In Twelfth Night there are many disguises five of which are found in Act One alone. These disguises are played by the characters of Orcino, Viola, Sir Toby, Olivia and Malvolio. Eash and every disguise functions on its own way in the plot development. the first disguise is that of Orsion's. He is the wealthy Duke who has become love sick over Olivia. He says, 'If music be the food of love, play on.' He is the supposingly most deep or poetic lover . Despite this strong love he seems to be more in love with 'the chase' than Olivia. To begin with if this was true love then he would have visited her himself to confess his love but instead he sends someone to do this for him. He tends to become even more in love when he hears her reply but this is the chase. He is a disguise because he doesn't see his real self or the real situation. He is unable to see that he is falsely in love and what he feels is the feeling of wanting more what you cant have This is a feeling that most of us experience and in act one tis is orsino's disguise. It helps in the development of the plot because had he not been in disguise with the way he truly felt there would have been no chase at all possibly. Olivia may not have had her disguise caused by his disguise. it is their disguises to which the play revolves.
The second disguise is that of viola. This is more of a literal disguise where she dresses to look like a man. she does this for various reasons such as being unrecognizable and obtaining a job. No one knows about this except the captain. The is an on purpose disguise for the benefit of a normal life and survival. She says, 'conceal me what I am, and be my aid. 'In her disguise the captain is her helper. This helps with the development of the plot because viola in her disguise becomes the man that Olivia falls in love with and unveils herself for.
The third disguise is Sir Toby. He is Olivia's uncle. he pretends to be Andrew's friend but this is only to obtain his wealth. He is