Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night plays upon the theme of appearance versus reality to depict the difference between the lower class “fools” and the upper class of “wit”. Although Shakespeare sets up a number of literal disguised characters (such as Viola, dressed up as a man) he also portrays many of the characters as untrue to their supposed societal appearances and roles. This idea of appearance versus reality therefore works towards establishing the difference between the foolish and the wise, proving that both can be found in unexpected characters, that most of the nobility represents the foolish while the lower class represents the wise. Shakespeare, through Twelfth Night, is therefore laughing along with the lowerclassmen at those members of high societal class who simply take life too seriously, who take on the role of the fool. The play is basically a precursor to the controversial works of modern day comedians and their mockery of the members of high political and social standings.
The nobility of the play partake in dialogue and action (or lack of action) that expose their foolish, irrational, melodramatic nature, or the reality behind their glamorous appearances. Olivia is introduced as a character that cannot get over the tragedy of the death of her brother and therefore is in a constant state of mourning, black veil and all. Although the death of a brother may seem a reasonable excuse to avoid the love of Orsino, Olivia readily promotes the love of Viola’s disguised character of Cesario; she puts on a dramatic air of mourning and then readily disposes of this air only to be deceived into loving a woman dressed up as a young man. Her marriage to Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, further proves her inability to distinguish reality from appearance, for she does not even marry the “man” she claims to love. Orsino, the other character of high status in the play, is also fooled into believing Viola’s disguise of a male servant. However, Orsino is foolish in another sense in that he claims to love Olivia tremendously and yet does not attempt to woo her in person and later easily dismisses his love. Both Orsino and Olivia are examples of members of high class who cannot see truth because of their tendencies to act in a melodramatic, unrealistic manner. They are simply two noble beings that, despite their profound exclamations of love and despair, cannot bring themselves to act and are fully dependent on servants and members of the lower class; their distinguished appearances do not match their actual, somewhat pathetic characteristics.
Maria and Feste the Clown are the most profound examples in the play of those with a foolish appearance but wise nature. As the servant to Olivia, Maria appears to be a tiny, humble housemaid but actually proves herself to be a woman of trickery and wit. Her deception of Malvolio and her quick remarks upon the nature of the noble class establish her as a character that, like Shakespeare, can laugh at and mock the society that takes life too seriously, the society that turns love and life into a work of drama. Feste the Clown, the literal fool (through appearance), actually represents the figure of wisdom, or the only character that outright tells the truth. His perception of the reality behind the disguises and the appearances allows for him to provide a fitting differentiation between the foolish and the wise, a definition that basically sums up Shakespeare’s take on the characters of the play and on the members of his own society: “Wit, an’t be thy will, put me into good fooling! Those wits, that think they have thee, do very oft prove fools; and I, that am sure I lack thee, may pass for a wise man; for what says Quinapalus? ‘Better a witty fool than a foolish wit’” (Act I, Scene V). Despite what may seem proper, these two lower class characters allow for truth and wit to exist amongst the mockery of the noble class and allow to shine through Shakespeare’s true opinion of this society of appearances.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The 'Hunt' for Equality
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or, What You Will has never crossed my mind as a “banned book” so as I read through the play I searched for the reasoning behind this banishment. Originally I thought deception and drinking alcohol could have been essential to the banishment, but as I took a deeper look into the play I began to realize the presence of the objectification of women.
Whenever Orsino talks about love, he refers to it as a “hunt” or “game”. He references many kinds of animals when searching for his mate. This animal related analogy not only degrades women, but it stereotypes males for having a beast/barbaric understanding of love. In response to Curio’s question “ Will you go hunt, my lord?” (I.I. 17) Orsino states “That instant I turn’d into a hart/And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds” (I.I. 22-23). Most the conversations between males in this play demonstrate and animalistic theme when referring to love. I think it was important for Shakespeare to use such an analogy, because it demonstrates the transition Orsino makes when he comes to know Cesario as Viola. By using such vocabulary Shakespeare emphasizes the chauvinistic attitude Orsino has prior to meeting Cesario/ Viola only stressing the important transition of fully treating someone as an equal.
I feel that each scene is necessary for the conclusion, for example by Orsino’s risky animal related analogy; Shakespeare demonstrates the important role of friendship on a relationship. Orsino and Viola’s relationship breaks the mold of the stereotypical romance. Shakespeare allows Viola to understand Orsino on a more personal level because she is able to see Orsino for who he is. However the real question is do they really live happily ever after? Viola now has the upper hand because she never truly let her guard down.
Shakespeare was ahead of his time by allowing this friendship to exist because we as the audience (and Shakespeare) all know that Cesario is a female, however Orsino has no idea. This friendship went against the grain of gender roles and expectations for single women. If anything this play helps fight for the equality that Orsino ends up giving Viola.
However, even though these characteristics are placed within the play, Shakespeare gives the freedom to the director, and I feel that Twelfth Night or, What You Will has no place on a banned book list. This play helps demonstrate the various levels of love, and helps lead the audience into the misconceptions and disguises present in society. If anything this play makes a point to demonstrate the fine line between love, lust and lies as we apply the message to our own lives.
Whenever Orsino talks about love, he refers to it as a “hunt” or “game”. He references many kinds of animals when searching for his mate. This animal related analogy not only degrades women, but it stereotypes males for having a beast/barbaric understanding of love. In response to Curio’s question “ Will you go hunt, my lord?” (I.I. 17) Orsino states “That instant I turn’d into a hart/And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds” (I.I. 22-23). Most the conversations between males in this play demonstrate and animalistic theme when referring to love. I think it was important for Shakespeare to use such an analogy, because it demonstrates the transition Orsino makes when he comes to know Cesario as Viola. By using such vocabulary Shakespeare emphasizes the chauvinistic attitude Orsino has prior to meeting Cesario/ Viola only stressing the important transition of fully treating someone as an equal.
I feel that each scene is necessary for the conclusion, for example by Orsino’s risky animal related analogy; Shakespeare demonstrates the important role of friendship on a relationship. Orsino and Viola’s relationship breaks the mold of the stereotypical romance. Shakespeare allows Viola to understand Orsino on a more personal level because she is able to see Orsino for who he is. However the real question is do they really live happily ever after? Viola now has the upper hand because she never truly let her guard down.
Shakespeare was ahead of his time by allowing this friendship to exist because we as the audience (and Shakespeare) all know that Cesario is a female, however Orsino has no idea. This friendship went against the grain of gender roles and expectations for single women. If anything this play helps fight for the equality that Orsino ends up giving Viola.
However, even though these characteristics are placed within the play, Shakespeare gives the freedom to the director, and I feel that Twelfth Night or, What You Will has no place on a banned book list. This play helps demonstrate the various levels of love, and helps lead the audience into the misconceptions and disguises present in society. If anything this play makes a point to demonstrate the fine line between love, lust and lies as we apply the message to our own lives.
Playing the Fool
The first definition in the dictionary of the word fool is " a silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense." In terms of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, this definition fits for most characters, except for the character whose name, ironically enough, is "The Fool." It seems that throughout the play, the other characters' vices are painfully obvious, but the Fool is the only one who doesn't buy into the very superficial notion of love presented by the other characters. He simply sits back and observes, making jokes and singing, but sometimes offering pearls of wisdom hidden under his jest.
Viola is the only character who recognizes the fool as a truly reputable character, saying, "This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,/ And to do that well craves a kind of wit./ He must observe their mood on whom he jests,/ The quality of persons, and the time,/ And, like the haggard, check at every feather/ That comes before his eye. This is a practise/ As full fo labor as a wise man's art,/ For folly that he wisely shows is fit./ But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit." She recognizes that the Fool actually must be intelligent to do his job as an entertainer. There is a definite art to being a fool, which requires much attention to one's audience. Viola has this epiphany after the fool lets on a little bit of insight about marriage. When she asks him if he is Lady Olivia's fool, the Fool's response is, "No, indeed, sir; the Lady Olivia has no folly. She will keep no fool til she be married, and fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to herrings; the husband's the bigger: I am indeed not her fool..." he explains. The deeper wisdom behind the Fool's joking language is that getting married is not a good choice in Illyria. This is because everyone is overly superficial and preoccupied with outward appearances. We see this with Count Orsino, who constantly talks about how much he loves Olivia's beauty. He quickly forgets about this, however, when he realizes Viola is a girl. "Cesario, come,/ For so you shall be, while you are a man./ But when in other habits you are seen,/ Orsino's mistress and his fancy queen," which basically means that once Viola looks good, he will marry her. This exposes the fickleness of the marriages in Twelfth Night, by the observations of the Fool.
The Fool is ironically also the first to catch on that Cesario was a fraudulent personality adopted by Viola in his conversation with Sebastian. He says, "No, I do not know you, nor I am not sent to you by my lady, to bid you come speak with her, nor your name is not Master Cesario, nor this is not my nose neither. Nothing that is so is so." The Fool understands that it is important to take everything with a grain of salt. His wisdom is buried beneath his clever wordplay, but the other characters usually just see it as nonsense. They are too foolish to realize how in tune the Fool is to everything that is transpiring in the play.
Another interesting thing about the Fool is his role as the wallflower. As the chaotic nature of the play picks up even more toward the end, the Fool witnesses all of the miscommunications, and also realizes how fickle the characters are. "I would not be in some of your coats for two pense," he says. He is merely an observer--he has no emotional ties to the characters, he just makes a joke of it all. It could be argued that this is the smartest route when it comes to love, because this way, it is nearly impossible to get hurt. If you act like the Fool and stay on the sidelines, maybe you will be safe from vascillating, unstable lovers. In fact, this could be the least foolish way to act.
The Fool recognizes that foolishness is everywhere--he says, "Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun." Maybe by avoiding seriousness in the way that he does, he protects himself from the kind of foolishness that is superficial love, which is always fleeting. This is certainly not the lifestyle choice of someone who lacks judgment or sense, but a person who sees it best to keep himself away from potentially hurtful situations. A person that protects him or herself from pain is never foolish, but always on guard, fighting for the preservation of his or her heart. Given the needy personalities of the other characters in Twelfth Night, I find the Fool's ability to stand on his own without a mate to be very admirable.
Viola is the only character who recognizes the fool as a truly reputable character, saying, "This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,/ And to do that well craves a kind of wit./ He must observe their mood on whom he jests,/ The quality of persons, and the time,/ And, like the haggard, check at every feather/ That comes before his eye. This is a practise/ As full fo labor as a wise man's art,/ For folly that he wisely shows is fit./ But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit." She recognizes that the Fool actually must be intelligent to do his job as an entertainer. There is a definite art to being a fool, which requires much attention to one's audience. Viola has this epiphany after the fool lets on a little bit of insight about marriage. When she asks him if he is Lady Olivia's fool, the Fool's response is, "No, indeed, sir; the Lady Olivia has no folly. She will keep no fool til she be married, and fools are as like husbands as pilchards are to herrings; the husband's the bigger: I am indeed not her fool..." he explains. The deeper wisdom behind the Fool's joking language is that getting married is not a good choice in Illyria. This is because everyone is overly superficial and preoccupied with outward appearances. We see this with Count Orsino, who constantly talks about how much he loves Olivia's beauty. He quickly forgets about this, however, when he realizes Viola is a girl. "Cesario, come,/ For so you shall be, while you are a man./ But when in other habits you are seen,/ Orsino's mistress and his fancy queen," which basically means that once Viola looks good, he will marry her. This exposes the fickleness of the marriages in Twelfth Night, by the observations of the Fool.
The Fool is ironically also the first to catch on that Cesario was a fraudulent personality adopted by Viola in his conversation with Sebastian. He says, "No, I do not know you, nor I am not sent to you by my lady, to bid you come speak with her, nor your name is not Master Cesario, nor this is not my nose neither. Nothing that is so is so." The Fool understands that it is important to take everything with a grain of salt. His wisdom is buried beneath his clever wordplay, but the other characters usually just see it as nonsense. They are too foolish to realize how in tune the Fool is to everything that is transpiring in the play.
Another interesting thing about the Fool is his role as the wallflower. As the chaotic nature of the play picks up even more toward the end, the Fool witnesses all of the miscommunications, and also realizes how fickle the characters are. "I would not be in some of your coats for two pense," he says. He is merely an observer--he has no emotional ties to the characters, he just makes a joke of it all. It could be argued that this is the smartest route when it comes to love, because this way, it is nearly impossible to get hurt. If you act like the Fool and stay on the sidelines, maybe you will be safe from vascillating, unstable lovers. In fact, this could be the least foolish way to act.
The Fool recognizes that foolishness is everywhere--he says, "Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun." Maybe by avoiding seriousness in the way that he does, he protects himself from the kind of foolishness that is superficial love, which is always fleeting. This is certainly not the lifestyle choice of someone who lacks judgment or sense, but a person who sees it best to keep himself away from potentially hurtful situations. A person that protects him or herself from pain is never foolish, but always on guard, fighting for the preservation of his or her heart. Given the needy personalities of the other characters in Twelfth Night, I find the Fool's ability to stand on his own without a mate to be very admirable.
Liberation and Imprisonment in Androgyny
Concealment in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will offers both liberation as well as imprisonment, consolation and grief. When Viola assumes the identity of a young man, Cesario, her character enters the realm of androgyny, and is not clearly marked or distinguished as man or woman. She must act as a man, yet is still a woman. Her duality leads peripheral characters to be drawn to her whether openly or not, consciously or subconsciously. Samuel Coleridge said that “a great mind must be androgynous;” Cesario is intriguing because, possessing both feminine and masculine qualities has more to offer humanly.
Olivia and Orsino are both in love with Cesario, but why? As a woman, Viola possesses such qualities often attributed to women, yet as a “man,” she acquires other qualities typically belonging to men. If masculinity and femininity were the halves to a more perfect whole, then Cesario is more excellent for possessing qualities of both. Viola’s disguise immediately offers her the protection she needs in order to be safe in her new environment, but it also grants her an insider position otherwise denied. She enters Duke Orsino’s court and sees a side of him she would never have seen as a woman. It is this insider position which leads Viola, the woman, to fall in love with Orsino. Conversely, it is the ease with which Orsino carries out his relationship with Cesario that leads to his love of the young man. When the Duke learns of the supposed marriage between Olivia and Cesario, the reader cannot deny that the reason for his outrage and anger is because of the painful blow of losing his friend, Cesario, to Olivia (64-65). Cesario, possessing both masculine and feminine qualities shares a kind of brotherly love with Orsino as well as a more human bond; Olivia too is taken with Cesario for the very same reasons. Olivia falls in love with Cesario’s masculine exterior, but more importantly, her feminine interior. Viola’s feminine nature bleeds into her masculine counterpart; this conflation enhances the figure of Cesario and attracts both women and men, both Olivia and Orsino. His sexes bleed into one another and offer the best kind of companionship for both Olivia and Orsino.
But, with this liberation and freedom from the limits of one sex, there is the imprisonment of secrecy, the potential for entrapment. Cesario must uphold his disguise. He cannot expose himself to be Viola, a woman in order to dissuade Olivia from loving him, nor can he reveal his actual womanhood to Orsino so that he may love her as a woman rather than as a man. In privacy, Viola reflects on the evils of concealment: “Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, Wherein the pregnant enemy does much…” (19-20) Even though there is no doubt that Orsino loves Cesario, the conventions of marriage and the role he is expected to fill as Duke lead him to seek out a wife. His subconscious loves Cesario, but his conscious self does not recognize it or allow him to pursue it. We do, however, gain insight into his true feelings upon the announcement of Olivia’s marriage to Cesario.
With men and women, there is, of course, an overlapping of qualities. Men and women share particular aspects of their sexes, and there is a more general and human domain under which both fall more so than that of gender. While, for example, gentleness or nurturing may be typically attributed to women, men possess these qualities as well; furthermore, it is considered a positive thing if they do. So whether man or woman, there must be a dormant or recessive side to sexuality or gender type in the individual as well. This unexpressed side is sparked in Viola out of necessity, but proves to cushion the blow of the loss of her other half, her lost brother Sebastian. In his absence, Viola must recreate that missing part of herself. The twins are united in the end; they are whole again- representing the coming together of both the masculine and feminine counterparts of the individual. The character Cesario is a physical embodiment or representation of a more fully human, human being. Men and women will demonstrate or express which ever sex they are, but a more androgynous spirit may lay underneath, ever-present.
The Problem with Twelfth Night
For a play that is supposed to be a comedy of errors, Twelfth Night renders a rather depressing view on love. No one really, truly, or directly gets what they want. And the seemingly neat ending is rather complicated and messy in my opinion.
To start with the central love triangle, Viola (disguised as a man) is in love with Orsino who in turn is in love with Olivia who refuses his advances. But rather than trying to woo Olivia in person, Orsino sends his messenger (Viola in disguise) to profess his love to her and Olivia falls in love with Viola (who she believes to be a man named Cesario).
The first troubling factor is that Orsino is “in love” with Olivia and they seemingly never meet one another. Is he really in love with her or the idea of her? She is a young, pretty noble woman; but she rightly argues that he cannot be in love with her because he doesn’t really know her. She has a sharp wit and is an interesting character, but he doesn’t know any of these things because he never leaves the house to greet her in person. If he loved her so much, he wouldn’t have a messenger do the dirty work.
In turn, I can sympathize with Olivia’s love for the fictional Cesario because there is a great meeting of the minds between them. Her love is more soulful and bound to personality and in my mind is much deeper than any professions of heartache associated with Orsino.
A second problem occurs to me with the love Viola has for Orsino. Especially in their conversation where he tells her that a man’s love is deeper than a woman and then he gives Cesario romantic advice. The lines that really trouble me are when he tells Cesario to marry a younger woman. Orsino says:
Too old, by heaven. Let still the woman take
An elder than herself. So wears she to him;
So sways she level in her husband’s heart.
Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm,
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn,
Than women’s are.
Orsino essentially says that a woman should marry an older man so that she can better accommodate herself to his whims. In order for her husband to love her she should do whatever he wants. And Viola doesn’t argue against this! She is a very bright woman and yet she completely agrees with the male-dominant marriage model.
The happy ending is even more puzzling to me. When it is revealed that Viola is a woman, and that Olivia has married her twin (Sebastian, a man she really does not know), everything supposedly falls into place. Olivia is married to a man who looks just like her beloved Cesario but Sebastian is completely different from Viola. Is she just going to settle for someone who looks like the one she loves whilst really loving the personality of her sister-in-law? Also, Orsino just has this immediate epiphany that he is in love with Viola when all this time she was his male friend? Does this suggest some strange homoeroticism?
That last question may not be truly answerable but it seems that the only person who really loved someone was Antonio and his probable homosexual love for Sebastian. Not only does he save Sebastian’s life but he also risks and then later faces arrest all for Sebastian. He professes his love, he feels genuine betrayal when he thinks that Sebastian has turned his back on him (really it is Viola as Cesario) and more importantly he does what he says he will and he is very loyal. If the best image of romantic love is between two men than perhaps this is why Twelfth Night was banned. Unfortunately we live in a very homophobic world and being that this story is full of homoeroticism both symbolic and real perhaps that is why this is considered controversial.
I haven’t heard of Hamlet being banned and that is all about a suicidal, murdering young madman, it seems that love is more threatening than violence to those who request a ban.
To start with the central love triangle, Viola (disguised as a man) is in love with Orsino who in turn is in love with Olivia who refuses his advances. But rather than trying to woo Olivia in person, Orsino sends his messenger (Viola in disguise) to profess his love to her and Olivia falls in love with Viola (who she believes to be a man named Cesario).
The first troubling factor is that Orsino is “in love” with Olivia and they seemingly never meet one another. Is he really in love with her or the idea of her? She is a young, pretty noble woman; but she rightly argues that he cannot be in love with her because he doesn’t really know her. She has a sharp wit and is an interesting character, but he doesn’t know any of these things because he never leaves the house to greet her in person. If he loved her so much, he wouldn’t have a messenger do the dirty work.
In turn, I can sympathize with Olivia’s love for the fictional Cesario because there is a great meeting of the minds between them. Her love is more soulful and bound to personality and in my mind is much deeper than any professions of heartache associated with Orsino.
A second problem occurs to me with the love Viola has for Orsino. Especially in their conversation where he tells her that a man’s love is deeper than a woman and then he gives Cesario romantic advice. The lines that really trouble me are when he tells Cesario to marry a younger woman. Orsino says:
Too old, by heaven. Let still the woman take
An elder than herself. So wears she to him;
So sways she level in her husband’s heart.
Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm,
More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn,
Than women’s are.
Orsino essentially says that a woman should marry an older man so that she can better accommodate herself to his whims. In order for her husband to love her she should do whatever he wants. And Viola doesn’t argue against this! She is a very bright woman and yet she completely agrees with the male-dominant marriage model.
The happy ending is even more puzzling to me. When it is revealed that Viola is a woman, and that Olivia has married her twin (Sebastian, a man she really does not know), everything supposedly falls into place. Olivia is married to a man who looks just like her beloved Cesario but Sebastian is completely different from Viola. Is she just going to settle for someone who looks like the one she loves whilst really loving the personality of her sister-in-law? Also, Orsino just has this immediate epiphany that he is in love with Viola when all this time she was his male friend? Does this suggest some strange homoeroticism?
That last question may not be truly answerable but it seems that the only person who really loved someone was Antonio and his probable homosexual love for Sebastian. Not only does he save Sebastian’s life but he also risks and then later faces arrest all for Sebastian. He professes his love, he feels genuine betrayal when he thinks that Sebastian has turned his back on him (really it is Viola as Cesario) and more importantly he does what he says he will and he is very loyal. If the best image of romantic love is between two men than perhaps this is why Twelfth Night was banned. Unfortunately we live in a very homophobic world and being that this story is full of homoeroticism both symbolic and real perhaps that is why this is considered controversial.
I haven’t heard of Hamlet being banned and that is all about a suicidal, murdering young madman, it seems that love is more threatening than violence to those who request a ban.
Love vs. A Good Life
That Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has been included in a course on Banned Books is not surprising. The play critiques nearly every member of its society and, in particular, the nobility. The Duke is so lovesick that he cannot, apparently, do anything besides obsess over his beloved and demand that his court “give [him] some music” (25) to remind him of her. Olivia, the beloved, has made an absurdly dramatic vow to wear a veil and accept no marriage offers for seven years following her brother’s death. Her uncle, Sir Toby, is a drunk, and her steward, a Puritan called Malvolio, is portrayed as particularly uptight. More than any of these, however, the character Viola causes perhaps the most cause for concern. First, she, a woman, outwits all of the men in the play. Second, because she poses as a boy for the majority of the action, she raises several controversial questions regarding the nature of human love and sexuality.
Viola is not a particularly strong heroine. Though she manages to deceive everyone by disguising herself as a boy, she too becomes entangled in the play’s dramatic web when she falls for Orsino, declaring, “Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (9). This web is rather risqué for Shakespeare’s time. Over the course of the play, Olivia falls in love with Viola (disguised as Cesario) but then transfers her feelings onto Sebastian as soon as he appears. Similarly, once Viola is revealed to be a girl, Orsino has no problem viewing her romantically, despite that they were first introduced as two men. That Olivia was initially “in love” with a girl, and that Orsino fondly recalls Viola-as-Cesario’s confessions of love is somewhat disturbing. Their fickleness implies that, perhaps, they are not choosing their partners because of who they are, but simply because of their genders and outward appearances. For example, Orsino asks Viola: “let me see thee in thy woman’s weeds” (67) before actually committing to her. The emphasis is placed on the superficial rather than the genuine. Orsino and Olivia are attracted to their partners because they are "acceptable" by society's standards.
At one point in the play, the clown asks Sir Toby and Sir Andrew if they would “have a love-song, or a song of good life?” (21) Sir Toby responds that he wants a love song and Sir Andrew agrees, stating “Ay, ay: I care not for good life” (21). Through these characters, Shakespeare suggests that love and a good life are mutually exclusive: if one is in love, one cannot have a good life. Perhaps this was true in Shakespeare’s time, considering the shallow and insubstantial nature of the relationships portrayed in Twelfth Night. If these characters had taken the time to examine their true motivations, maybe then they could have found relationships that were ultimately fulfilling.
Viola is not a particularly strong heroine. Though she manages to deceive everyone by disguising herself as a boy, she too becomes entangled in the play’s dramatic web when she falls for Orsino, declaring, “Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (9). This web is rather risqué for Shakespeare’s time. Over the course of the play, Olivia falls in love with Viola (disguised as Cesario) but then transfers her feelings onto Sebastian as soon as he appears. Similarly, once Viola is revealed to be a girl, Orsino has no problem viewing her romantically, despite that they were first introduced as two men. That Olivia was initially “in love” with a girl, and that Orsino fondly recalls Viola-as-Cesario’s confessions of love is somewhat disturbing. Their fickleness implies that, perhaps, they are not choosing their partners because of who they are, but simply because of their genders and outward appearances. For example, Orsino asks Viola: “let me see thee in thy woman’s weeds” (67) before actually committing to her. The emphasis is placed on the superficial rather than the genuine. Orsino and Olivia are attracted to their partners because they are "acceptable" by society's standards.
At one point in the play, the clown asks Sir Toby and Sir Andrew if they would “have a love-song, or a song of good life?” (21) Sir Toby responds that he wants a love song and Sir Andrew agrees, stating “Ay, ay: I care not for good life” (21). Through these characters, Shakespeare suggests that love and a good life are mutually exclusive: if one is in love, one cannot have a good life. Perhaps this was true in Shakespeare’s time, considering the shallow and insubstantial nature of the relationships portrayed in Twelfth Night. If these characters had taken the time to examine their true motivations, maybe then they could have found relationships that were ultimately fulfilling.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Holding Up a Mirror to Nature
I found it interesting that Viola, who would be played probably by a man, indeed a eunuch, chooses to act the part of a man, a eunuch, throughout Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night. Having an actor act the part of an actor draws our attention to the fact that we are watching (or reading in our case) theatre. Theatre, an art form closely related to literature, holds a mirror up to human nature, allowing the audience to ask questions of themselves, each other, society, etc. Shakespeare’s choice to use a man to act like a woman who is acting like a man causes confusion, and therefore asks questions about appearance, reality and gender roles, both in Shakespeare’s time and in our own.
When Viola first decides to act the part of a eunuch, she says to the captain,
There is a fair behavior in thee, captain,
And though that nature with a beauteous wall
Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee
I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character. (I.II.43-47)
Although she speaks about the captain not herself, there is an interesting point that she makes about one’s appearances. Calling the captain’s behavior toward her “fair,” Viola explains that “oft” one’s “polluted nature” is hidden by such a “fair” exterior. She chooses to trust the captain, to believe that his “outward character suits” his true “nature;” but, the words remain. In the next consecutive line, Viola begins to ask the captain to help her hide her interior behind the “wall” of a eunuch. This is not an accident, Shakespeare points out the tension that exists between appearance and reality in Viola’s choice, but also in society.
Viola’s duty, given to her by her love, Orsino, is to convince Olivia to love Orsino, who deeply lover her. Viola’s first words to Olivia herself are,
Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable beauty—I
Pray you, tell me if this be the lady of the house, for I
Never saw her. (I.V.161-163)
I found this to be such an odd sentence since she showers Olivia with praise, speaking of her “unmatchable beauty,” but then says she has “never seen” Olivia, who is currently wearing a veil to cover her face. Clearly, Viola’s words are an act, a memorized script; she even says, “I can say little more than I have studied, and that ques-/tion’s out of my part” (I.V.169-170). Revealing to Olivia that she is merely playing a part, Orsino’s part, Viola admits that her words are not her own and furthermore that although she may not be covering her face as Olivia is doing, she cannot be seen either. Olivia asks Viola if she is a “comedian” (I.V.173), to which Viola responds, “No, my profound heart, and yet, by the very fangs of/malice I swear I am not that I play” (I.V.174-175). By saying, “I am not that I play,” Viola holds a mirror up to Olivia, asking her if she is what she plays or if she, too, although not in men’s clothing, is playing a role and hiding the “nature” within. Olivia has decided to swear off men in mourning of her father and brother, but comes across selfishly, scorning Orsino and wallowing in self-pity. Shakespeare wisely uses Viola’s role to expose Olivia to the harsh truths of reality to contrast the appearances she is clinging to. Holding a mirror up to Olivia holds one up to the audience as well, causing questions of society then and now. Where is the line between complying with societal norms pragmatically and playing a part? What is the difference between the genders, not in appearance, but in the reality Shakespeare is so keen to point out? At what point are our identities decided by appearances and roles instead of our own true “natures”? Twelfth Night doesn’t answer the questions, but merely asks them of us, challenging norms across generations.
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