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Suspension Of Disbelief In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

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To suspend disbelief means to ignore the implausible factors of a situation in order to be entertained. It can be said that the suspension of disbelief is imperative to enjoy many stories. This holds true with the plot of Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare. Suspension of disbelief plays a role in many scenes of confusion, love at first sight, and mistaken identities. The biggest point that the audience must be able to to ignore to enjoy the play is that Viola was able to perfectly disguise herself as a male, and moreover, as identical to her brother. While they were twins, this would have been extremely difficult, especially in manipulating her voice to sound like his, and hiding her feminine features. As Duke Orsino states, “One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons! A natural perspective, that is and is not!” (Shakespeare. 5.1.226-227). The Duke is backed up by Antonio who claims, “An apple, cleft in two, is not more twin than these two creatures” (5.1.221-222). The fact that both characters are confused is especially noteworthy as they are very close to their respective twin. They should be able to easily tell them apart. …show more content…

While this part of the plot of the play is sad, and the audience is made to feel bad for Malvolio, they must also suspend their disbelief in order for it to be reasonable. Olivia never shows any romantic interest in Malvolio at all, and inherently treats him as the servant that he is. She sends him after Cesario, in whom she does clearly show interest, and yet he still immediately believes she loves him when he receives the forged love letters. Malvolio proudly proclaims, “I do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me; for every reason excites to this, that my lady loves me”

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Both of these quotes put Viola in a difficult situation, as she cannot deny this statement, nor can she easily accept what Orsino says as she isn’t really a ‘guy’. As both text’s gender topics revolve around the idea of the ideology of men superiority, in ‘Twelfth Night’ Orsino declares “Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, more longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, than women’s are.” In this quote, dramatic irony is evident, as Orsino contrarily states that men’s love is more ‘unfirm’ and changes more often than women’s, in which the audience knows Viola’s true identity, parallel with the statement. Opposingly, in ‘She’s the Man’ a coach states, “It’s a scientific fact, girls can’t beat boys! It’s as simple as that.”

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Lastly the movie in the play both reacted very weirdly to viola coming out they didn't freak out like was expected in both Twelfth night and She's the Man. The movie and the play are pretty much based off the same thing love, but the movie started off with soccer, where the play was just mainly about love and the shipwreck. Most parts in the movie and play have the same concept. There is a difference between the way they spoke back then versus how they speak right now. The play was written in more Shakespearean text like it was when the play was written and the movie has more modern language more like how people speak now.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

When Cesario tells Olivia what Orsino told him to say Olivia says she can not love him. After this Olivia falls in love with Cesario and wants her servant Malvolio to go tell him to visit tomorrow.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

In his play, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare has his characters participate in the practice of deception and dishonesty of others - after all, the foundation of Shakespeare’s play resides within a lie. One of the major deceptions in the play is executed by the Illyrian countess, Olivia, as she repeatedly claims to need solitude to mourn her brother’s death in order to avoid Duke Orsino and his obsession towards her. This deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole by adding the thematic message, deception and dishonesty is sometimes the better option when it comes to love.     From the beginning of the play, Olivia is introduced as the grieving countess that has recently lost a brother.

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Malvolio’s delusional dream of Olivia falling in love with him is not a romantic one but a beneficial one. Malvolio sees Olivia as a vehicle to carry him towards power and privilege and thus move up the social ladder. He yearns to transcend and transgress through the boundaries that are in place. Malvolio, in turn, collides with the social limits, ‘from his transgression of sumptuary codes to class intermarriage’ (Selden, 1989, 168). Shakespeare is evidently elaborating what could happen if one tried to transgress in society.

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662 Words | 3 Pages

He becomes comic but by accident.” (On the character of Malvolio). This is part of the comedy of it. Going back to the train wreck analogy, we know that there is nothing that can prevent what is about to happen. Malvolio is head over heels for Olivia, almost to the point where it’s creepy.

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“Suspension of disbelief” is an essential feature of theatre. Is it essential in other areas of knowledge? Develop your answer with reference to two areas of knowledge. Suspension of disbelief is a concept that resides within every individual however not everyone is aware of its presence. In theater, the concept refers to the suspension of realism that allows one to emerge in pretend-reality in order to enjoy the story.

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1845 Words | 8 Pages

When Olivia is first entertained by the Fool, she recognizes that “[Malvolio] [is] sick of self-love,” revealing Malvolio’s arrogance (Twelfth Night 1.5, 89-92). This arrogance is linked to his Christian self-righteousness when Maria describes him as “a puritan...an affectioned ass…[that] persuaded of himself,...that it is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him, (TN 2.3, 145-150). Thus, Maria identifies that Malvolio’s self-love is tied up in his piousness, and that he uses his moral superiority as justification for his high opinion of himself. Malvolio takes this pride and sense of superiority further by desiring to be “Count Malvolio,” and imagining Sir Toby “curts[ying]” to him, indicating not only his desire for prestige and power, but his belief that Sir Toby is physically lower than himself because of his “drunkenness,”(TN 2.5, 34, 60-73). Malvolio thus uses his Puritanism as fuel for his actions and desires, imagining himself to be morally superior to Sir Toby and therefore more entitled to a higher social position.

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In Act 1, Valentine goes to visit Viola, but is denied entrance. However he recieves word that Olivia will not show her face to anyone for the preceeding 7 years, in memory of her brother who passed away. Duke Orsino doesn't let this stop him, if anything it urges him on like a challenge, he say “Oh, if she loves her brother this much, think how she'll love me when I finally win her over and make her forget all her other attachments! Her mind and heart will be ruled by one man alone-me!” This statement clearly states Orsino's cockiness and self pride, also shows how he sees Olivia has “meat” or “ a game.”

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So far in this play we have met many interesting characters and for the most part, familiarized ourselves with them. Viola, however, is somewhat arduous to understand. She is Viola and Cesario at the same time and it can be tough to keep up with which personality she is expressing. Her decision to change her life and disguise herself as a boy was quite radical and she seems to be more active than passive. At times throughout the play Viola has been quite passive, but overall I believe she is more of an active character.

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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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383 Words | 2 Pages

To avoid critique Shakespeare asks for the audience to disregard the provocative themes, and just enjoy the show. Robin says that if you "[are] offended [than you should] think that ... you have but slumbered" (5.1.440-44). To avoid backlash, Shakespeare tries to cover his tracks. He urges the audience to take the play as seriously as they would take a dream. Similarly, Robin asks for the audiences "hands" so that "[he] can make amends" (5.1.454-55).

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713 Words | 3 Pages

For a woman to show interests in current affairs, express opinions, write literature was unladylike. Viola, fending for herself, in distant land, disguises herself as a boy named Cesario. Cross-dressing, in Elizabethan society, was seen as highly immoral. Viola 's male disguise “allows her to escape the confinement of a single perspective and a single voice by momentarily unfixing sexual stereotypes (184)”(Melchoir). Furthermore, Viola’s situation in Twelfth Night is not typical of an Elizabethan woman because she proves herself to be capable and intelligent.

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1336 Words | 6 Pages

.could feel . . . as painful,” (Smith 1) show that Orsino goes through a great struggle with his love affair with Olivia, who blatantly ignores him. Smith continues discussing the deep emotional connection to courtly love with the lines, “replies that she knows “too well what love women to men may owe. / In faith, they are as true of heart as we” (2.4.105–6).

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851 Words | 4 Pages

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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