Twelfth Night Identity Essay
Write about the significance of disguise and mistaken identity in Twelfth Night
Shakespeare’s use of disguise and mistaken identity is significant to the plot of Twelfth Night as it is the thread that runs through the entire fabric of the play; and is instrumental in providing confusion, misunderstanding, and ultimately – love. Almost all of the characters in this play either carry out some sort of identity deception, or are deceived by someone else doing much the same thing.
Primarily we have the play’s protagonist, Viola, who resorts to gender deception in order to get a job in what is essentially a male dominated society. It is noteworthy to mention that in Shakespeare’s time, female roles were played by males, and the idea of a male playing a female who disguises herself as a male is doubly ironic, creating an even greater comic element, and in effect would have been hilarious to the theatre goer. We also have Malvolio, who dresses in what is effectively a disguise to impress Olivia, and Feste who acts like a fool when he …show more content…
Feste is in actual fact an erudite and witty man whose use of puns is a cause of great amusement to the audience. “This fellow is wise enough to play the fool.” He disguises his cleverness in order to put people off their guard so that he can observe them without them even realising it. Later in the play when he pretends to Malvolio that he is the minister Sir Topas, he actually dons a disguise even though Malvolio cannot see him. Perhaps this is because he needs the disguise to enable him to play the part effectively, or maybe it is Shakespeare’s way of saying that outward appearances are in fact not that important, or even indicative of one’s true personality. I believe that Feste’s comment cucullus non facit monachum ‘the cowl does not make the monk’ sums up the entire message of the
Shakespeare’s use of disguise and mistaken identity is significant to the plot of Twelfth Night as it is the thread that runs through the entire fabric of the play; and is instrumental in providing confusion, misunderstanding, and ultimately – love. Almost all of the characters in this play either carry out some sort of identity deception, or are deceived by someone else doing much the same thing.
Primarily we have the play’s protagonist, Viola, who resorts to gender deception in order to get a job in what is essentially a male dominated society. It is noteworthy to mention that in Shakespeare’s time, female roles were played by males, and the idea of a male playing a female who disguises herself as a male is doubly ironic, creating an even greater comic element, and in effect would have been hilarious to the theatre goer. We also have Malvolio, who dresses in what is effectively a disguise to impress Olivia, and Feste who acts like a fool when he …show more content…
Feste is in actual fact an erudite and witty man whose use of puns is a cause of great amusement to the audience. “This fellow is wise enough to play the fool.” He disguises his cleverness in order to put people off their guard so that he can observe them without them even realising it. Later in the play when he pretends to Malvolio that he is the minister Sir Topas, he actually dons a disguise even though Malvolio cannot see him. Perhaps this is because he needs the disguise to enable him to play the part effectively, or maybe it is Shakespeare’s way of saying that outward appearances are in fact not that important, or even indicative of one’s true personality. I believe that Feste’s comment cucullus non facit monachum ‘the cowl does not make the monk’ sums up the entire message of the