She’s the Man is no exception; one of the main similarities that the movie has with the play is the name of the characters. The Duke of Illyria, Orsino in Twelfth Night is simply Duke Orsino is She’s the Man. Duke being his first name and Orsino being his last name. Viola and Sebastian are twins in the play and are also twins in the movie, having the same name and the same relation.
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”
In Twelfth Night, Malvolio plays the important role of the victim, and it is only through this role that he experiences and understands the subtleties and nuances of sanity. His encounter with Sir Topas presents sanity from a different angle, highlighting the role of perspective in the determination of madness, while also shedding light on the contradictions between rationality and reality. Sir Topas shows Malvolio through their encounter the inherent futility in trying to prove his sanity to others. Although Malvolio seemingly appears to have a tragic ending, we find that he exits the play with a newfound lucidness and control that he previously was missing.
In the play a Twelfth Night Shakespeare writes about a girl who pretends to be a boy after being shipwrecked and thinking her brother was dead. This theme is also apparent in the movie She’s the man. Viola is a girl who pretends to be her brother so that she play soccer for another school. This movie draws in a hilarious comedy as Viola tries to room with a male while being a female.
In the 17th century romantic comedy Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses the elements of deception to reveal that trust can diminish when individuals lie, thereby, deception can hurt the relationships of once close companions. Deception is a device that can only cause negative effects. Viola uses deception while hiding her identity: “conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent.” (I.ii.56-58). Viola wishes to be disguised as a man so she can work for Orsino’s court.
The theme of deception is a highly notable theme in both ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘The Rivals’. There are a number of different deceptions used in both plays. The characters in ‘Twelfth Night’ constantly disguise themselves or play parts in order to trick and deceive those around them. One of the most notable deceits within ‘Twelfth Night’ is Viola disguising herself as page boy Cesario and Maria and Sir Toby playing their trick on Malvolio. The premise of conflict between the characters in ‘The Rivals stems from the beginning due to numerous deceits.
England and France in the 1600s were a time of renewal and change for the theatre. It was a time where religion and government were battling for control of their respected countries. This time period was also a time for new discoveries such as the exploration of the New World, science and technological innovations, city growth, and the beginning of mercantile economy (book). During this time in history, two of the most legendary playwrights, William Shakespeare and Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, also known as Molière, were introducing to the world their timeless plays. Two of their greatest comedic plays were Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, by William Shakespeare, and Tartuffe, by Molière.
Malvolio in Twelfth Night plays a pivotal role in examining the nuances of sanity. His encounter with Sir Topas, reinforces the ideas of delusions, while bringing to light the contradictions between the perceptions of sanity versus the reality of it. Although Malvolio seemingly appears to have a tragic ending, we find that he exits the play with something far more valuable than he originally had anticipated. The encounter between Malvolio and Sir Topas not only defines the turning point for Malvolio in the play, but also sheds some light on the difference between, madness and sanity.
Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about a very complicated love triangle. A nobleman, Orsino, has deep feelings for Lady Olivia; however, the two cannot be together because Olivia is mourning the death of her brother and refuses to entertain the idea of a marriage proposal. During this time of mourning, a ship, containing a woman named Viola, wrecks on the coast due to a storm. Viola is now alone in a foreign land, where she must now learn to live and decide what type of work she is capable of doing. Viola hears about Orsino’s love for Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could work in Olivia’s home; however, Olivia refuses to converse with strangers and Viola decides that she cannot work for her.
Twelfth Night seems to present gender as a mask to be worn and taken off at will, a fluid concept that changes to suit one’s needs and emotions. By playing Cesario, Viola partly becomes this version of herself, so Olivia, by loving Cesario, has feelings for Viola by extension. When Sebastian makes his reveal, Olivia marries him for two reasons. The first is an external piece of reasoning, being that in Elizabethan comedies such as this, heterosexual pairings must happen for the play to follow the fairly strict expectations of a comedy. The second falls to Sebastian’s demeanor.
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
There are a lot of conflicts and misunderstanding happening around Orsino, Olivia, and Viola, because Shakespeare breaks the boundaries of society, and limitation of sex, and he keeps developing the confusions that the ambiguous gender roles can lead to. Usually, men are described as very loyal to their emotions, but in the play Twelfth Night, their image is reversed and their mind can be changed very easily. As soon as Orsino realizes that Cesario is actually a woman, Viola, he agrees to marry her immediately. Although before then, he was fully in love with another woman.
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.
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.
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.
