The Effect of Viola's Disguise on the Society of "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 3,0, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: "One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons! / A natural perspective, that is and is not." An image which seems to dominate William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night or What you will". It is said that "Twelfth Night" presents a vision of female erotic desire and constant amity through 'structural imagination' of theatrical cross-dressing. An aspect which seemed to be a taboo in the Elizabethan England due to the fact that identity, class and society where very important at this time.

Shakespeare's staging of "Twelfth Night" is therefore described as a conflict between represented and representing bodies but also the presence of a single body in a double aspect. Within this imagine of cross-dressing the aspect of desire toward the same sex is mentioned and produces a confusion. The fact that the main protagonist, Viola, is disguised as a man, triggers a certain confusion which is recognized throughout the whole play. Her gender role in the society and her relation to the other characters, especially the relation to Orsino and Olivia is questioned.