Shakespeares Use Of Disguise In Twelfth Night :: essays research papers

&65279Shakespeare uses disguise in his number, Twelfth Night, to cause confusion and sexualconflict between his characters and it is this confusion and conflict that appeal to the audience.It keeps them wondering how many an(prenominal) more of these situations will arise, and in the end, how willthis confusion and conflict be resolved? The first time that this is evident is in Act I, position IV, where Cesario, rightfully Viola is sent by her master, Orsino, to win the love of Countess Olivia for him. At first it seems as ifnothing is out of the ordinary, but Cesario throws a fling on things with his last words of thescene. Cesario indicates that he will do his surpass to win over the lady, but then in an aside saysWhooer I woo, myself would be his wife. (I. IV.41)This makes things much more difficult. What will happen when a messenger who loveshis master is sent to win over the love of the i his master desires? This is a case whereShakespeares use of disguise has left fiel d the audience in suspense. The audience is left waiting tosee how this issue will play itself out. Little do they know, that disguise will play anotherimportant role, in muddling this problem even further. In the adjacent scene, Act I, Scene V, Cesario will arrive at the home of Countess Olivia, and later on some difficulty, will eventu anyy be granted an audience with the Countess. Cesario is in trutheloquent, almost relentless, in expressing what love that the Duke Orsino has for Olivia, butOlivia rejects the Dukes offer, saying that she cannot return his love. This is where things reallyget perplexing. Once Cesario exits, Olivia reviews what Cesario has said, and begins to think of themessenger. At this point, the audience realizes what has happened, Olivia has fallen for themessenger. level(p) this comes as a surprise to her, she says Even so quickly may one catch theplague?(I. IV.281)To stand back and see what has arisen, all because of Violas disguise, is overwhelming and quite hard to explain without appear redundant. To me this is the main conflict in theplay. Viola is a young cleaning lady who has disguised herself as a eunuch in order to suck theemployment of the Duke Orsino and falls in love with him. The Duke, who is unaware thatCesario is really Viola, or that she has these feelings for him at all, sends Cesario to win over the