Explore the Use of Disguise and Deception in Twelfth Night
Explore the use of Disguise and Deception in Twelfth Night
Many characters within Twelfth Night create disguises for themselves, beginning with Viola, who disguises herself as a male in order to make everyone in Illyria believe that she is in fact a man. By deciding to dress Viola in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual and gender confusion with the Olivia-Viola-Orsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise include Malvolio, who wears cross garters and yellow stockings in the hope of winning Olivia’s love. Feste is another example of disguise when he dresses as Sir Topas the priest when talking to Malvolio, despite the fact that Malvolio will not be able to see him due to the dark surroundings that he is in. This could suggest that the importance of clothing is not always important as it may appear. As we are already aware, Viola disguises herself as the male character “Cesario” throughout the play. She does this in order to escape the dangers of being a woman with no protection, as she believes that her brother is dead. Shakespeare uses Viola’s disguise and attitude to portray to the audience the importance and dominance of men at that time. We first meet Viola in the second scene of the play when she decides to disguise herself when talking to the captain,
“Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become.”
From this we can see that Viola is asking the captain for his help.
Another aspect o disguise that we see in this extract of Viola’s speech is
“Nature with a beauteous wall doth oft close in pollution”
This is suggesting that those who are beautiful on the outside are often corrupt on the inside. This is significant as it is Shakespeare suggesting that “beautiful people” hide behind their beauty and use it to disguise their true selves. This can be related to Olivia as she is seen by the audience as the beautiful woman who is pursued by Orsino and indeed Malvolio. We, as the audience, can see
Many characters within Twelfth Night create disguises for themselves, beginning with Viola, who disguises herself as a male in order to make everyone in Illyria believe that she is in fact a man. By deciding to dress Viola in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual and gender confusion with the Olivia-Viola-Orsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise include Malvolio, who wears cross garters and yellow stockings in the hope of winning Olivia’s love. Feste is another example of disguise when he dresses as Sir Topas the priest when talking to Malvolio, despite the fact that Malvolio will not be able to see him due to the dark surroundings that he is in. This could suggest that the importance of clothing is not always important as it may appear. As we are already aware, Viola disguises herself as the male character “Cesario” throughout the play. She does this in order to escape the dangers of being a woman with no protection, as she believes that her brother is dead. Shakespeare uses Viola’s disguise and attitude to portray to the audience the importance and dominance of men at that time. We first meet Viola in the second scene of the play when she decides to disguise herself when talking to the captain,
“Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become.”
From this we can see that Viola is asking the captain for his help.
Another aspect o disguise that we see in this extract of Viola’s speech is
“Nature with a beauteous wall doth oft close in pollution”
This is suggesting that those who are beautiful on the outside are often corrupt on the inside. This is significant as it is Shakespeare suggesting that “beautiful people” hide behind their beauty and use it to disguise their true selves. This can be related to Olivia as she is seen by the audience as the beautiful woman who is pursued by Orsino and indeed Malvolio. We, as the audience, can see