Twelfth Night Deception Analysis

Angel Guerrero

Mrs. Batchelor

English 3

6 March 2018

Deception in “Twelfth Night”

In “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare, disguise and deception have recurrently been used. In many different ways, the themes have been used throughout the plot for varied purposes. While some deceptions are disguised, some deceptions are deceptive hence painting symbolism in the whole of the play.

The most overt disguise example of deception in the comedy involves Viola whose use of deception appears when she disguises herself as a man so as to obtain a job while stranded after a shipwreck in Illyria.

Dressed like a man, Viola seeks a job from Orsino who is the Duke of Illyria as Eunuch: ‘ 'Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him ' (1.3, ). In her deception still, Viola through disguise deceives Lady Olivia to fall in love deeply with Cesario. Although Olivia tries to disguise her feelings, the revelation of the repressed passion … 'I wish you were as I would have you be ' (3.1). In 2.4, Viola’s love for Orsino is hard to disguise and there is a sense of desperation here as

This is clear that the love he has is for the notion of love as it turns into hate quickly. He eventually asks Viola to marry him when he finds out the ‘Cesario’s’ true identity. This is however after ‘he’ removes the male disguise. Through this play, the repeated and extensive deception use in love relationships presents the audience with awe-inspiring evidence backing the idea that deception is an aspect that is attached to love emotions. Although the audience can discount such relationships tainted by deception, such judgements end up being classified as misguided after close examination of the various reasons for using deception in romantic