🎈Shakespeare Unit 8 – Twelfth Night: Gender and Festive Disguise

Plot Overview

• Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy set in the fictional land of Illyria
• The play begins with a shipwreck that separates the twins Viola and Sebastian
• Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino
• Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia, who is mourning the loss of her brother and refuses his advances
• Viola, as Cesario, is sent to woo Olivia on Orsino's behalf but Olivia falls in love with Cesario instead
• Meanwhile, Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and his friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, engage in drunken revelry and plot against Olivia's steward, Malvolio
• Malvolio is tricked into believing Olivia is in love with him through a forged letter, leading to humorous consequences
• Sebastian, Viola's twin, arrives in Illyria and is mistaken for Cesario, adding to the confusion and misunderstandings

Key Characters

• Viola: The protagonist, a young woman who disguises herself as a man named Cesario after being shipwrecked in Illyria
  • Resourceful, witty, and adaptable to her circumstances
  • Falls in love with Duke Orsino while serving him as Cesario
• Duke Orsino: The ruler of Illyria who is in love with Countess Olivia
  • Melancholic and romantic, often expressing his love through music and poetry
  • Develops a close bond with Cesario, unaware that Cesario is actually Viola in disguise
• Countess Olivia: A wealthy noblewoman mourning the loss of her brother
  • Initially refuses Orsino's advances but falls in love with Cesario (Viola in disguise)
  • Becomes the object of affection for multiple characters, including Malvolio and Sir Andrew Aguecheek
• Malvolio: Olivia's steward, a puritanical and self-righteous figure
  • Becomes the target of a prank orchestrated by Sir Toby, Maria, and others
  • His pride and ambition lead to his humiliation and downfall
• Sir Toby Belch: Olivia's uncle, a boisterous and mischievous character
  • Engages in drinking, revelry, and practical jokes
  • Encourages Sir Andrew Aguecheek to court Olivia for his own financial gain
• Sebastian: Viola's twin brother, believed to have drowned in the shipwreck
  • Arrives in Illyria later in the play, causing confusion due to his resemblance to Cesario (Viola)
  • Marries Olivia after a series of misunderstandings

Themes and Motifs

• Love and desire: The play explores various forms of love, including romantic love, unrequited love, and self-love
  • Characters experience love as a transformative and sometimes irrational force
• Identity and disguise: Disguise and mistaken identities are central to the plot, highlighting the fluidity of gender roles and social positions
  • Viola's disguise as Cesario allows her to navigate a male-dominated society and explore her own identity
• Festivity and revelry: The play is set during the Twelfth Night celebration, a time of merriment, chaos, and the inversion of social norms
  • The festive atmosphere contributes to the comedic and subversive elements of the play
• Appearance vs. reality: The play questions the reliability of appearances and the discrepancy between what seems to be and what is
  • Characters often misjudge others based on their outward appearance or social status
• Madness and folly: Various characters are portrayed as foolish or mad, either through their own actions or as a result of the tricks played upon them
  • The line between wisdom and folly is blurred, as seemingly foolish characters often possess insight and wit

Gender Roles and Disguise

• Viola's disguise as Cesario subverts traditional gender roles and expectations
  • As Cesario, Viola is able to express herself more freely and engage in witty exchanges with other characters
  • Her disguise allows her to develop a close relationship with Orsino, which would have been impossible as a woman
• The play challenges the rigidity of gender roles in Elizabethan society
  • Viola's success in navigating a male-dominated world highlights the artificiality of gender-based restrictions
• Olivia's attraction to Cesario (Viola in disguise) suggests a fluidity in sexual attraction and gender identity
  • The play hints at the possibility of same-sex desire, though it is ultimately resolved through the revelation of Viola's true identity
• The use of disguise and mistaken identities creates a sense of ambiguity and instability in gender roles
  • Characters' identities and relationships are constantly shifting, undermining the notion of fixed gender categories

Festive Elements and Comedy

• The play is set during the Twelfth Night celebration, a time of festivity, misrule, and the inversion of social norms
  • The festive atmosphere allows for the suspension of everyday rules and the exploration of alternative social arrangements
• The comedic elements of the play often involve the subversion of authority and the mockery of rigid social conventions
  • Malvolio's humiliation is a prime example of the way in which the play uses comedy to challenge the status quo
• The play employs various comedic devices, such as mistaken identities, wordplay, and physical humor
  • The comedic elements serve to highlight the absurdity of certain social expectations and the folly of human behavior
• The festive setting and comedic tone contribute to the play's themes of love, desire, and the fluidity of identity
  • The chaos and confusion of the Twelfth Night celebration mirror the characters' own emotional and psychological states

Language and Literary Devices

• Shakespeare employs a range of literary devices to create meaning and convey the play's themes
  • Metaphors and similes are used to express the characters' emotions and desires (e.g., Orsino's comparison of love to an "appetite")
  • Puns and wordplay highlight the ambiguity and multiple meanings of language, reflecting the play's concern with appearance vs. reality
• The play is written in both prose and verse, with the choice of form often reflecting the characters' social status and emotional state
  • High-status characters like Orsino and Olivia often speak in verse, while lower-status characters like Sir Toby and Maria use prose
  • Shifts between prose and verse can also indicate changes in a character's emotional state or the tone of a scene
• Soliloquies and asides are used to reveal characters' inner thoughts and feelings
  • Viola's soliloquies, in particular, provide insight into her conflicted identity and her growing feelings for Orsino
• The play's language is characterized by its wit, inventiveness, and emotional depth
  • The characters engage in verbal sparring and clever exchanges, demonstrating their intelligence and social adeptness

Historical Context

• Twelfth Night was written during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a period marked by social and political stability
  • The play reflects the Elizabethan fascination with romance, courtship, and the ideals of love
  • The strong female characters in the play, particularly Viola and Olivia, may have been inspired by Elizabeth I's own powerful presence
• The play's exploration of gender roles and identity can be seen as a reflection of the Elizabethan stage's convention of male actors playing female roles
  • The use of disguise and cross-dressing in the play highlights the performative nature of gender and the fluidity of identity
• The Twelfth Night celebration, which forms the backdrop of the play, was a popular festival in Elizabethan England
  • The festive atmosphere of the play would have resonated with Shakespeare's contemporary audience, who were familiar with the traditions and customs associated with Twelfth Night
• The play's setting in the fictional land of Illyria can be seen as a romanticized version of the Mediterranean world
  • The exotic setting allows for a sense of distance and fantasy, while still exploring themes and issues relevant to Shakespeare's own society

Critical Interpretations

• Feminist readings of Twelfth Night often focus on the play's subversion of traditional gender roles and the agency of its female characters
  • Viola's disguise and the play's exploration of same-sex desire challenge the rigid gender norms of Elizabethan society
  • The play's resolution, which involves the pairing off of characters in heterosexual marriages, can be seen as a return to conventional gender roles
• Psychoanalytic interpretations of the play often explore the characters' psychological motivations and the role of desire in shaping their actions
  • The love triangle between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola/Cesario can be seen as a representation of the complex nature of human desire and the fluidity of sexual attraction
• Performance-based interpretations of Twelfth Night emphasize the play's theatricality and the role of disguise in shaping identity
  • The use of disguise and mistaken identities highlights the performative nature of gender and the instability of social roles
  • The play's comedic elements and festive atmosphere contribute to its exploration of the boundaries between reality and illusion
• Postcolonial readings of the play often focus on the power dynamics between the characters and the way in which the play's setting in Illyria represents a romanticized "other"
  • The play's exploration of identity and social hierarchies can be seen as a commentary on the power relations between different cultures and social groups

Connections to Other Shakespeare Works

• Twelfth Night shares thematic similarities with other Shakespeare comedies, such as As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream
  • These plays also explore themes of love, identity, and the subversion of social norms through the use of disguise and mistaken identities
• The play's exploration of gender roles and sexual attraction can be seen as a precursor to the more complex treatment of these themes in Shakespeare's later works, such as Othello and Antony and Cleopatra
• The character of Feste, the wise fool in Twelfth Night, is part of a larger tradition of Shakespearean fools who use wit and humor to expose the follies of those around them
  • Other notable examples include Touchstone in As You Like It and the Fool in King Lear
• The play's use of music and poetry to express emotion and desire is a common feature in many of Shakespeare's works
  • The role of music in Twelfth Night can be compared to its use in other plays, such as The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing
• Twelfth Night's exploration of the tension between appearance and reality, and the way in which characters' perceptions shape their actions, is a recurring theme in Shakespeare's plays
  • This theme is central to works such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice, where characters struggle to distinguish between what is real and what is illusory