How Does Twelfth Night Use Of Disguise

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Shakespeare takes the typical love triangle, adds some surprise disguises and makes problems and confusion arise for all characters involved. In his play Twelfth Night or What You Will, the plot centers around a brother and sister separated after a ship wreck. The sister, Viola, is left stranded on a strange land, Illyria, with the notion that her brother, Sebastian, has died. Viola makes the wise decision to disguise herself as her brother in order to survive on Illyria. The use of disguise is a integral part of the story because it allows Viola, or as he’s known to everyone in Illyria as Cesario, to complete a lot of the tasks that she would never be able to do as a women. Viola/Cesario would never have been able to complete some of the task …show more content…

Despite Ceasrio’s best efforts in trying to help Orsino initially with his love for Olivia, Olivia in turn fell for Cesario. He makes the cryptic statement, “I am not what I am” (3.1.148). Cesario means to state that he is not what he appears to be. He isn’t a boy for Olivia to love because he’s actually a girl dressed up as a boy. Cesario will never be able to accepted or reciprocate Olivia’s love for him because he had no feelings or romance towards her but also because Viola has fallen for someone else, Orsino. She goes on to tell Olivia “ By innocence I swear, and by my youth, I have one heart, one bosom and one truth, And that no woman has, nor never none shall mistress be of it, save I alone” (3.1.165-168). This once again echos what Cesario is trying to say before to Olivia. His heart, or more correctly Viola’s heart, will only every belong to Orsino. She has fallen in love with an imaginary boy. It holds slight double meaning being that since he actually is a women no other women will have his heart and that is also true because another man also already has won Viola’s heart. The double meaning could draws more attention to Viola’s double identity, which the audience is only aware of but makes what she’s trying to tell Olivia sound even more

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