Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy which is created through a complex circle of love designed by deception, disguise and practical jokes. The characters use of deception within the play create many unintentional and undesirable outcomes. Through the art of deception, Shakespeare explores the ideas of deceit and self-deception which in turn creates comedic situations within the play. Many of the characters go through extremes in order to get what they want, which is the love that they desire, by deceiving everyone and at times, even deceiving themselves.
The use of deception by the characters illustrate just how much of a burden love could be due to the fact that it’s the source of their pain and suffering throughout the play. The element of love within the play also reveals some homosexual-like ideas through character interaction and reaction to certain events which occur. The motif of love as a burden is depicted through how the character’s react to love, as if it’s more of a curse than a blessing; a feeling which attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively-yet at the same time they are willing to do anything for their love. Throughout the play various characters do the ridiculous in an attempt to woo their love, or in order to catch their loves attention. Shakespeare utilizes disguise and deception as the primary sources for examining the patterns of love and courtship as well as gender and sexualtiy.
There are numerous altercations due to the characters utilization of disguises to deceive one another; through the interchanging role of gender, disguise and the deception of characters, Shakespeare explores gender and sexuality which ultimately result in conflict, confusion and cases of mistaken identity. T...
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My bosom is full of kindness
ANTONIO The gentleness of all the gods go with thee!
2.2.30-39
One could also state that there are homosexual connotations to the Olivia, Orsino and Viola (Cesario) love triangle. This is due to the fact that Olivia appears to love the somewhat feminine aspects of Cesario such as his “ scorn [which] looks beautiful in the contempt and anger of his lips”(3.2.142-143). However it all ends heterosexually through Olivias seemingly unquestionable acceptance of Sebastian when introduced to him as Viola's twin as well as Orsino’s immediate acceptance of Viola, even after finding out that she was Cesario.
Works Cited
Greenblatt, Stephen. "Twelfth Night." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. B. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 1189-250. Print. The Sixteenth Century & The Early Seventeenth Century.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
Sebastian, the twin brother of Viola who was lost at sea after a shipwreck, and Lady Olivia are the first to marry, but things are not as they seem. During the weeks leading up to matrimony, Olivia fell madly in love with Cesario, who though looks and sounds just as Sebastian, is truly Viola dressed as a man. Sebastian does not realize this as he meets Olivia for the first time. He is amazed that a woman of her statue and beaut...
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy that has been interpreted in different ways, enabling one to receive multiple experiences of the same story. Due to the content and themes of the play, it can be creatively challenging to producers and their casting strategies. Instead of being a hindrance, I find the ability for one to experiment exciting as people try to discover strategies that best represent entertainment for the audience, as well as the best ways to interpret Shakespeare’s work.
Upon reading Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V, I have noticed that the issue of gender ideology and identity has been an intriguing study in both Shakespearean comedies and histories. These traditional Western views have, in a sense deemed which roles are appropriate and socially acceptable, in regards to both males and females. This practice of ‘social typecasting’ has given men and women certain socially acceptable characteristics, which has influenced how they should think and act. In this essay I take an in-depth look regarding how Shakespeare dealt with gender identity, and if certain characters in The Taming of the Shrew and Henry V accepted their socially predetermined gender identity or if they rejected it.
William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
By illustrating the negative effects of deception in relationships in the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows how important honesty is in
Wadbrook, M. C. "Robert Armin and Twelfth Night." Twelfth Night: A Casebook. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1972. 222-43.
Although Viola might be able to relate to Olivia's grief at first, her love for Orsino is so great that she cannot understand why Olivia would deny him. When Olivia expresses affectio...
Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.
Brown, Steve. 'The Boyhood of Shakespeare's Heroines: Notes on Gender Ambiguity in The Sixteenth Century.' Studies In English Literature 30 (Spring 1990): 243-264.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. N.p.: Rice University, 1982. 223-38. Vol. 22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
"William Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." Norton's Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York City: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 Spring 1982: 223-238. Print.
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...