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Gender Themes In Twelfth Night

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Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare Twelfth Night is one of the best literary works of William Shakespeare. It is one of the most popular romantic comedies written in 1600 and still recognized today. The play examines the themes of love, gender roles, and sexuality. It is about stranded Viola who pretends to be a man, Cesario. The drama starts to unfold when ‘Cesario, ' Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who is in love with Olivia. Orsino does not know that Viola is a woman and sends her to persuade Olivia on his behalf. The play gets even more interesting when Olivia falls for Cesario, who is Viola. The play also focuses on the suffering he goes through in the hands of his associate servants. Many literary critics today are interested in the twist of the plot and subplot and also the themes of affection, sexuality, and gender roles. Twelfth Night, through its comedy, presents life as …show more content…

Due to the play 's intriguing plot and themes, many film directors, for example, Trevor Nunn, have opted to stage it in theaters. Most of the staged versions of Twelfth Night emphasize the themes of sexuality and gender issues (Traub 14). Some of the movies have been recommended for efficiently bringing out the themes while others have been criticized for creating other characters, not in Shakespeare 's context. Other critics also argue that some film directors do not convey the emotional aspects of the play and the ultimate resolution (Berry 36). Twelfth Night is, therefore, better read than when staged. Issues pertaining gender identity and roles are also another point of interest by critics. For instance, Viola helps bring out the subject of mistaken gender identity when she disguises herself as Cesario. Her character is influenced by the time 's gender roles where female roles were played by men. Viola assumes a male identity to defend her from threats, especially sexual threats. Viola 's disguise is a representation of the renaissance England society and culture

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William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night has been made into several film versions. The versions include the Globe Theatre version directed by Tim Carroll in 2012. Another version by Trevor Nunn was made in 1996, and a third version called She’s The Man made in 2006 was directed by Andy Fickman. A comparison of the media skills, characters, and the setting in the various versions of Twelfth Night and She’s The Man shows that

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We’ve all heard about Shakespeare, we’ve all learned and read something about Shakespeare, but do you know how many movies are based on a Shakespeare play? According to Stephen Follows Film Data and education there are 525 films based on Shakespeare plays, 294 of those are full adaptations of Shakespeare plays, Hamlet being the most adapted play. One of these 525 films is She’s The Man, which is based on the play Twelfth Night. We all know that these movies are a little different then it’s original play, but do we know which are the differences and similarities?

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Melisa Pierre-Louis Professor Brett English 10 December 2nd, 2016 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Annotated essay. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedy that contains a lot of aspects. They communicate in one way or another to the audience, depending on how we (the audience) analyze what Shakespeare is trying to convey.

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In the play viola uses the name Cesaro, but in the movie she uses her brother's name Sebastian. In the play viola didn't really switch from viola to Cesario, she just stayed as Cesario, but in the movie viola switched from Sebastian to viola a lot. In both Twelfth night and she's the man in the end Duke Orsino and viola fall in love. Olivia and Sebastian also fall in love at the end. In the middle of the play and the movie it was still a crazy love mess.

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522 Words | 3 Pages

In the play a Twelfth Night Shakespeare writes about a girl who pretends to be a boy after being shipwrecked and thinking her brother was dead. This theme is also apparent in the movie She’s the man. Viola is a girl who pretends to be her brother so that she play soccer for another school. This movie draws in a hilarious comedy as Viola tries to room with a male while being a female.

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Viola’s aspirations are not to go against the social order as she is not a real servant but the play allows her to transgress and glide through the class mobility. She epitomizes social fluidity, transgressing the boundaries of specific roles in society. However her flexibility is asserted on her higher social status with which she begins the play. This once again proves that although the boundaries can be broken, only the elite bourgeoisie can truly permeate them completely. Malvolio remains ‘mad’ for admitting his love while Viola moves upwards to gain marriage.

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939 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Olivia falls in love with Cesario (Viola). The play says, “She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion/ Invites me in this churlish messenger./ None of my lord 's ring! why, he sent her none./ I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis,/ Poor lady, she were better love a dream/” (Act II Scene ii).

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1505 Words | 7 Pages

Ancient plays throughout different cultures in history contained all male cast, failing to even cast women as they were deemed inferior. Tradition held that the culture in western societies restricted women’s roles. Even as female characters were indeed written in certain plays, the role were portrayed by a male. They regarded women being able to portray these roles as dangerous and that having men play them “neutralized” the danger it possessed. The Greek’s and the Roman’s both held these views making it impossible for women to be on stage.

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150 Words | 1 Pages

England and France in the 1600s were a time of renewal and change for the theatre. It was a time where religion and government were battling for control of their respected countries. This time period was also a time for new discoveries such as the exploration of the New World, science and technological innovations, city growth, and the beginning of mercantile economy (book). During this time in history, two of the most legendary playwrights, William Shakespeare and Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known as Molière, were introducing to the world their timeless plays. Two of their greatest comedic plays were Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, by William Shakespeare, and Tartuffe, by Molière.

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The question of why Olivia, after dramatically declaring her affections for Cesario, would so quickly jump to Sebastian after finding Viola’s true identity, is likely answered by the societal norms of the Elizabethan era. Cesario and Viola are two halves of one whole; by loving Cesario, Olivia loves Viola too. Upon meeting “him,” Olivia says “Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit/ Do give thee five-fold blazon” (1.5.297-298). She is attracted not just to Cesario’s mannerisms, but to Viola’s beauty, which shines through her male bravado. The “actions and spirit” which Olivia refers to are Viola’s ability to converse with Olivia woman-to-woman, unbeknownst to the countess.

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252 Words | 2 Pages

In Elizabethan theatre all the characters were played by men, also the female ones, so the fact that two male actors woo each other as women, make the situation comical and allows the author to introduce the question of homosexuality. Despite same sex love was not acceptable in Shakespeare’s time, the male character of Cesario work as a shield to protect the characters in the play and the audience from a direct deal with this taboo topic. Olivia is in love with Cesario but it seems that she attracted by feminine characteristics: “Oh what a deal of scorn looks beautiful in the contempt and anger of lips!”

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1209 Words | 5 Pages

The first instance which supports the notion that a lapse of communication is responsible for the unsuccessful nature of heterosexual relationships is the case of Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia’s relationship. Both start the play preoccupied with their own concerns, Orsino is worried about finding love, specifically with Olivia, meanwhile she is busy mourning the death of her brother by refusing to marry anyone for seven years. However, it is Orsino’s obsession with seeking love and how he goes about pursuing Olivia that best exemplifies the problematic nature of a male and female’s relationship. Orsino opened the play by saying of love, “Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken and so die” (1.1.1-3), essentially saying that he so badly craves the feeling being in love gives him, that he would like in so great a quantity that it would end his life.

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1851 Words | 8 Pages

In Twelfth Night, Viola and Olivia are the central characters to the play’s plot. Each are young women that take approaches to dealing with the people around them, which are mainly men. There is much trickery that goes on in Twelfth Night, but the ending is for the most part happy. Viola marries Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, but the events leading up to this are more or less chaotic. Ultimately, I argue that while Olivia uses her higher social status in order to maintain control of herself and others, Viola resorts to trickery in order to bring about her desires.

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1205 Words | 5 Pages

Today, men and women have equal rights, but that does not mean life has always been simple for both genders. When Shakespeare writes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are roles, behaviors, and expectations for the dominant men and submissive women. This literature portrays the major changes in the lives of both sexes throughout the years, which shows the advances women gain with time. The gender issue of men being dominant and women being submissive used in the drama, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shows the differences in the roles, behaviors, and expectations appropriate for each gender and is an example of an outdated stereotype.

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1043 Words | 5 Pages

Shakespeare uses Viola (Cesario) as an example of a mechanism that can throw internal conflicts into temporary chaos. Viola willingly faces whatever comes in her way. Her love for Duke Orsino seems too constant and true, unlike the other characters in the play. The temporary chaos of the play is when Viola falls in love with Orsino, who falls in love with Olivia, who on the other hand falls in love with Viola’s disguise, Cesario. This love triangle is very complicated as none of them realize that Cesario is a woman, making this an internal conflict for Viola, as she cannot ‘truly’ love whom she wants.

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