ipl-logo

Gender In Twelfth Night

1697 Words7 Pages

The 1600s is a period of great distinctions amongst gender, class, and intelligence. William Shakespeare wrote in a time where his language is baffling to much of the current culture. To ease the pain of struggling to comprehend his works, translations of his works are available, as well as movies portraying his plays in this era. Matters regarding gender are both depicted in Shakespeare’s creations and are now relevant in society. From homosexual’s acceptance to women’s roles, Shakespeare’s works still apply to the present day. Women’s once obtained the responsibilities to her husband and family, not to her own self. However, this has drastically changed in the past century, allowing women to have more say and do in her own life. Women and homosexuals have rights and are affecting the contemporary world to …show more content…

The play, Twelfth Night, opens with a shipwrecked Viola landing in Illyria, and is employed in Duke Orsino’s service, disguised as her twin brother. Her occupation is wooing the Countess Olivia in favor of Duke Orsino; however, Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola, who falls in love with the Duke but cannot express her true feelings. The love triangle evolves and continues to become more complicated when Viola’s thought-to-be dead twin brother Sebastian rolls into town. Traveling with him is Antonio who saved Sebastian in the shipwreck and has fallen deeply in love with him. While Sebastian is traversing Illyria, he runs into Olivia who assumes he is the disguised Viola and kisses him and continues to wed him. This play is full of homosexual references and actions that include Viola disguising herself as a boy and falling in love with Orsino while she is still a man. Countess Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola because of ‘his’ few feminine features, and, it is a girl falling in love with a girl. Viola stated to

Show More
Related

Gender In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

740 Words | 3 Pages

William shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing scrutinizes the use of language, stylistic techniques and conventions to represent 16th century Italy. Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ uses examples such as gender representations, class struggle and courtship and marriage to represent times back in 16th century Italy. Shakespeare exposes the unfairness of gender in 16th century Italy by having the characters use witty repartee and by creating contrived situations. Gender representation in 16th century Elizabethan time differentiated from how it was interpreted in Much Ado About Nothing. The treatment of women living in 16th century Italy was barbaric.

Read More

Overcoming Stereotypes In Macbeth Essay

1572 Words | 7 Pages

Overcoming Stereotypes Gender roles are the roles or behaviors learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. Macbeth was written in 1605-1606 which was the renaissance period. In the renaissance period, women were controlled by their parents until they were married, which then the control would be turned over to the husbands. Shakespeare had a way of challenging society 's view on things(“Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance” cedarcrest.edu). In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to show that gender roles can be conquered.

Read More

Figurative Language In Twelfth Night

1162 Words | 5 Pages

The lines 271-279 of Act 1, Scene 5 are spoken by Viola disguised as 'Cesario ' to the Countess Olivia after being sent by Orsino to "woo" Olivia on his behalf. The dialog is exceedingly significant to the overall plot as it establishes Olivia 's love for 'Cesario ' and an inkling to Cesario 's loyalty and love for Orsino. Viola 's description of what she would do if she loved Olivia as Orsino does attracts Olivia attention and affection. Viola 's lines to Olivia of making "a willow cabin" (1.5.271) at the gate and writing songs of "contemned love" (1.5.273) to sing them "in the dead of night" (1.5.274) conveys an agonizingly desperate love that should be pitied.

Read More

Deception In Twelfth Night

433 Words | 2 Pages

Viola must disguise herself as a man in the former and Jerry and Joe disguise themselves as women in the latter. These false appearances are known to the audience however, they deceive the other characters within

Read More

Gender Roles In She's The Man

531 Words | 3 Pages

So, when Viola finds out her brother, Sebastian, is sneaking off to London for a music tour, she decides to pretend to be him and try out for the mens soccer team. Unfortunately, she falls in love with her roommate, Duke.

Read More

Social Norms In The Twelfth Night And She's The Man

859 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, in the movie, Viola was talking to her brother Sebastian about his band and her soccer and he said, “You know the percentage of bands that make it to the big time, probably the same as female soccer players” (Fickman, Andy, 2006). Instead of lifting his sister up after learning about her soccer team being cut, he negatively talked about females and their success in sports. This is degrading because he is shutting down Viola and her dreams. To continue, in the play The Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino speaks to Viola, who he believes to be Cesario, and says, “There is no woman’s

Read More

Homosexuality In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

1112 Words | 5 Pages

The question of why Olivia, after dramatically declaring her affections for Cesario, would so quickly jump to Sebastian after finding Viola’s true identity, is likely answered by the societal norms of the Elizabethan era. Cesario and Viola are two halves of one whole; by loving Cesario, Olivia loves Viola too. Upon meeting “him,” Olivia says “Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit/ Do give thee five-fold blazon” (1.5.297-298). She is attracted not just to Cesario’s mannerisms, but to Viola’s beauty, which shines through her male bravado. The “actions and spirit” which Olivia refers to are Viola’s ability to converse with Olivia woman-to-woman, unbeknownst to the countess.

Read More

Deception In Twelfth Night And Some Like It Hot

424 Words | 2 Pages

In Twelfth Night, Viola dresses as the opposite gender and adopts the name Cesario to be employed by Duke Orsino (4,8). Viola purposely deceives those around her, meaning to convince them of her false identity. The Lady Olivia, to whom Orsino sends Cesario to deliver his message of love, also displays this intentional deception. She wears a veil to portray to those around her that she is in deep mourning for her brother, though the reality is not as severe (2, 37). Through similar methods, Joe and Jerry disguise themselves as Josephine and Daphne in Some Like It Hot to fill an occupation.

Read More

False Love In Twelfth Night

1424 Words | 6 Pages

As Viola works for Orsino under the guise of a boy named Cesario, the two develop the deepest bond between the characters. Orsino is attracted to Cesario from the beginning, although not necessarily in a romantic way. At first, his attraction to Cesario is based on curiosity. Before sending him off to see Olivia for the first time, Orsino says “Diana’s lip is not more smooth and rubious; thy small pipe is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound, and all is semblative a woman’s part” (1.4.31-34). Orsino understands that Cesario is very effeminate, even for a young boy, and is drawn to him.

Read More

Gender Roles In Romeo And Juliet

1408 Words | 6 Pages

In today’s world, gender expectations and roles of men and women are a highly debated topic. However, the reconsidering of these expectations is not a new phenomenon. Set in Verona, Italy, the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare explores the reversal and fluidity of characteristics usually assigned to a specific gender. In this play, two young people fall in love and end up tragically taking their lives as a result of their forbidden love. Shakespeare suggests that men are not necessarily masculine, women are not necessarily feminine, and that when people are forced by society to act the way their gender is “supposed” to, problems will arise.

Read More

Men And Women In A Midsummer Night's Dream

1205 Words | 5 Pages

Today, men and women have equal rights, but that does not mean life has always been simple for both genders. When Shakespeare writes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are roles, behaviors, and expectations for the dominant men and submissive women. This literature portrays the major changes in the lives of both sexes throughout the years, which shows the advances women gain with time. The gender issue of men being dominant and women being submissive used in the drama, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, shows the differences in the roles, behaviors, and expectations appropriate for each gender and is an example of an outdated stereotype.

Read More

Gender Roles In A Midsummer Night's Dream

1898 Words | 8 Pages

“And though she be but little, she is fierce” -William Shakespeare. In today’s day and age, one of the greatest topics of debate is gender roles. It is evident everywhere, from cyberspace to the streets of home, from online petitions to marches across the country such as the Women’s March. Shakespeare lived in the Elizabethan Era of England, where Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen ruled.

Read More

Romeo And Juliet And Twelfth Night Comparison

795 Words | 4 Pages

In the story it shows a love triangle between Orsino, Cesario (Viola), and Olivia. Cesario falls in love with Orsino, Viola is in love with Cesario, and Orsino is still in love with Olivia. The characters in the story all show happiness and joy throughout because it’s a story that ends in love unlike Romeo and Juliet where it ends in a tragedy. As said in Twelfth Night, “Its central plot concerns a love triangle between the Illyrian nobleman Orsino, his beloved but unattainable Olivia, and the shipwrecked Viola.” (Lee

Read More

Viola And Olivia In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

1851 Words | 8 Pages

In Twelfth Night, Viola and Olivia are the central characters to the play’s plot. Each are young women that take approaches to dealing with the people around them, which are mainly men. There is much trickery that goes on in Twelfth Night, but the ending is for the most part happy. Viola marries Orsino and Olivia marries Sebastian, but the events leading up to this are more or less chaotic. Ultimately, I argue that while Olivia uses her higher social status in order to maintain control of herself and others, Viola resorts to trickery in order to bring about her desires.

Read More

Theme Of Disguise In Twelfth Night

1043 Words | 5 Pages

In the play Twelfth Night, through the depiction of Orsino’s and Viola’s desires for romantic love, Shakespeare portrays how adjustable and self-delusional human romantic attraction can be, especially when blinded by wants and needs. Viola, who puts on the appearance of a man, makes everybody think she is a male. Her disguise becomes a sexual confusion throughout the play for several characters, creating an odd love triangle where Viola loves Duke Orsino, who loves Oliva, which then on the other hand loves Viola, in disguise as Cesario. On the other hand, Malvolio dreams of marrying his beloved Olivia, and gaining authority over his superiors, like Sir Toby. Shakespeare uses disguise in the play to show several confusions and internal conflicts between the characters, proving how malleable and deluded some human attractions can be.

Read More

More about Gender In Twelfth Night

Related Topics

Open Document