How Does Shakespeare Use Gender In Twelfth Night

I honestly don’t believe that one’s opinion on same-sex couples has any importance when it comes to transvestite versus traditional role-play on stage. An author or director’s utmost goal is to successfully present his/her work in a way that makes the audience members feel as if they are apart of the show like they were one of the characters themselves. In other words, it is all about believability. If the play calls for a young female character then I am more likely to follow along when a female actor is playing that role. On the contrary, I would be distracted focusing on the male actor trying to portray a female role. In all versions of Twelfth Night, however, the roles are so convoluted that it is difficult to say which would be more believable: Viola/Cesario played by a female actress or male actor. For example, in Nunn’s film, the scene where Orsino is in the tub and asks young Cesario to help him bathe, it wouldn’t make any difference in believability whether the actor was male or female since our minds have already had to entertain the thought of Viola representing both a man and a woman. Others may disagree and say that the sex of the actor/actresses would not have an effect on their acceptance of the play. As previously stated, it is entirely a personal matter.

Society cannot describe or expound upon the significance of the identity of gender of oneself because the question has no finite and/or absolute answer due to the ever-changing variables in common ideology and thinking. The variables just mentioned are in correspondence to the time and amount of influence outside opinions have on oneself and his/her opinion about the matter. The fact remains that the subjective views of one’s personal beliefs equates to nothing in the presence of contravening, biased thinking of the society. People often tend to follow. It is the nature of our species to follow, for general acceptance among peers is the true catalyst of all decisions. In modern society, many new perspectives have been introduced such as gay and lesbian relations, or the belief in one’s gender to be opposite of their physical appearance. “In examining how female eroticism begins to assume discursive shape and currency on the early modern stage, I argue here that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night offers an overlooked opportunity to witness the dynamics by which a language of female-female desire emerges from the materials of conventional heteroerotic discourses already in circulation,” (Ake 375). The truth lies solely with the person who ponders the question. This is what many literary works attempt to convey, yet few stand prevalent. Shakespeare creates the lucid, romantic comedy Twelfth Night in order to convey the lack of certitude in gender identity of the self, while

Viola’s first words that lay out her gender defying scheme are “Conceal me what I am and be my aid for sure a disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent” (Shakespeare 1.2.53-56). Throughout Twelfth Night Shakespeare plays with the idea of gender and its role in society. The audience sees Orsino, the duke, trip over his words in his misogynistic contradictions of his opinions on women and their ability to love. Surprisingly, Viola also shares in such contradictions. However she is far from being misogynistic in modern terms. Viola’s outward duality is Shakespeare’s means of contrasting her with Orsino and reinforcing her disguise. (maybe: commenting on the nature of disguises)

Throughout the film, Madden introduces a number of conflicting perspectives that only further emphasise the hindrance women faced from becoming “successful in a man’s world.” The foremost conflicting perspective is that of Viola’s versus societal norms, as Viola’s longing to be an actor culminated when she was unable to perform in Shakespeare’s play due to legal obligations that meant only men could appear on stage as actors. Madden blatantly emphasises this through the use of Viola’s nurse stating “Playhouses are not for well-born ladies,” thereby explicitly reinforcing the inequitable level of gender inequality in the 15th century. Furthermore, another conflicting perspective is that of Viola’s father, Sir Robert De Lesseps, versus Viola,

In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare contradicts vapid stereotypes about gender. Through Viola’s disguise as Cesario, he is able to prove that a woman is able to fulfill a man 's role in society. She is able to fool the other characters and is even able to woo another woman. This reinforces ideas about how invalid the rules and regulations society has made since Viola easily broke through them. Later on in the story, Sir Andrew challenges Viola to a duel. Viola expects Sir Andrew to be a great fighter, and he expects the same from her. This creates a comedic situation since they both are too afraid of each other to engage in the fight. (3.4, 223-298)

All throughout Illyria, there is romance, passion, royalty, and an immense amount of gender stereotypes. William Shakespeare imagines the kingdom of Illyria to have very traditional norms for both women and men in his play Twelfth Night. In Scene 2 of Act 1, Viola, recently rescued from a shipwreck, hears about a duke named Orsino and instantly comes up with a plan to get closer to him. Her plan is to disguise herself as a boy who she will name Cesario and become one of Orsino's’ attendants. Right off the bat, we begin to see gender stereotypes. Why must Viola become a man in order to work for the duke? Elizabethan society “molded women into the form of the dutiful wife and mother” (Elizabethan Women). Viola could not have served duke Orsino as a woman because as a woman she was expected to work at home and be either a “dutiful wife [or a] mother”. Scene two prepares the audience for the idea of gender throughout the rest of the play. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is very traditional play due to its ideas of gender stereotypes in Elizabethan society.

Gender roles have changed drastically throughout history, especially when looking at the Elizabethan era. During this era in England, women were hardly given any important roles in society and mostly worked around the house. As the Olivet Nazarene University stated, “Roles of authority were reserved for men, and the general expectation of a middle to lower class woman was to submit.” This was also true for the theatre during the time. In the play Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses Viola to disprove the gender roles that existed in Elizabethan society, which is demonstrated by her ability to successfully work and pretend as a man, this disproves gender roles by showing that she as a woman could do what men can; the film

She becomes “Cesario” and is Orsino’s servant. By acting as a male, she is breaking the traditional gender role of women during the Elizabethan period. During this time, women were supposed to wear a dress, be pure, gentle, and were seen as inferior to men. In Act 2, Viola blames Olivia’s desire for Cesario on women’s frailty by saying, “Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we, for such as we are made of, such we be” (31-32). She is saying this because of the idea that women are emotionally and physically frail because of what they are made of, their anatomy. Duke Orsino then contributes to this idea by adding his opinion, “There is no woman’s sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion as love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart so big, to hold so much, they lack retention” (103-106). Orsino is claiming that women are incapable of love because their bodies are too weak and small to do so. This constant theme of women being frail and weak because of the way “their bodies are made” is seen throughout this entire play. Viola eventually has enough and defends women by saying, “Too well what love women to men may owe. In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man as it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should be your lordship” (116-120). She is defending all women by

In Twelfth Night, the protagonist of the story, Viola, is displayed as a rational, sacrificial, sincere, strong, witty woman, who disguises herself as a man, to become a faithful attendant of Orsino. Viola is one with sacrificial and patient love, willingly loving Orsino, and attending to his every need. Orsino, on the other hand, is shown as an emotional man, who has superficial and transient love for Olivia. This love is very abruptly shifted to Viola at the end of the play, when Viola reveals her true identity. Through this contrast of these two individuals, we can see that Shakespeare makes a distinct different between genders, and allows to draw a contrast between characters to think deeper into their characters and purpose in the story, beyond their surface appearances.

In Twelfth Night, a myriad of relationships are created and elaborated. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this play is how each of these connections develop while being intertwined with one another. The relationship between Viola and Olivia grows from a small fascination to an intense and burning desire over the course of the play. This creates a significant effect of confusion, frustration, and satisfaction on the other characters as they struggle to unwind the complexities of their relationships to each female lead.

Viola’s choice to disguise herself as a man creates the largest gender imbalance throughout the play. Although there is not a major imbalance between the genders throughout the whole play, there are a times where the gender imbalance of the time period does stand out. The inequality between men and women is first explored when Viola decides to disguise herself as a man. The impetus for her decision was that as a man she could make it further than as a woman. She knew that as a woman she would stay a maid and would not advance in social class, whereas disguised as a man she could move up in social status more easily. The idea that men can move up in social class more easily than women plays into gender roles then and now. This idea proves that genders were not completely equal, though there are many ways throughout the play where they do seem to balance each other. One of the areas in the play where the gender roles are relatively steady is the love between characters.

Cross-dressing in ‘Twelfth Night’ makes Viola 's gender identity ambiguous, Viola is both a man and a woman, possessing both masculinity and femininity, therefore cross-dressing helps to break down renaissance gender stereotypes and eventually, the patriarchy. The 'original practice ' of ‘Twelfth Night’ was reconstructed in a 2012 globe production which replicated the way in which the play would 've been enacted in the Elizabethan era, by having an all-male cast. This added to the madness of the

Identity and Feminism: Themes such as Gender identity are illustrated in Shakespeare’s plays through the use of costuming and role playing. In texts like “Twelfth Night”, Shakespeare uses a female character named Viola who is the noblewoman disguised as a boy named Cesario, this creates a comedic gender exchange situation where the role reversal goes wrong and leads to mistaken

Two of Shakespeare’s works, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, both have a parallel plot structure which involves a woman disguising herself as a man in order to accomplish some goal. In the former, Portia disguises herself as a lawyer so as to enter the Duke’s court and help her husband’s friend, Antonio, avoid having a pound of his flesh cut off. In the latter, Viola disguises herself as Cesario so she can enter Duke Orsino’s court and work as a page. This parallel structure is further strengthened by the fact that in both plays, the woman in disguise has to perform some task that (during Shakespeare’s time) was usually performed by a man. Portia has to defend her husband’s friend, Antonio, in court, while Viola has to engage in a sword fight with Sir Andrew. Despite the many similarities, there is a subtle difference: Portia seems much more confident in her role as a man when compared to Viola. We see when Portia is effective and confident as a lawyer but Viola is reluctant to spar with Sir Andrew in a sword fight, and also when she is weary that the Fool has caught on to her disguise. This difference reflects the theme of challenging prejudice in The Merchant of Venice, and also reflect the theme of highlighting gender difference in Twelfth Night, which reveals a lot about both plays as a whole.

Shakespeare and the members of the Elizabethan era would be appalled at the freedoms women experience today.  The docility of Elizabethan women is almost a forgotten way of life. What we see throughout Shakespeare’s plays is an insight into the female character as perceived by Elizabethan culture.  Shakespeare’s female characters reflect the Elizabethan era’s image of women; they were to be virtuous and obedient and those that were not were portrayed as undesirable and even evil.