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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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