Twelfth Night

In the Twelfth Night, disguises and masks are used to add to the comical nature of the play. The disguises that are used in the play conceal the identities of characters as well as show the truth and negative sides of a person. In the Twelfth Night, Shakespeare implies that disguises are a form of deception and can only lead to confusion and negativity. Viola’s disguise as Cesario leads to a confusing love triangle between Viola, Olivia, and Orsino, in which no one knows who loves who. Before Viola puts on her disguise as Cesario we see that she is in love with Orsino, but when she acts as Cesario she is not able to communicate her love for him because she cannot show who she really is. This is the first confusion in the love triangle, Orsino not knowing that Viola loves him. Viola’s first task as Cesario was to tell Olivia how much Orsino loves her, but unitentionally made

One of the first things that the audience knows about Orsino is that he loves Olivia. This is shown to us by characters in the play saying that Orsino is in love with Olivia and Orsino saying it himself. Although he claims to be in love with Olivia, his actions to prove that he loves her say something else. One way that Orsino attempts to show his love is by sending Cesario to declare it to Olivia, “O, then unfold the passion of my love, Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith: It shall become thee well to act my woes”( 1.5.26). Although he says that he is in love with Olivia, Orsino sends other people to declare his love. This shows that he is not truly in love with Olivia and only on the idea of being in love. He disguises his love on the idea of love by being in love with Olivia. This is evil because Orsino is not in love with Olivia, but still declaring it. If Olivia reciprocated the love Orsino claims to feel than she could have become hurt because his feelings toward her are not