Twelfth Night Gender Roles

Twelfth Night, a play by William Shakespeare, was first performed in 1602 and since has been interpreted and performed by many groups over the years. The PlayMaker’s Repertory Company’s rendition of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night takes the audience back to 1959 to Illyria, a luxurious Mediterranean island resort. The play follows the story of a pair of twins, Viola and Sebastian, that become separated in a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man under the name Cesario to get a job, which leads to a case of mistaken identities and an unconventional love triangle. The PlayMakers Repertory Company’s rendering of Shakespeare’s play, directed by Jerry Ruiz, dismisses the gender binary that restricts individuals in society by showing that

Because Viola (Allison Altman) is disguised as a man, she tries to act masculine too. She does this by taking a manly stance and laughing deeply, especially when talking to Duke Orsino (Myles Bullock). Altman’s acting conveys the theme by showing a woman who not only is dressed like a man, but also is acting like one. Altman’s portrayal of the character Viola reflects on the ambiguity of gender because she is woman that is pretending to be a man and is sort of fooling everyone. Although most of the other characters believe Viola is a man because of the way she acts and is dressed, they still comment on her feminine characteristics. For example, the Duke Orsino comments on Viola/Cesario’s voice that is like “the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound” and is “semblative a woman’s part.” This shows that even though Viola is acting the part of Cesario, a man, by trying to laugh deeply and stand and walk in a more masculine way, there are still parts that come off as feminine, such as her voice, which is shown in the play because Allison Altman does not change her tone of voice for the part of Cesario. This further emphasizes the theme because it shows how one character is both masculine and feminine at the same time, which shows that gender is fluid, breaking the gender binary that you can only be one or the

Viola as her own character and as Cesario another male character is described in the play with both feminine and masculine words. Although Duke Orsino believes Cesario to be an actual man, he comments on how feminine he sometimes appears to be. The words “smooth and rubious” are used to described Cesario’s lips, while “shrill and sound” are used to described his voice. These words are associated with women and how you would describe femininity compared to masculinity. In addition, word such as “lad” and “lion” are used in association with Cesario, which conveys the masculine side of him. The use of words that portray both masculine and feminine connotations when describing or in association with Viola/Cesario illustrates the theme that gender is fluid because masculinity and femininity are not separated they are intertwined into one