How Does Shakespeare Explore The Nature Of Identity And Gender

How neatly can categories be distinguished from each other when it comes to gender and sexuality? Formulating such a question not just explores the nature of ‘gender’ and ‘sexuality’, but also leads to doubt when it comes to the concept of identity itself—how does one, for example, describe himself or herself, if they do not know for certain whether they are a ‘he’, or a ‘she’? The need to know one’s ‘self’, therefore, seems to be a compulsion to work out which category the ‘self’ belongs to—a compulsion, in a way, to draw boundaries between what ‘I’ am, and what ‘I’ am not. Orsino’s exclamations at the appearance of Viola/Cesario and Sebastian together on stage allow us to explore the nature of these boundaries—if they exist at all—and, therefore,

Both Viola (as Cesario) and Sebastian, as Orsino aptly puts it, have the same physical appearance, the same “voice”, and even dress in the “same habits” (5.1.226-227) (Shakespeare). In addition, both seem to be seamlessly substituted for the other by the characters around them—a seamlessness which may, indeed, be an illusion (a “natural perspective”, so to say), since these occurrences of ‘mistaken identities’ turn out to result in real danger for Viola/Sebastian, and a break in the relationship between Sebastian and Antonio. It is the substitution of Cesario by Sebastian, however, that calls into question the distinction between these two “persons”. Olivia seeks to marry Cesario, but is mistaken, and therefore ends up in a betrothal to Sebastian. Despite the fact that she, for most of the play, appears to care for no man other than Cesario, Olivia seems to easily transfer those feelings to Sebastian even after it is revealed that Olivia’s betrothed is not Cesario, as if the relationship between her and Sebastian is in continuity with her and Cesario’s interactions. Viola, meanwhile, is now called “sister” by Olivia, along with an assertion that Viola is a “she” (5.1.344). This ease with which Sebastian, in a sense, becomes Cesario, and vice-versa, elucidates an uncertainty when it comes to what makes “two persons”, two separate and different individuals, if almost everything

If the actor and the character are to be seen as “two persons”, and if the actor’s identity is unique to himself, then it would seem that two persons inhabit the same face, voice, and clothing at one point in time. Is Cesario, then, fictional at all? Further, if the identities of Viola and Cesario exist as separate “persons”, then is unity the illusion? What distinguishes Viola’s desires from that of Cesario? It would appear, in this context, that Viola/Cesario’s desire for Orsino, which may seem to be completely heterosexual at first glance, in fact occupies both homoerotic and heterosexual categories of desire, as his feelings seem to be for both Viola and Cesario, and his desires are expressed by the interaction of two male