One of our questions on Tuesday in class included four questions lumped into one, and three of those questions really struck me. The questions that made me really think were: Is theater an arena of abuse and cruelty? Is it necessary to have someone deceived in order to create dramatic illusion? Is art a form of madness?!? These are questions that of course most people probably have their own opinions on, myself included. I’m not a theater geek; I’ve never seen a play on Broadway; and I haven’t seen a play since I saw my high school perform Mary Poppins at least 12 years ago. I am however still entitled to my opinions on these questions.

The first question seemed rather preposterous to me, so it struck me in a negative way. The Oxford English Dictionary defines abuse as, “Improper usage; a corrupt practice or custom; esp. one that has become chronic,” and “Wrong or improper use (of something), misuse; misapplication; perversion.” There are many other definitions but those are the two closely related to what most people would see as the definition of abuse. Cruelty is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as, “The quality of being cruel; disposition to inflict suffering; delight in or indifference to the pain or misery of others; mercilessness, hard-heartedness: esp. as exhibited in action. Also, with pl., an instance of this, a cruel deed.” Nobody is forced to perform in theatrical performances of anything, they audition, and if they don’t like a part they’re given they can decide not to act in the performance.

Now onto the next question, this, of course ties in with Twelfth Night, and the title of my blog post. In the very first scene of the play, Viola decides to disguise herself as a young man and will go by the name of Cesario. Viola’s original plan was to become a servant to Olivia, but when that’s out of the question, she decides to disguise herself and serve Duke Orsino. While serving Orsino as Cesario, Viola must deliver love messages to Viola from Orsino. Let’s just take a moment to think of all the deceit that’s happening here: Viola disguises herself as a teenage boy, Cesario; Cesario serves Duke Orsino; Cesario delivers love messages to Olivia. The only person who truly knows about Viola’s disguise is the Captain. Orsino and Oliva are both completely unaware of who Cesario truly is. The question remains: is it necessary to have someone deceived in order to create dramatic illusion? I don’t think it’s necessary for someone to be deceived in order to create dramatic illusion, but I do think it adds a certain element. From the perspective of someone who has read the play, there wouldn’t be any dramatic illusion knowing exactly who Cesario is because the watcher would not be deceived. I do believe that from the perspective of someone who has never read the play that deceit and dramatic illusion would go hand in hand.

Is art a form of madness? I think this question is solely a matter of opinion. I personally think that some of Shakespeare’s works are madness (fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, disguises in Twelfth Night), but I wouldn’t say art is a form of madness as much as madness can be expressed in the form of art.