ipl-logo

What Is Twelfth Night Mistaken Identity

1409 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary analysis of twelfth night

Andre Gide once said, “It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not.” This quote relates to the “Twelfth Night” because of how the characters think that their true love will not love them for who they are. The “Twelfth Night,” by William Shakespeare, is focusing on the concept of mistaken identity and uncertainty of gender. It was written in 1601–1602, the main purpose of the “Twelfth Night” was to create excitement for the upcoming Christmas feeling. Throughout this story the characters put on a fake life to try to create true love. Therefore, all that was created was fake love and anger. As the story continues, readers begin to see how love will be spread throughout the character 's “perfect match,” …show more content…

Mistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendant, when in fact the person seen by the witness was someone else(Wikipedia). This is huge in the “Twelfth Night” due to the fact that all the characters are fearful to show their true colors. The characters are all afraid to be hurt by their real true love, so the characters try to create true love that is not real;only by looks however. For example, Olivia thinks Sebastian is Cesario and marries him(The Comedies of William Shakespeare, Kathleen Kuiper). Another reason characters pretended to be someone they were not is because they are protecting their self from a potentially harmful situation. Viola does this to protect her twin brother as she disguise as him as she puts on the guy type clothes(The Comedies of William Shakespeare, Kathleen Kuiper). Also, characters pretended to be someone they are not to find out hidden secrets about people, that they wouldn’t have known otherwise. In the story this is happened when, Sebastian pretends to be Cesario in front of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew(The Comedies of William Shakespeare, Kathleen Kuiper). Sebastian did this to find out the two servants true perception of him. If the characters would have know who was really “under the mask”, they would have found their real true love, and not be

Show More
Related
588 Words | 3 Pages

The word deceit means to take action or practice deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. In the novel Much Ado About Nothing, a theme of deceit is constantly present, and appears in many different forms. Deceit is used not only for wicked purposes, but mainly for good intentions. In Shakespeare's novel deception is used to initiate and continue the play's plot, by using the masking of characters, faking death and various other forms of deception to demonstrate how true deception can be in our lives. Deception can often be used to mask a certain identity for a particular reason.

Read More
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
600 Words | 3 Pages

Disguises add mischief and mystery to the play. Will they get caught? Have they been found out and no one has told yet? Does anyone actually believe they are who they say they are or are they just going along with it? This is an instance where the comedy is actually trying to be funny and it works.

Read More
1505 Words | 7 Pages

There is some speculation of women pretending to be men in these times to play female characters as that was the only way they could be on stage. This, however, can’t be proven. The perception in society was that the theater was better suited for men. The roles of women in English drama were all roles conceived by men, because all the ancient playwrights were men. It is a testament to how great theater of the time was that it became so popular with men speaking love soliloquies to each other.

Read More
1229 Words | 5 Pages

Shakespeare’s usage of honesty within this particular scene, establishes the deconstruction of illusions within human relationships in order to complete a story. As the scene begins, in line 52, the women are wearing masks to conceal their identities from the men. This physical deceit is used to keep the scheme hidden from Claudio. However, in certain views, this seems to be an intelligent and loving gesture, in

Read More
1534 Words | 7 Pages

Love can cause the happiness of the people who receive it, it strengthens and brings out sides of us that we were too scared to embrace, and it causes people to make sacrifices for the benefit of others. Love in this novel was the very core of optimism for many characters. A character who gained the most out of the love of others

Read More
1112 Words | 5 Pages

William Shakespeare’s works, written primarily from the late eighteen hundreds to the very early sixteen hundreds, have long been the subject of academic debates and analysis. Potent with double entendres, metaphors, and social commentary, it is easy to apply queer theory to Shakespeare’s plays, notably Twelfth Night, written in 1601. Though Twelfth Night’s ending pushes its characters into traditional heterosexual romances and binary gender roles to satisfy the genre and placate conservative Elizabethan audiences, the characters in the comedy defy tradition by exploring homosexual love and expression of gender. The most apparent homosexual themes are present in the relationship between Antonio and Sebastian.

Read More
1077 Words | 5 Pages

One of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, Twelfth Night, is full of romance and comedy. It tells the tale of twins, Sebastian and Viola, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola assumes that Sebastian is dead and disguises himself as a man called Cesario. He finds work as a page in the house of Duke Orsino and becomes one or Orsino’s favorites. Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia, so he sends Cesario to call upon her.

Read More
858 Words | 4 Pages

The opening scene in act one of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is an important moment in the reading of the play because it directs the audience in how to interpret the themes and characters that are being presented. The themes of self knowledge, romantic love, and realism and the artificial are introduced in this passage to advise us of their deceptive and sometimes unstable nature as they reveal themselves during the course of the play. The characters in this passage, Duke Orsino and Olivia primarily, are also introduced in such a way that the audience will have expectations and predispositions toward them as the play progresses. The language Duke Orsino uses in this scene to describe his romantic love and devotion for Olivia attempts to express his passionate affections, but rather invalidates and discredits his feelings

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

Most people live their lives based on assumptions made yet, we should be wiser and figure out the true intentions behind all these masks people wear. William Shakespeare explores this idea in Hamlet, a play about the son of the king of Denmark who was murdered by his own brother, Claudius, who then married his brother 's wife, only a month after the murder and for this reason he’s not only the uncle but, also the stepfather of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet will pretend to be crazy in order to discover the truth and revenge his father 's death. Because the characters from the play appear to be one thing while in reality they’re a whole different person, it seems that Shakespeare is arguing that we should be extremely cautious of people because they tend to wear facade and not show their authentic selves to others. Hamlet spoke to a ghost who claims to be his father 's spirit; he did consider the possibility of it being the devil, however he chose to believe the ghost was his father.

Read More
958 Words | 4 Pages

Despite popular opinion, love at first sight does not exist. The idea of “love” is widely misinterpreted as a mere attraction between two individuals. However, many do not understand that love goes much further than this, and what follows is a common misconception between love and lust. Shakespeare in his 17th century play Twelfth Night delves deeper into this idea of love. He presents the character Duke Orsino who appear to be infatuated and love-sick for the Countess Olivia, a woman with which he knows little about.

Read More
1209 Words | 5 Pages

Shakespeare’s renowned play Twelfth Night centers around love, both in platonic and romantic instances. Characters display elements of self, brotherly, amorous, and friendly love towards one another; however, of the relationships portrayed, the strongest ones are those between men. In contrast, relationships between men and women lack depth and sincerity due to the lapse of communication between the opposing genders. Men are able to express their feelings to one another more freely, which gives their bonds strength that heterosexual relationships fail to display.

Read More
1851 Words | 8 Pages

Thus, there are ways that Viola and Olivia both reserve information about themselves while also remaining authentic to an extent. Aside from mere personality, though, Olivia as well as Viola can be distinguished from other characters in Twelfth Night not just by their genders, but also by their attempts at isolating themselves from society. Olivia, according to Valentine, vows “till seven years’ heat,/ Shall not behold her face at ample view” (1.1.25-26). This is due to her brother’s death.

Read More
453 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night and tragedy King Lear are similar in many regards. The dominate male character in each play are similar in character function, allowing them to easily be compared to each other. The motif of disguise and money serves as an important function in how relationships between characters form. The theme of love shed lights on the characters’ similar personalities. King Lear and Orsino are similar in that they both have unpredictable tempers that quickly change.

Read More
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 What Is Twelfth Night Mistaken Identity

Related Topics

Open Document