More handpicked essays just for you.
Homosexuality in shakespeare merchant of venice
Gender and sexuality in twelfth night
Gender and sexuality in twelfth night
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Homosexuality in shakespeare merchant of venice
Chad Allen Thomas, lecturer at the University of Michigan, in his article “On Queering Twelfth Night” (2010), proposes the inclusion of Shakespeare within queer theatre. Thomas focuses on Cheek by Jowl's Twelfth Night, directed by Declan Donnellan (2006), and Twelfth Night by Shakespeare’s Globe, directed by Tim Carroll (2003). He provides these productions to examine cross-gender casting and the aesthetic of queer theory.
Thomas begins by discussing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and the queer implications within the show. Twelfth Night features a cross dressing character, Viola (Cesario), who is involved in a confusing relationship due to the implication that she is a boy. Thomas takes this one step further through acknowledging that in the
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy that has been interpreted in different ways, enabling one to receive multiple experiences of the same story. Due to the content and themes of the play, it can be creatively challenging to producers and their casting strategies. Instead of being a hindrance, I find the ability for one to experiment exciting as people try to discover strategies that best represent entertainment for the audience, as well as the best ways to interpret Shakespeare’s work.
Another staple of out modern society is our loosening restrictions of sexuality. Whedon’s film takes on a level of sexuality in certain scenes only acceptable in contemporary times. While Shakespeare’s sexual double entendres seem meant more for comedy’s sake, in the film they are entwined in the acting itself, so much so that it causes certain relationships to take on new meaning.
Garner, Shirley Nelson, and Madelon Sprengnether, eds. Shakespearean Tragedy and Gender. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indian U, 1996.
In Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, gender identity and alternative sexualities are highlighted through the depiction of different characters and personalities. In the play, Viola disguises herself as a man thereby raising a merry-go-around of relationships that are actually based on a lie rather than actual fact. Viola attracts the attention of Olivia since she thinks that Viola is a man but even more fascinating is the fact that Orsino is attracted to Viola although he thinks that she is a man. In another twist Viola is attracted to Orsino and has fell in love with him although their love cannot exist since Orsino thinks that Viola is a man.
Lindheim, Nancy. "Rethinking Sexuality And Class In "Twelfth Night.." University Of Toronto Quarterly 76.2 (2007): 679-713.Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
The perfect lives that make up the routine of the Illyrian citizens portrays a society in which enjoyment, and personal gain are held in utmost priority. Shakespeares mocks the passivity of the Illyrian lifestyle to explain to the audience that excess of such festivity has negative side effects such as ego and lack of true love. He expresses that the pursuit of expression and truth in itself invokes enjoyment. Sir Aguecheek mirrors the uncertainty of a person through lack of self-confidence and the desire to openly reveal his true self when lamenting “Is it a world to hide virtues in?” (1.3.131). While uncovering aesthetic and emotional mysteries, the Illyrians find that disport restrains them from actual enjoyment and love. The play follows the audience to motivate them towards dissemination of feelings and expression of passion as a “locus of growth and self discovery” (Logan 223) and to obtain true happiness by ridding themselves of excessive, meaningless fun.
Barton, Anne. Introduction to Twelfth Night. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. 403-407.
In Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, love, fancy, and wonder drives the characters world to change. If the presence of love, fancy, or wonder wasn 't there, no one would do anything. There would never be the resolution in Act 5, Scene 1. In comedy, the play starts in chaos and then progressively changes into a resolution, humorously coming to the end result. The moment of resolution is when the disguise of Viola/Cesario is lifted. When Viola’s true identity is shown, everything suddenly makes sense to the other characters. This introduces an understanding to all the misunderstood events leading up to this resolution, making this ironic story come to a close. In Twelfth Night, irony, the factors that drive Illyria,
Twelfth Night, written by Shakespeare, centers around the convoluted and shifting nature of love. The play makes a point that the ways in which love and affection are seen and shown differ amongst the different classes. Orsino and Olivia, representing the upper class, demonstrate their love in grand, impersonal gestures, whereas the upper-middle class, characterized by Viola, does so in a selfless, more personable manner. Genuine love, according to Shakespeare, is not restrained by gender. Disguise and mistaken identity are major components of Twelfth Night, which makes gender ambiguity a major theme, with Viola disguising herself as a man. This ambiguity is further amplified with the fluidity of both Orsino’s and Olivia’s sexual identity,
In theatre, a “breeches” role is one where an actress cross-dresses, appearing on stage in male clothing. Heroines in breeches roles are predominantly limited to playing youths, retaining their femininity within this in-between state (Mann, 228). Malvolio describes Cesario as “Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy” (I.v.149-50). Twelfth Night, through these breeches and androgynous characters, explores how gender is fashioned. In exploring this androgyny, Shakespeare looks back to Ovid’s myths of metamorphosis and of Hermaphroditus, incorporating a set of attitudes regarding love and union between men and women (Slights, 327). Viola’s gender performance is used to demonstrate that sexual and romantic attraction “is not an inherently gendered or heterosexual phenomenon” (Charles, 124).
Gerlach, Jeanne, Rudolph Almasy, and Rebecca Daniel. “Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender.” Revisiting Shakespeare and Gender. The Women in Literature and Life Assembly of The National Council of Teachers of English, 1996. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Gender identity and roles are a common theme found in William Shakespeare’s seventeenth century writing, Twelfth Night. The city of Illyria’s upper class society is greatly impacted by both the noble Olivia as well as the lower class Viola’s resistance of customary gender expectations. Both women thus serve as vital components in the disarray of the already chaotic city.
Homoeroticism focuses on the proceeding of the prohibitions of women on the English stage, as young pubescent boys played female characters. (Bullion, L. 2010:7) According to Smith (1994:48); “Historical records, however, the laws were hardly rigorously enforced and cases in which a man was executed for violating the law.” Orgel states; “That Early Modern England exhibited a much greater unease towards female sexuality than towards male sexuality” (Orgel.1996:35-6). He continues by saying; “Theatre therefore, was not especially concerned by the underlying male to male homoeroticism in heterosexual relations between characters on stage (Bullion, L. 2010:7). Thus, English stages only passed a measure of homoerotic charged exchange. (Bullion, L.2010:8-9). Agreeing with these statements, for this proposal I want to understand why it was so acceptable to “act” out these homoerotic desires, but was not acceptable outside the theatres of the Elizabethan society. Can one argue that Shakespeare blatantly used homoeroticism to mock societal standards, by using gender bending as comedic device? But the question remains, did Shakespeare challenge the Elizabethan’s status quo, strictly attacking the patriarchy or was it seen as a palatable association to Elizabethan audiences – the fantasy of men playing
Throughout Twelfth Night, disguise and mistaken identity works as a catalyst for confusion and disorder which consistently contributes towards the dramatic comic genre of the play. Many characters in Twelfth Night assume disguises, beginning with Viola, who disguises herself as a man in order to serve Orsino, the Duke. By dressing his protagonist in male garments, Shakespeare creates ongoing sexual confusion with characters, which include Olivia, Viola and Orsino, who create a ‘love triangle’ between them. Implicitly, there is homoerotic subtext here: Olivia is in love with a woman, despite believing her to be a man, and Orsino often comments on Cesario’s beauty, which implies that he is attracted to Viola even before her male disguise is removed. However, even subsequent to the revealing of Viola’s true identity, Orsino’s declares his love to Viola implying that he enjoys lengthening the pretence of Vio...
Howard, J. 1988, Crossdressing, the theatre, and gender struggle in early modern England, 1st edn, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. viewed 25th May 2014