truth to morph into deception. When Shakespeare, the master of language himself, fiddles with words and employs dramatic irony so that the fine line between reality and illusion not only blurs but disappears, the product is a play riddled with confusion, mistaken identity, and comedy. The confusion reaches its peak when love adds its own intoxicating flavor to each of the character’s journeys, serving as both the catalyst for the journey’s commencement in the first place and a perplexing enigma to unravel along the way. Through this journey, the characters develop and gain the ability to look outside themselves through loving another, until they can finally discard the masks shielding them from the world and define their true identity. Only then can reality completely and permanently replace illusion.

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