Gender And Sexual Identity In Twelfth Night
In William Shakespeare’s a Twelfth Night a major subject is gender and sexual identity as a whole. Shakespeare takes on a vision that implies that gender to some degree can be subjective depending on how you present yourself rather than something you are due to the sexual parts you were given at birth. Viola early on in the story disguises herself as a male, named Cesario, and almost instantly Olivia falls in love with her. The overall alteration of Viola into Cesario is thought-provoking because Olivia’s unbearable affection for him/her suggests that discrepancies amongst gender or sexuality are not as secure as one might reason. Olivia says, “I love thee so…Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide…For that I woo thou therefore has no cause…Love