ipl-logo

Viola's Disguise In Twelfth Night

929 Words4 Pages

Numerous events and conflicts from Twelfth Night are dependant on Viola’s disguise, as she is caught in between Olivia and Orsino’s affection due to her disguise. In the beginning of the play, she dresses up as a male in order to conceal her identity and to get a job at Orsino’s court. In doing so, she is able to gain more of his trust than she would have if she was a female. By disguising herself as a man Viola is able attract his attention and appreciation to ultimately prove her worth to him as a woman. Moreover, Viola's disguise also allows Orsino to respect her intelligence which causes her to win his love. First, her disguise represents her wit since she is able to adapt in a new environment quickly and excel at her job as well. Not only does this disguise prove Viola’s quick-thinking but also proves some of Orsino’s thoughts. …show more content…

As he states that all lovers are, “Unstaid and skittish in all motions else / Save in the constant image of the creature / That is beloved.” (2.4, 20-22). This demonstrates Orsino’s misunderstanding of the concept of love, as it seems that true love means fickle and erratic according to his definition. Furthermore, in disguise as Cesario, Viola also unintentionally exposes the passionate nature beneath the courtly manner and mourning veil of the “virtuous maid” (1.2, 32), as she causes Olivia to fall in desperate love with Cesario. This shows another aspect of Olivia’s character, and initiates a more intriguing plot. Viola’s persistent disguise allows the audience to understand more about both Orsino’s idea of love and an introduction to Olivia’s true feelings. Through all of these examples, Shakespeare clearly shows that sometimes truth can emerge only through disguise and

Show More
Related

Catalina De Erauso Analysis

752 Words | 4 Pages

While she is on the convent she creates a disguise using the clothing available to her. This not only allows for her to hide her femininity, but it also allows for her to create a masculine façade. Throughout these two decades of living as a man, Catalina cultivates a masculine persona, and by the time this book comes to an end there are no traditional female characteristics obvious in her nature. During her time disguised as a man, De Erauso tests her disguise by going back to the convent where her mother and father are. No one at the convent recognizes her, which in turn boosts her confidence.

Read More

Viola And Sabastian Hastings: Their Identities On The Cornwall Soccer Team

624 Words | 3 Pages

Viola reveals that she was acting as Sabastian while he was away because her soccer team got cut, and she was showing how that girls can be better at soccer than boys. So she revealed that she was a girl by lifting up her shirt and Sabastian revealed that he was a boy by pulling his pants down. But Sabastian did not even know that his sister was acting as him for the whole two weeks while he was away playing in a band. The principle was shocked when Sabastian pulled his pants down and viola lifted her shirt up.

Read More

Twelfth Night Viola's Decisions

1166 Words | 5 Pages

In the Twelfth Night written by William Shakespeare, it demonstrates Viola using her head to make the decision to dress up as a boy and become a part of the Duke Orsino’s court. She states, “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid For such disguise as haply shall become The form of my Intent”

Read More

Examples Of Sexualtiy In The 1600's

1963 Words | 8 Pages

As an alternative Viola decides to live as a man under the protection of

Read More

She's The Man Movie Vs Play Analysis

623 Words | 3 Pages

Viola liking duke Orsino but duke Orsino liked liked Olivia and Olivia liked Sebastian. Nobody seemed to like the right person until the

Read More

Hamlet Critical Lens Analysis

1249 Words | 5 Pages

Olivia Lynch Mrs. Butterfield AP Lit 5/1/16 When you are ready to dive into the vast world of Shakespeare, you can begin by using what is known as a critical lens. The lens that may help you understand the background details of one of Shakespeare’s plays would be the Historical lens. Although there are many different lens that you can use to interpret a story, the Historical Lens is a great lens to dive into to find what really influenced the great ideas of William Shakespeare as he wrote Hamlet including the role gender plays, the comparison of Elizabeth Tudor, and the religious incorporation throughout the play. First, we can take the Historical Lens and dive into the idea of how gender roles were highly represented in Hamlet

Read More

Lady Macbeth Disturbed Character Analysis

1503 Words | 7 Pages

Shakespeare could have been doing this to present her as an outcast, disturbing the audience. Also, the personification of “flower” shows her manipulating him to have a facade of morality but deep down know he is the serpent, presenting her as disturbed because she is seduced by power and uses the worst of people to her advantage. This is because a flower

Read More

Deception And Dishonesty In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

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.

Read More

Social Order Paradox In Twelfth Night

1806 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More

Homosexuality In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

1112 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

Essay On Gender Roles In Twelfth Night

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.

Read More

Twelfth Night Narcissism Analysis

984 Words | 4 Pages

Vanity, one of Twelfth Night 's major concerns, is displayed throughout the play by characters who are plagued with emotional conditions which prevent them from loving others. The lives of Illyria 's Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia, for example, remain circumscribed by vanity and narcissism. Similarly, Olivia 's steward, Malvolio, remains encumbered by vanity and narcissism, while Olivia 's Uncle Toby shows himself to be selfish, and his drinking partner, Sir Andrew, stands as a caricature of vanity. In contrast, Viola, an outsider shipwrecked upon Illyria 's shore, suffers solely from grief for her sea-drowned twin brother. In further contrast, Olivia 's lady-in-waiting, Maria, displays none of these characteristics, but instead operates as the play

Read More

Love At First Love In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

958 Words | 4 Pages

This raises the question over love’s true meaning and whether what Orsino feels is truly “love,” or something else entirely. Shakespeare in his play Twelfth Night uses Orsino’s feelings to prove that feelings perceived at first to be love may actually be lust. The main difference between love and lust has to do with time. Built and

Read More

Viola And Olivia In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

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.

Read More

Theme Of Disguise In Twelfth Night

1043 Words | 5 Pages

In the play Twelfth Night, through the depiction of Orsino’s and Viola’s desires for romantic love, Shakespeare portrays how adjustable and self-delusional human romantic attraction can be, especially when blinded by wants and needs. Viola, who puts on the appearance of a man, makes everybody think she is a male. Her disguise becomes a sexual confusion throughout the play for several characters, creating an odd love triangle where Viola loves Duke Orsino, who loves Oliva, which then on the other hand loves Viola, in disguise as Cesario. On the other hand, Malvolio dreams of marrying his beloved Olivia, and gaining authority over his superiors, like Sir Toby. Shakespeare uses disguise in the play to show several confusions and internal conflicts between the characters, proving how malleable and deluded some human attractions can be.

Read More

More about Viola's Disguise In Twelfth Night

Open Document