A center motif in Twelfth Night, Is Identity and Mistaken Identity(Deceived identity). Shakespeare relays use of mistaken identities to show people are not always what they are initially perceived to look like (that is if you are an attractive man, it doesn’t mean you are careful or sensitive or helpful in situations, but some people are perceived as being handsome--trustworthy--helpful). Viola shows this point by discussing the fantasy of appearances in the first scene of Twelfth Night, when we first meet her/hear from her/read her first lines. In act i, scene ii, Viola reflects that the character of the sea captain who rescued her is just as a good, as his looks are standard, as apparently he is perceived as a somewhat sexy man. Viola contrasts
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. The play centers on the lead female role and protagonist, Viola, who
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Thrilling yet confusing, and even troublesome, Twelfth Night’s theme of identity is showed within the romantic comedy through many ways. As an essential subject establishing rich symbolism and imagery, it uses disguises and crafty characters’, which causes much confusion between the characters. Furthermore, the idea brings out the comical essence of the piece. It examines the gender roles in Twelfth Night relating to the history of Renaissance/Elizabethan Theatre; males played female roles—a male actor would play a female character (Viola) who disguises herself as a male (Cesario), for women were forbidden to act. Through What You Will, it proves one’s physical features, and how a person presents them self, possesses
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)
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. In Act 3, scene 1, Olivia displays the confusion created for both characters and audience as she takes on the traditionally male role of wooer in an attempt to win the disguised Viola, or Cesario. Olivia praises Cesario's beauty and then addresses him with the belief that his "scorn" (3.1.134) only reveals his hidden love. However, Olivia's mistaken interpretation of Cesario's manner is only the surface problem presented by her speech. The reality of Cesario's gender, the active role Olivia takes in pursuing him/her, and the duality of word meanings in this passage threaten to turn the
The purpose of the lab was to demonstrate that a lot of things can affect an enzyme’s active site. The lab used toothpicks as an alternative. This lab was conducted with four different experiments. There was an ideal condition which was to break as much toothpicks normally with a span of a minute. There was temperature which was to break the toothpicks with really cold hands using ice water to cool the hands. There was also effects of other molecules which was using 25 colored toothpicks and 25 normal toothpicks. If the participant breaks the toothpicks that are colored, it doesn’t count. Finally, effect of a denatured enzyme which was to cross your fingers and break the toothpicks. Data was collected by writing the amount of toothpicks broken
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.
Through symbolism and imagery, the subject uses disguises, indistinct gender roles all through Twelfth Night. Moreover, it suggests that males played female roles—a male actor would play a female character (Viola) who disguises as a male (Cesario). Furthermore, the idea brings out the comical essence of the piece. The motif shows that one’s physical features, and how a person presents, possesses an important part of what you identify
In the play Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare Shows us how mistaken identity can affect people in many ways and those who were affected all were affected from the main characters Olivia and Viola who is disguised as Cesario. Viola disguised herself as Cesario because her boat crashed and she washed ashore on Illyria, she had been with her brother, but he never washed ashore so she grieved him and to get over the grievance faster she got a job. But her brother Sebastian wasn’t really dead, he had just washed up on a different nearby island. These two caused the problems because Olivia is the prettiest lady in the land of Illyria and Cesario was taking Olivia’s heart even when “he” wasn’t trying to. Eventually Viola’s brother came to Illyria, which caused confusion to everyone because Sebastian
Comedy, in the Elizabethan era, often included themes of wit, mistaken identity, love, and tragedy, all tied up with a happy ending. These themes are prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comical play that explores the pangs of unrequited love and the confusion of gender. Love is a powerful emotion that causes suffering, happiness, and disorder throughout the play. The play also demonstrates the blurred lines of gender identity, which ties into the modern day debate on sexuality and gender identity. The main characters in the play, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are connected by a love triangle, each person pursuing an unrequited love. Suffering from love and the fluidity of gender are the prevalent themes explored throughout the play and intertwined with Viola, Olivia, and Orsino.
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
Much of the first half of the Twelfth Night is about disguised identities and general misconceptions about who is actually who. The play opens on a note of melancholy and death, Orsino grieving because Olivia refuses to love him and Viola and Olivia mourning the deaths of their brothers. It is following a shipwreck that Viola disguises herself as a male, ensuring that confusion will be part of the plot. The idea of masquerading as a member of the opposite sex is a familiar device and the “complications, artificial as they may appear, are an essential part of the play’s complete development.” (Travers 308) It is interesting to note that unlike other comedies such as “The Tempest”, Shakespeare does not create an older generation who prevent the young lovers from being together; instead it is the perplexity about gender and that keeps them apart. Sebastian, Viola’s identical twin, is the solution to all of the problems, though his appearance does add to it for a short while. Viola, dressed as Cesario, is mistaken for Sebastian by Antonio, and is asked for the money that he gave to Sebastian. However, this type of confusion adds to the comic nature of the plot as the audience is aware of the concealed identities. Order eventually comes from the chaos, disguises are shed and identities are revealed. The appearance of Sebastian ensures that the marriage will be possible for the main characters; Viola is free to marry Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, although she
William Shakespeare, in his well-known comedy Twelfth Night, creates a plot that revolves around mistaken identity and deception. Mistaken identity, along with disguises, rules the play and affects the lives of several of the characters. Shakespeare's techniques involve mistaken identity to bring humor, mystery, and complication to the play. Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola who is disguised as a eunuch, Maria who writes a letter to Malvolio as Olivia, and then the mix-up between Sebastian and Viola are revealed.
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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.