Twelfth Night Essay

653 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The effect of viola's disguise on twelfth night

In Twelfth night a play by William Shakespeare, Viola disguises herself as a man because she wants to be able to continue and play college soccer. Many characters put on a false front image for personal gain in this book. In today’s society, people decide whether or not they want to bring up false portrayal’s or act like themselves when theirs a current decision needing to be made. This is qualifying because a few people today do lie and put up false fronts for personal gain. But on the other hand, some people do not. “There is a fair behavior in thee, captain, And though that nature with a beauteous wall Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee I will believe though hast a mind that suits With this thy fair and outward character (Shakespeare 1.2.50-54.).” Viola determines to disguise her identity by cross-dressing as a boy (Cesario), she than considers the sea captain’s trustworthiness. Viola starts to state to Oliva that she isn’t exactly what she thinks she is. “I prihee, and I’ll pay thee bounteously, Conceal me what I am; and be my aid For such disguise as haply shall become(1.2). Dressing as a man would ensure her safety …show more content…

He suffers from a severe case of love-sickness, stating that he is in love with the Olivia. “If music be the food of love, play on/ Give me excess it (1.1)” says Orsino. He’s more caught up in the idea of being love as opposed to loving someone. Orsino starts to notice that he does have romantic feelings for Viola as they have a close relationship. Viola falls in love with Orsino at sight, but her disguise keeps her from acting on this feeling. Orsino states: "...I have unclapst / To thee the book even of my secret Crowder 5 soul..."(1.4) According to thus, Orsino’s soul is open to Viola. He then tells her to “unfold the passion of my love...(1.4).” Shakespeare offers a commentary relationship between love and disguise with Viola and

Show More
Related

  • Unrequited Love In Twelfth Night

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Viola quickly falls in love with Duke Orsino after meeting him, but she is not able to express her true feelings of love for two different reasons. First, Orsino is lusting after Olivia, so he is not open to the feelings of others. Orsino is so in love with Olivia’s beauty that he had built a wall of emotion around himself, and Viola was not able to penetrate this wall. More importantly, Viola is not Viola to Orsino; she is Cesario, who, disguised as a man, served Orsino as a eunuch. Although she greatly loves Orsino, Viola cannot openly express this love because she was invisible to him. If Viola does let the truth come out, Orsino will still not be able to love her because he is solely focused on gaining Olivia’s affection. Orsino does not love Viola because he does not see her as a woman in love with him but as a faithful servant, so Viola and her love for Orsino go unnoticed as Orsino delegates Viola to woo Olivia for himself. Viola, wishing she was the one whom Orsino loved, was deeply saddened by this: “I’ll do my best/To woo your lady: yet, a barful strife!/Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (Act I, Scene IV). Orsino made Viola his messenger to court Olivia, but Viola wishes she was the one whom Orsino was courting. Similarly to how Orsino is blinded by his infatuation with Olivia, the boy whom Swift is in love with is blinded by his love

    Read More

  • Viola's Identity In Twelfth Night

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play, Viola’s main struggle is her identity. To make it in this land she has the captain to dress her like a man so that she can walk the streets without raising suspicion. “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid / For such disguise as haply shall become / The form of my intent.” (1.3.51-53) says Viola. Although we were a little different in the way that my appearance didn’t need to be changed, but what I truly was had to be hid. As I grew up, I began to notice that I wasn’t like my fellow peers. I was different. The type of different that would get me bullied and thrown out of the social circle. So I decided to lock this part of me away, and pretend to be someone that I wasn’t. The next few years of my childhood, I struggled. Trying to keep who I am and who I was pretending to be separate. Just like Viola’s feeling for Orsino emerged and had to be hid for the time, I to started having feelings that I could not act upon being in the situation I was in.

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    Viola says directly to Orsino “She sat like patience on a monument, / Smiling at grief” (2.5.126-127) about how painful and austere love can feel when left unacknowledged by both parties. This interaction is crucial. Viola diverts Orsino’s thoughts away from Olivia for her own purposes and asks if he could love another woman if they loved him with as much intensity as he loved Olivia asking “Say that some lady as perhaps there is, / Hath for you as great a pang of heart / As you have for Olivia.

    Read More

  • Gender Identity And Alternative Sexualities In Twelfth Night, By William Shakespeare

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, gender identity and alternative sexualities are highlighted through the depiction of different characters and personalities. In the play, Viola disguises herself as a man thereby raising a merry-go-around of relationships that are actually based on a lie rather than actual fact. Viola attracts the attention of Olivia since she thinks that Viola is a man but even more fascinating is the fact that Orsino is attracted to Viola although he thinks that she is a man. In another twist Viola is attracted to Orsino and has fell in love with him although their love cannot exist since Orsino thinks that Viola is a man.

    Read More

  • Function of Disguise in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you. Disguise is the main plot in Twelfth Night and without it the storyline would not have been possible as disguise was needed in order to create the Orsino, Viola, Olivia love triangle.

    Read More

  • How Does Viola Use Deception In Twelfth Night

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the theme of lies and deceit is consistent throughout. Although some characters deceive more than others, they all play an important role in the deception of the play. There are various occasions in Twelfth Night where lies and deceit are used, such as through Viola's disguise, Sir Toby's fabrications and the pranks played on certain characters.

    Read More

  • How Shakespeare Explores the Theme of Deception and Self-Deception in Twelfth Night

    2530 Words  | 6 Pages

    It is also one of the themes in Twelfth Night that the play revolves around as Shakespeare makes it out to be by presenting the character of ‘Caesario’. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare presents the obvious deception of the play that is Viola. Viola’s role in the play is purely based on the ideas of disguise and deception. She initially deceives everyone by disguising herself as a man, ‘Cesario’, in order to serve Orsino. We can see this from the quote, “For such disguise as haply shall become: The form of my intent”.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Deception in Act One of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare

    397 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night Language Analysis

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    We see this exaggerated one-sided love play out in many forms throughout the play. Viola, for example, says in this line, “I’ll do my best To woo your lady: Aside. Yet a barful strife! Whoe 'er I woo, myself would be his wife.” (1.4.44-46) This tells us that Viola, having just met Orsino a few days ago, has a desire to be wed to Orsino. This kind of desire that Viola has for Orsino can only be conjured up from a fairytale due to the sheer passion and irrationality of falling in love with an acquaintance. Shakespeare also uses diction in deceptive forms. This is evident when Orsino uses the word “violets” (1.1.6) in his speech and to display the deception that is played out in the play. The word “violets” comes from the comes from the latin word viola. Some readers would be deceived, as many might not even notice the hint that Orsino gives in his own speech. We know this deception to be true in the form of Viola when she disguises herself as a eunuch to Orsino in his own courts as evidence in this line, “For such disguise as haply shall become The form of my intent. I 'll serve this duke: Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him”

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finally, Olivia officially tells Viola (Caesario) that she loves him after Viola delivers another message to Olivia. Olivia tells Caesario that she has been in love with him ever since she first saw him, and that she cannot hold it anymore. She cares not about what her society would think about her for falling in love with a person not from her class. The reader knows that Viola is not interested at all in Olivia since she is in love with Orsino. Lady Olivia’s love for Caesario illustrates a universal truth about life that when someone is in love, he/she will do whatever it takes to show the other person that they love them. They are willing to sacrifice everything they’ve got for their love. In this case, Olivia is sacrificing her social status and reputation.

    Read More

  • True Love in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    1979 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night Essay: The Necessity of Cross-dressing

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Viola's male masquerade also calls attention to the more general theme of masking. As Cesario, Viola suggests that things are not always as they seem, that identities are protean, that self-deception rivals self-knowledge and that only Time can untie complicated "knots." Coppelia Kahn points out that the cross-dressing in Twelfth...

    Read More

  • The Perplexity of Love Demonstrated in Twelfth Night

    2184 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Twelfth Night, the character Viola, who cross-dresses as a man named Cesario, is used to show how true love is capable of breaking gender barriers. Viola is an amiable character who has no severe faults. The audience can clearly detect that Viola's love is the purest because unlike Orsino and Olivia, her character's love is not narcissistic and does not jump from one person to the next. In other words, her actions are motivated by deep and abiding passion rather than whimsical choices. Viola's main problem, however, throughout the play is one of identity. Because of her costume, she must be both herself and Cesario. Thi...

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night Essay: Appearance vs. Reality

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Disguises and Mistaken Identity in Twelfth Night

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about Twelfth Night Essay

Open Document