by Sam Jacklitsch (Circle 1)
Throughout the reading of the first two Acts of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, it is obvious that already many lies, love triangles, and questioning role reversals are surfacing, which calls for a very interesting and enjoyable play. When we are first introduced to the Duke Orsino, it is apparent that he is very determined and confident in winning over Olivia’s hand in love and marriage. Orsino believes that he is almighty and is capable of a love so strong that it will make Olivia forget about the deaths of her brother and father. The most interesting thing about this situation is the role reversal in this play. Typically in a traditional situation of this time, Olivia would probably be married off to Orsino if that is what her father wished. Since Olivia is in the predicament she’s in, she is able to decide her own fate in who she marries or decides not to. Olivia is in control of her own life which is very uncommon to see in this time period.
Another woman that is pushing role reversal is Viola. Shakespeare has complicated the gender roles in this apparent love situation with Olivia as disguising Viola as a man when she was an upper class woman. Viola is the most interesting character thus far in making the risky and dangerous decision in disguising as a man, “Cesario.” When “he” makes his journey to confess yet again the love Orsino manifests for Olivia, it is then obvious that Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario-“I do I know not what and fear to find Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind. Fate, show thy force. Ourselves we do not owe. What is decreed must be, and be this so” (1. 2. 283). I’m beginning to see how quickly the Shakespearean world falls in love! This not only poses a problem because Olivia is not aware of this disguise but also we could see a woman dictating the relationship. The fact that Viola made the decision for herself to conduct such a plan I applaud her. She is a very smart and relentless woman who is willing to make it in this world on her own even if she has to pretend to be a man.
The last woman this far who has made an impact on the play is Maria with her quick witted plan to fool Malvolio. I think that a woman tricking a man into pretending another woman is utterly in love with him is great! Malvolio took the bait so easily and it was quite humorous to watch it in the movie because it is exactly how I pictured it in my head when I read it. Maria is Olivia’s lady in waiting, something of the sorts like a mentor. Malvolio thinks he is this larger than life man who likes to dream about bossing around, “Calling my officers about me, in my branched velvet gown, having come from a daybed, where I have left Olivia sleeping—“ (2. 5. 48). Malvolio is seriously delusional which makes the joke even funnier.
Twelfth Night thus far is such a great play and I am very excited to see how the lie about “Cesario,” the love triangle with Olivia, Viola/Cesario, and Orsino falls into place, and to see if there is more instances of woman’s role reversal.
I agree that pretty much all of the female characters that we know are very strong and push the limits of the gender roles. It is interesting to see how strong these women are and then see him write such passive female characters in his other works, such as Hero in “Much Ado About Nothing.” They are all strong, witty and independent. They know what they want and they go after it. They are very far ahead of their time.
Hi Sam!
I thought you did an excellent on your blog post and I am also excited to see the outcome in the love triangle as well. A couple of points that I agreed with how shakespeare complicated the gender roles in the love situation between Olivia and Viola. I also like that you included Maria at the end of the post, I also agree with you that she is basically the master mind of the plan to humiliate Malvolio. She wrote the successful letter that made him believe the letter and that it was actually true, which if he didn’t believe it then the plan wouldn’t have worked. I think the most important part to having the letter written by Maria be so successful is because she knows exactly how Olivia writes, therefore she is able to write a letter that fooled Malvolio. Great Job!
Sam,
The women in this play tend to hold more power over their lives than usual. You’re so right when you say Duke Orsino would probably be a potential suitor for Olivia if her father had any say. I never thought about that! Maria does deceive Malvolio but it important to recognize the class difference between the both people aside from their gender. Malvolio’s demeanor as someone of lower class is not acceptable and I feel like that is more of reason, aside from the fact he is man. I appreciate your examples of powerful women in this play! “The Legal Status of Women” excerpt from the Norton set the stage for this play.
Great Work!
Sam,
I totally agree with you on the interesting role reversals in this work. It is interesting that Olivia falls in love with Cesario so quickly, especially since she says she has sworn off love after the death of her brother. The Shakespearian world truly does fall in love quickly. I think what is so fascinating about the role of Viola is that in the play she is a woman disguised as a man, but in Shakespearian times there were only male actors. This means that the actor who was a male was disguised as a woman who was then disguising as a man. I commend Viola for disguising for as long as she did and tricking both Orisino and Olivia. I couldn’t imagine disguising for a man for even a day! Maria’s trick on Malvolio is definitely comedic, but also I feel badly for the way he was treated following the letter. I think the role reversals are important because they exhibit powerful and independent women.
Sam–
I liked how you went through and spent time on each of the women in the play; they all manage to defy the standards of the time and affect the male characters in new and bold ways. I especially liked that you mentioned Maria because it’s easy to gloss over her as a minor character, but I agree that she is definitely quick witted in setting up Malvolio. I think Maria is a slightly underrated character and even though Olivia and Viola provide much of the discussion on women in Twelfth Night, it’s important to look at Maria’s lines throughout the play and see just how aware she is of the other characters and how she can affect them.
The idea of Olivia having some decision in who she is going to marry was something I had not originally thought about. I guess it is so common today that women are able to choose who they want to marry, regardless of their family or social class, that I did not really question it. After reading a few of Shakespeare’s plays, it is evident that the family one is born into and the social class take precedence over what the woman feels for the man.
Some suggestions I have for as why Olivia has more of a decision in her marriage have to do with her family and her social standing. Olivia is left without a father and a brother when she is introduced, giving her more freedom over her own life because presumably she is living on her own after these deaths. Normally it was more of a decision on the male in the family to handle the woman relative’s marriage arrangements rather than the woman herself. Also, Olivia is a higher social standing than most others in the play. She presumably has the time and money to look for a companionate marriage and does not necessarily have to marry Duke Orsino for the sake of money or gaining social status.
This is a great analysis of the characters in Twelfth Night and their reversal of roles throughout the play. I appreciated your emphasis on Maria, who is clearly ingenius for her plan to trick Malvolia. Maria can be easily overlooked because the other drama of this play is so extreme and considerably bizarre. Maria seems to be a clever girl and as we have just learned, does end up marrying Sir Toby, as he said he “could” do for her quick wits.
Overall, I find it interesting that there is such emphasis on the women of this play. Many blogs were written about the women and their particular and peculiar roles. I had never thought that Shakespeare put much thought or focus on women in his plays until having read Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as I had only read Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet (because who hasn’t?) before this class.
I liked your analysis on the role that women have in this play. The gender role reversal is very telling of how Shakespeare is pushing all boundaries with this play, especially for the time it was written in. I think the inclusion of the Maria/Malvolio plot line is really important because I feel like it gets overlooked whenever people study the play. The obvious role reversal of Viola/Cesario is the one everyone who reads the play focuses on, but I liked that you included all of them. The decision that Olivia makes not to marry initially is also really important in showing how Shakespeare was pushing the boundaries. It was not often that a woman in the noble class like Olivia, was able to choose her fate in terms of marriage, and I think that it’s important to highlight how unusual it was for that time.
Sam,
The role reversals are one of the most interesting aspects of this play to me, I think that was a great theme to comment on. I find Olivia’s and Viola’s positions of power to be especially considerable. Shakespeare always manages to add in his plays dynamic female characters who typically behave and are characterized illogically in context of the time period the plays were written. Olivia has all the power and will (the magic word in this play) in the world to deny Orsino, a dike—a man of high standing and power who would typically have the upper hand in authority. Viola, as Cesario, though she inherits power through deception and disguise, has the ability to turn down Olivia. Olivia and Viola aren’t submissive female characters, they each maintain levels of independence and free will that aren’t accepted as typical of literature or society during their time period. This idea makes their roles in the play more significant than some of the others because of the added dimension of social commentary that’s made through them
Sam,
Your blog post is excellent and I especially appreciate how you paid attention to the minor character Maria, whose actions undoubtedly have a profound effect on the plot of Twelfth Night. Maria’s cleverness in setting up Malvolio the way she did cannot be underestimated despite her status as more of a supporting character. It just comes to show how not all of the important points of a plot have to be given to the lead characters in a piece of literature.
I like how you focused on role reversal. The material in Your blog could even go as far as outlining the structure of disturbing order in shakspear comedy. It is interesting to think about Olivia’s situation to begin with this way however. It is true that for Shakespeare’s time it is odd. Olivia a beautiful, powerful, high class women out there on her own to make up her own mind. So not with the times you couldn’t be more correct. For the norm of that to e yes seems like a role reversal. However, for the sake of script and thetre I see this as the norm an the part where she falls in love with cesario as the reversed norm or destruction of order. I like that you included maria and malvolio in this observation. I too touched on that relationship. I absolutely think this is a clean cut example of your main focus role reversal (women in power/man submissive one) as well as a clear view of the disruption of order in the play.
Sam,
I also wrote about role reversal in the Twelfth Night in my post. I found it to be one of the most intriguing points of the play. I was especially interested in Olivia’s situation. It is quite rare to read of a woman in Olivia’s position during Shakespeare’s time. With her father and brother gone, she was left in charge of her own fate. However, now that the play has concluded, I wonder if Shakespeare is suggesting that Olivia wasn’t really capable of handling her own fate? After all, she fell in love with a woman (who she would not have been able to marry) and then got confused and married the woman’s twin brother whom she had never met. As disappointing as it is, I wonder if the conclusion of the play is to remind us of the inadequacy of women.