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What Is Viola Cross-Dress In Twelfth Night

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Character Analysis
Viola is Twelfth Night 's gender-bending heroine. The survivor of a ship-wreck that separates her from her twin brother, Viola washes up on shore in Illyria, where she decides to cross-dress as a boy and take a job at Duke Orsino 's court. As the boy servant, "Cesario," Viola quickly becomes Orsino 's favorite page and is given the task of wooing Olivia on Orsino 's behalf. As "Cesario," Viola 's a little too good at her job and she finds herself in the middle of a messy love triangle when Olivia falls in love with "Cesario," who can 't return the Countess 's favors because Viola is in love with the Duke. Got that? OK, good.

So, why does Viola cross-dress as a boy? She says she wants to disguise her identity as a way to

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