William Shakespeare s Twelfth Night Or What You Will

Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a classic play full of countless humorous encounters between couples and romantic happenstances between those who should not have romantic relationships. As one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, the play explores many problems that seem to be ahead of its time. Within the play, there are instances of cross dressing (Viola as Cesario), homosexual encounters (Sebastian and Antonio), and the ever-asked question of â€Å"what is love?†. Love is regarded in extremely different and confusing ways to the various characters of the play, especially Viola, Duke Orsino and Olivia. Focusing on these three main characters, this paper will discuss the problems each character has regarding love†¦show more content†¦When Orsino leaves after tasking Cesario with winning over Olivia, Viola exclaims, â€Å"yet a barful strife! /Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife† (1.4.41-42). Viola quickly falls in love with the man she works for and easily admits it to herself, but knows that she is unable to follow through with any of her feelings because she must remain Cesario for the time being, though she is unsure of just how long this cross dressing will last. Viola’s main dilemma in love is that she is a â€Å"man† at the time of her meeting the Duke because the only position open on the island of Illyria is of a man’s. The timing of this play is in an extremely patriarchal society and there would have been no way for Viola to remain a woman while fulfilling the servant position to the Duke. The love that Viola has for Duke Orsino causes visible problems to the audience when the pair discuss their feelings on love and relationships. In the second act of the play, there is an instance where the Duke infers that Cesario is in love with someone. In this conversation lies Viola’s true thoughts regarding love, however, they are hard to decipher as she attempts to keep her male presentation at the forefront. After listening to the Duke’s views on love (to be considered later in this paper) Viola politely disagrees with her master by saying, Too well what love women to men may owe. In faith, they are as true of heart asShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Twelfth Night Or What You Will Essay936 Words   |  4 PagesWith every good story, there must be reason to the madness. With every great story, the audience is left to question their own thoughts over time. But what really makes a story great? Is it love and good will throughout where in the end nearly everyone is happy and all is well? Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, or What You Will is an example of exactly this happy ending story. Or is it the taboo and transgressions of a story’s characters that make it great? 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