Trickery and Deception

by Danielle Klein (Circle 2)

The themes of love triangles and deception are important ideas in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. There are layers of deception going on in this work that play into the two themes. Of course in a Shakespeare play love cannot just occur without a hitch and there is always a challenge the characters must overcome. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena loves Demetrius, but Demetrius is too in love with Hermia to even bother pursuing Helena. This situation is similar in Twelfth Night. Orsino is trying to court Olivia and sends his page Cesario, who really is a girl in disguise, to talk to Olivia. Of course this deception causes problems because Olivia falls in love with Cesario, creating a love triangle.

Deception is a major theme in this work. Viola who was well off in social standing finds herself on the shore of Illyria after her ship is wrecked. Instead of using her social standing to her advantage she decides to disguise herself as a man named Cesario and work for Duke Orsino. I bet nobody was surprised when they found out that Viola falls in love with Orsino, but of course she cannot tell him because she is disguised as a man! Continuing with the love web trend, Orsino is madly in love with Olivia and is trying to get her to fall in love with him. Olivia has sworn off men in honor of her brother that passed away, which is why the Duke is having such a hard time. “They say, she hath abjured the company/And sight of men” (1.2.38). He sends his new page, Cesario to try to convince Olivia to love him. This goes terribly wrong because even though Olivia has sworn off men, she falls in love with Cesario, who is actually a girl. Cesario, or Viola, is in a sticky situation because she cannot tell Olivia that she is in fact a girl.

It is almost comical that Viola is caught in this situation. Orsino even comments on Viola’s appearance. “That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip/ Is not more smooth and rubious. Thy small pipe/ Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound,/And all is semblative a woman’s part” (1.4.31-34). He basically says that although Cesario is a man he resembles a woman because his lips are smooth, his voice is high, and he looks feminine. This is obviously ironic because Cesario is really Viola. It can also be assumed that Orsino is somewhat attracted to Cesario because of his feminine qualities. I have to say that when I first started reading the dialogue between Olivia and Viola I had to remember that Viola was the one in disguise or I would get confused since it never indicated that Cesario was a person speaking. It is also rather amusing to see how quickly Olivia falls in love with Cesario, especially after she had sworn off love for good. The reader cannot help but feel a little bad for Olivia because we know that the person she has fallen in love with is not who they claim to be and is in fact another girl.

I’m excited to continue reading and find out what happens to Viola and her love triangle between Olivia and Orsino. I wonder how far Viola is going to be able to keep up with her disguise and what will happen when Orsino and Olivia find out that Cesario is in fact a girl. I’m also interested to see what happens when Viola’s twin brother Sebastian visits Orsino. I also cannot help but think about the movie She’s The Man when reading this work and the similarities and obvious differences from both works.

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10 thoughts on “Trickery and Deception

  1. Sam

    I think that deception is a keen word choice in regards to the play’s action, as it seems like deceptiveness and the ability to dupe others factors into the characterization of nearly every player in the work. Feste tricks Malvolio into believing that he is a priest, Maria deceives Malvolio into believing Olivia is in love with him and so on and so forth. However, I think that the most interesting instance of deception occurs over the course of the play; that is to say that Orsino seems to be deceiving himself in regards to his feelings for Cesario. I believe that Orsino doesn’t want to truly embrace his strangely romantic feelings for Cesario and thus he attempts to simply measure the relationship in terms of a brotherly bond. Yet the self-deception occasionally fades when Orsino comments on Cesario’s features and he becomes entranced by the youth, all the while ignoring any homophobic inclinations because he simply is in love with Cesario.

  2. John

    For being a comedy, or arguably because it is a comedy, it seems appropriate that Twelfth Night is filled to the brim with disguises and deception, especially in regards to love. While we did talk about it in class today, I still find it appropriate to bring up that especially compared to the other “relationships” and feelings of love in the play, only Antonio’s affection and feelings towards Sebastian seems the most genuine. Comparatively, the other relationships such as Orsino and Cesario, Olivia and Cesario or Sebastian and Olivia and especially Malvolio and Olivia, everyone seeks a means to an end and expects something out of the relationship, most often meaning power, influence, or money. With the lone exception of Antonio and Sebastian (and even then there was some minor deception with Sebastian hiding his true name) all of the relationships begin with some form of initial lies and deceit which most will agree is not the best way to start a relationship, or at least a healthy one. Which to me, makes the ending of the play that much more ironic given the fairly upbeat and potentially happy wrapping up of all events and everyone ending up with a romantic partner.

  3. Alyssa Merrit

    Danielle,
    I really enjoyed reading your post about deception. I also think that the love triangle situation is supposed to be seen as comical. I thought it was interesting that you state that Orsino might be attracted to Cesario because of his feminine qualities, because I had not originally thought of it that way. I also thought it was strange how quickly Olivia falls in love with Cesario. One minute she was telling him to leave her alone and then then next she was confessing her love for him. But like we talked about in class, both Olivia and Orsino may be attracted to Cesario for his feminine yet man like qualities. Cesario seems to have “the best of both worlds”. I also thought it was interesting that you saw the similarities between Twelfth Night and She’s The Man. I would have never realized the similarities if we didn’t watch the clip of She’s The Man in class.

  4. Sam Jacklitsch

    Danielle,
    Deception and love triangles are a huge theme in Shakespeare’s plays I’m noticing. The audience in Shakespeare’s time probably thrived on “comedy” as we do as viewers today-but in a different sense of the word. I thought about movies and entertainment we watch today and nine out of ten times there’s always some act of deception and typically a love conflict-so some themes just stick and are necessary! I love how you brought up A Midsummer Night’s Dream because I feel that it has the biggest form of a long triangle there is between the four lovers. Regarding Twelfth Night the love triangle that is occurring between Olivia, Cesario, and Orsino is definitely like you said a sticky situation for a major fact being Cersario is actually Viola. I feel deception was taken very lightly in a sense in the end with the reveal of Cesario actually being Viola. The fact that Orsino agreed to marry her and Olivia stayed married to Sebastian surprised me because I assumed it was going to be a lot more dramatic and shocking, but I guess that’s Shakespeare’s comedy ending- reasserting social order!

  5. Joe

    Danielle,
    The different levels of deception are a lot of fun in this play. Confusing, but fun. Shakespeare seems to have taken a lot of enjoyment himself in experimenting with the different layers of deception and duality in Twelfth Night. In AMSND, we’re forced to comprehend the play within the play, and then accept Robin’s address to the audience as the play closes. There are, within AMSND, many realities presented, or what appear to be realities. This characteristics, as you’ve mentioned, is indeed similar to the deception wrought through TN, except Shakespeare is arguably flexing every pun muscle in his imagination to layer not only his characters’ appearances with dualities, but their language. Cesario/Viola are maybe the most notable, especially in relation to Sebastian, adding a third layer of appearance to Viola’s character. Ultimately, I think the duality aspect of the play is what makes TN even difficult to read solely as a comedy. The theme of deception adds room for more tragic interpretations of the text.

  6. Lauren

    Danielle,

    I’ve always found the nature of love in Shakespeare’s works to be a point of extreme interest given their turbulent nature and irrationality. Your examination of the deception drenching the plot of Twelfth Night really brings into question certain aspects of lust and physicality that people often confuse for genuine romantic love. The fact that Duke Orsino avidly pursues Olivia based upon her status and looks prompts the reader to understand Orsino’s true motives in his pursuance of the mourning woman. Why is he going after the one woman that is off limits? Why is he choosing to bombard her with messages and constant attempts to woo her? Frankly, I find Orsino’s behavior to be disrespectful and inconsiderate, especially considering her mourning status. Additionally, I find his emotions and behavior toward her to be unhealthy and obsessive as opposed to genuine and patient. He treats the Lady Olivia as something to conquered, not unlike the way the quasi-relationship between Theseus and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Expanding further, the fickleness of Orsino’s attraction and love is astounding. When he discovers that Viola is simply disguised as Cesario he totally drops his conquest of Olivia and dubs Viola his mistress despite not even being sure Cesario is, in fact, a woman.

    Love and Shakespeare is something I will probably never understand, but I can certainly discuss it for hours on end!

    – Lauren

  7. Jordana Jampel

    Even Orsino wears a bit of a mask. Yes, he wears his heart in his sleeve and is quite in love with Olivia, but he doesn’t go to woo her himself. He knows that she will not allow him to see her, so to trick her he sends Cesario. He is someone she can relate to, according to Orsino: “Diana’s lip/ Is not more smooth and dubious, thy small pipe/ is as the maiden’s organ” (1.5.30-32). He is very much like a woman, which readers find funny and ironic, and that makes him more likely to be admitted to see Olivia. He is not being entirely honest he uses Cesario as a sort of mask so that someone is able to profess his love for her.

    Danielle–
    Although Orsino surprisingly doesn’t play that big of a role in toast the first few scenes, I think your mention of him in terms of wearing a mask is extremely important. When I started reading this play, I found it really odd that Orsino was so insistent on sending Cesario to woo Olivia–if he really loves her, then he would win her heart over himself. I understand that Olivia has forbidden Orsino from visiting her estate, but sending Cesario instead just proves how Orsino is seriously a sucker for Olivia and has no problem being treated the way he is by her. This observation dips into the question of gender role reversals that much of our class has been interested in, and I believe, as he usually is, Shakespeare is showing his audience that it doesn’t matter what gender and its social characteristics you identify with, anyone can be blinded by love…or the illusion of love.

  8. Alexa Bashford

    Danielle,

    I love the topic of your blog post. You’re completely correct in that Shakespeare wouldn’t be Shakespeare if there weren’t at least a few problems occurring in a love story. I can’t imagine myself wanting to read it or anything else if the plot didn’t have a least a few bumps in the road for the characters to face. Let’s face it: problems are what make life interesting, whether it be in the real world or in the plot of a Shakespeare play. Last but not least, your mention of She’s the Man made me go and watch it this past weekend. Now I too cannot stop making the comparisons between the original text and its modern adaptation.

  9. Danielle Tralongo

    Danielle,
    I really liked that your post focued on the idea of deception, seeing as it is such a prevalent theme in this story. It’s even more interesting to note, then, that in Shakespeare’s plays, all actors were men when they were first performed. This adds another layer of deception to this already convoluted story, potentially increasing one’s confusion even more. It is definitely comical at some points that Viola is caught in this situation, though one could say that the situation is not always humourous. When one considers the fact that Viola cannot admit her feelings for Orsino due to the position that she is in, the situation becomes a bit less comical. Overall, however, the ideas of deception and miscommunication are really interesting to explore, and I loved reading your post about them.

  10. Danielle Lown

    Danielle,

    I love that you chose deception as your topic for this blog post because it is almost the main theme within this play. I constantly found myself wondering how the deceptions that took place would pan out at the end. Honestly, I was sort of disappointed. The whole play revolved on “Cesario” who was really Viola, but it was almost as if Viola did not even exist (as we discussed in class.) It seems that there were no repercussions for Cesario’s actions, rather everyone just accepted it. This is not was I envisioned happening at all. Also, the love triangle was almost a given, as we saw it too in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and I can only predict we will see it yet again in the plays left for the semester.

    – Danielle

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