The Effects that Arise in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night From Viola's Disguising Herself as Cesario

The Effects that Arise in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night From Viola's Disguising Herself as Cesario

A large amount of the plot of Twelfth Night results from Viola's

disguise and it has great number of unforeseen consequences. The first

and possibly the most crucial of these is Olivia's sudden attraction

to Viola when she disguises herself as Cesario. This begins when

Olivia sees Viola for the first time. As she comes to declare the

Duke's love for Olivia in Act 1 Scene 5. At the start of the scene

Viola does not realise that she is speaking to Olivia, instead

thinking she is addressing a servant. However, it is because of this

that Viola says the first thing that may have attracted Olivia to her.

She calls Olivia, '…most radiant, exquisite and unmatched beauty.'

This is not part of a prepared speech and seemingly directed to a mere

servant. It may be this phrase that first softens Olivia's heart

towards the boyish Cesario. The probable reason for Viola using this

phrasing is that she is trying to charm her way into see Olivia and as

girl, knows exactly how they like to addressed.

In this scene one of the most prominent effects of Viola's disguise is

that it seems that the Boy Cesario can think like a woman. To Olivia,

having forsaken men whilst morning her brothers death Viola comes

across as extraordinarily sensitive. When Viola confesses Orsino's

love for Olivia she uses phrases such as, 'Halloo your name to the

reverberate hills.' Olivia is instantly moved by such language and

asks, 'What is your parentage?' I feel this is the first question,

which shows Olivia's interest in Viola. This is because due to the

social hierarchy of th...

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...The fact that Sebastian has never met her

before adds to the ridiculousness of the scene. Shakespeare relies

heavily on the audience's suspension of disbelief in order to create a

marriage of questionable morals. In my opinion his main reason for

doing this is to produce a happy to the play, several marriages.

Overall, Viola's disguise is used for a vast number of comic devices

and is probably the singularly important device in the plot.

Shakespeare uses it to create a comedy that however has a number of

moral references as well as some questionable ethics. The audience is

constantly reminded that they are watching a play and a lot of staging

opportunity is provided by the cross dressing Viola. Finally, it goes

to provide the happy ending required by a comedy and is a constant

source of amusement throughout the play.