Themes in

Twelfth Night
By group 1, 4 and 7
 Group Members
Hannah Reyes Hannah Ramlogan Jaden Clarke Janessa Layne

Jaylana Edwards Josiah Palmiste Rayanna Moses Rondel Seeram

Lansdell Ryan Saahil Mohammed Sekaye Campbell Shornick Phillip

Tisshora Andell Tyrek Fournillier

 Themes We Examine
01 02 03
Disguise & Comedy Gender
Deception

04 05
Love & Desire Class
 01
Gender and
Sexuality
Gender as a theme within Twelfth Night is explored from different perspectives by
various characters in connection with the themes of deception and disguise.
Through the character Viola, this concept of gender expression and identity is
explored. The play highlights the potential vagueness of gender: there are many
situations in which characters refer to Cesario as a feminine man. Even more
radically than this, it also proposes that gender is something you can influence,
based on how you perform, rather than something that you are, based on the sexual
organs you were born with. The play also exhibits elements of sexual fluidity, related
to this gender switch for Viola. At times, Olivia seems to be attracted to Cesario
because "he" is such a feminine man. Orsino at the end of the play seems as drawn
to Cesario as he is to Viola.
William Shakespeare uses the devices of soliloquy and disguise. Disguise
is used to catalyse the development and analysis of this theme through the character
Viola. Soliloquy is used to expose the inner thoughts of characters, exposing us to
the inner feelings and thoughts of characters.
Gender roles and relations are also frequently examined, from this perspective, the
character Viola is also the main explorer of this theme. She experiences first-hand
how gender identity drastically affects how she is treated by others. With the added
context of history, we understand that the gender roles of men and women were very
strictly predetermined. This caused women to be far more restricted in their power,
respect etc. in comparison to men. Viola is able to evade these constraints placed
upon her by society by dressing in masculine attire and bearing the role of a man in
order to obtain a job. The way in which Viola is treated and perceived by the other
characters and how she performs while taking on a masculine persona displays how
differently men and women relate to one another based on the perceived differences
between genders.
William Shakespeare uses the devices of soliloquy and disguise. Disguise is
used to catalyse the development and analysis of this theme through the character
Viola. Soliloquy is used to expose the inner thoughts of characters, exposing us to
the inner feelings and thoughts of characters.
02
Class
In Twelfth Night, as in many Shakespearean comedies, there are striking similarities
between a "high" set of characters, the masters or nobles, and a "low" set of characters,
the servants. These two sets of characters and their respective stories give comedy value
while also reflecting the origins of the Twelfth Night holiday, which was traditionally
observed by reversing the social order, with a courtier or fool dressing up and playing the
king. The clown Feste's frequent mockery of his "lords and masters" further emphasizes
this image of disrupting the social order.
Another protagonist who displays the theme of class includes the conceited Malvolio,
who is obsessed with his social standing. Always sneering at the other servants' lowliness
and fantasizing about marrying Olivia and becoming Count. Sir Andrew Aguecheek also
wishes to marry Olivia, but his obscenity and obnoxiousness prevent him from doing so.
Even the noble Sebastian is influenced by Olivia's money and social standing when he
marries her. Viola has lost her fortune in a shipwreck at the start of the play, and by
disguising herself as a page boy, she is impersonating a different social class than her own.
Viola's disguise shows that class, like gender identity, is to some extent a temporary role
that you play by adopting a particular set of attire and mannerisms.
Act 1 Scene 3, Act 1 Scene 4, Act 1 Scene 5, Act 2 Scene 1, Act 3 Scene 3, and Act 3 Scene 4
are just a couple of illustrations where the theme of class is dominant.
 03
Comedy
Shakespeare is able to incorporate much humour in the play Twelfth Night through the
physical comedy, wit and wordplay and the use of dramatic irony. Shakespeare brings out
the elements of comedy to the audience, keeping them entertained and creating a general
appeal for the play.

There is the witty wordplay exchanged by Viola and Feste, the bawdy humour of Sir Toby,
the foolishness of Sir Andrew, the self-importance of Malvolio, and the general confusion
caused by Viola’s disguise on account of Humor in Twelfth Night.

The first major instance of humour found in twelfth night is in Act 1 Scene 3 when Maria
and Sir Toby Belch engage in banter which is loaded with puns. Following Maria’s telling
off, sir Toby says, "Confine? I’ll confine myself no finer than I am. These clothes are good
enough to drink in, and so be these boots too- an’ they be not, let then hang themselves in
their own straps'' Sir Toby puns the word confine with fine and also uses a metaphor
saying that the boots should hang themselves with their straps giving the word hang a
double meaning as well. This is humorous as he is using many forms of wordplay that the
audience in Shakespearean times would have found hilarious.

I
In the last scene, there is not much direct humour but most of the misunderstandings in
the play are later understood as a result of this scene. "One face, one voice, one habit, and
two persons! A natural perspective, that is and is not!" Orsino is puzzled by this
misunderstanding of twins who have been mixed up in each other's lives. The audience’s
impression overall this would be that they find it extremely funny because they have
known all along and Orsino’s character has just found out. The text is given a finalising feel
as all characters have now worked out the lurking mysteries.
 04
Love and
Desire
The theme of love in the 12th night is one of the most prominent themes highlighted
in the play. Shakespeare uses love to show that it can cause pain and suffering
although the play ends happily. With people of high status pining for love such as
Duke Orsino to people of low status, such as Maria. Metaphors such as, “feel and
cruel hounds” and words like “plague” are used to relay an element of violence and
pain further painting the love-struck state that the characters are in. They view love
as some sort of curse. This is seen as many characters go through many grievances
due to unrequited love, loving from a distance, loving a person who is in love with
someone else and even loving family as seen by Olivia and Viola mourning the death
of their loved ones.
The play begins with Duke Orsino being depressed over his unrequited love for Lady
Olivia. It later introduces Viola disguised as Cesario who has fallen in love with the
duke and in turn has made Lady Olivia fall in love with her disguised self. This
creates a love triangle which Viola is in the middle of, she herself realizes her
dilemma and says that, “It is a knot too tight to untie,” in act 2 scene 2. Though the
plot of the play revolves around this love triangle, other characters are on the quest
for love as well. With Maria, Lady Olivia’s hand-maiden, being in love with Sir Toby
Belch and hoping to marry him. Though not only for love but also to gain status and
wealth as Sir Toby is the uncle of Olivia. Sir Andrew Aguecheeck, Sir Toby’s friend, is
also pining for the love of Olivia much like Duke Orsino and tries to show his desire
for her by agreeing to fight Cesario. The villain of this play seems to be Malvolio,
who is also in desire of Lady Olivia’s hand in marriage. His desire is seen to be very
strong as Malvolio is said to be a logical man who is not easily fooled, yet by
receiving a letter that seemed to come from Olivia, he agrees to do whimsical things
in order to prove his love. He himself doubts the letter’s authenticity but wants it to
be true so bad that he takes a chance.
Though not all love in this play can be deemed as romantic, as Sebastian, Viola’s
brother, and Antonio’s love can be seen as a fatherly connection where Antonio is
loyal to Sebastian. It can be argued that Antonio may be in love with Sebastian as he
does many things, for example going to Orsino’s court, that could cost him his life all
for Sebastian, yet this type of love between the pair is only mere speculation.
Sebastian himself seems to find a love interest in the play as he marries Olivia
without question after she asks him to. Sebastian just trusts that their new founded
relationship is an “accident and flood of fortune,” as is said in act 4 scene 3.

At the end of the play, most characters' advances for love are rewarded with them
all having partners that they are happy with. Although Malvolio, Antonio and
Andrew Aguecheeck are not as lucky to find love. Love therefore cannot conquer all
obstacles and those whose desires go unfulfilled are left with this curse or “plague”
as Olivia says as they remain no less in love but feel the sting of its absence more
severely.
 05
Melancholy
Melancholy was thought to be a disorder, similar to modern depression, due to an
imbalance in the fluids that make up the human body throughout the Renaissance.
Melancholy was supposed to be caused by love: narcissistic self-love or unrequited
romantic love, in particular. Several characters in Twelfth Night suffer from love-
melancholy in one form or another. Orsino displays several of the disease's signs
(including idleness, inactivity, and interest in music and poetry). Viola, dressed as
Cesario, says she's dying of sadness since she can't act on her feelings for Orsino.
Malvolio is also described as sad by Olivia, who attributes it to his narcissism.
Twelfth Night shows the agony of love through its concentration on despair.
Simultaneously, the play characterizes some exaggerated or fake expressions of
melancholy and mourning, just as it questions the way the play's more extravagant
characters act in professing their love. While Viola appears to be in excruciating pain
because she is unable to be with Orsino, Orsino is cured of his terrible lovesickness
for Olivia as soon as he discovers that Viola is available. Act 1 scene 1 and 2 as well
as Act 2 Scene 4 are some examples of where the theme of melancholy is most
prominent in the drama piece.
 06
Disguise and
Deception
In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, deception and disguise are major themes.
The characters must employ deception to get what they want, get out of terrible
situations, or play cruel and humorous jokes on others. Viola dresses in men's attire
in order to get a job under the Duke of Illyria, Orsino, as an example of deception. Sir
Andrew, Fabian, Maria, and Sir Toby Belch dupe Malvolio into making a fool of
himself in another scene. Feste the jester, disguised as Sir Topas, insults Malvolio in
a third incident of deception.
Each of these situations and characters contributes to the depiction of various
forms of deception. Viola's decision to pose as a man is the first example of
deception. She has no choice but to do so in order to live. Viola is a young woman
who, together with her twin brother Sebastian, narrowly escaped a shipwreck.
Unfortunately, during the shipwreck, the twins were separated, and each believes
the other died. Viola has no choice except to disguise herself as a male and serve
Orsino. Olivia falls in love with Viola instead of the Duke while serving as a
messenger between Orsino and his love Olivia. Sebastian, Viola's brother, is later
discovered on the shores of Illyria by a captain. Olivia sees Sebastian while they
both head into town. Sebastian and Viola are both dressed identically, making it
difficult to distinguish between them. Olivia makes a misunderstanding and
proposes to Sebastian. Sebastian accepts Olivia's marriage despite the fact that he
has never met her. After learning Viola's gender, the Duke falls in love with her and
they marry.
The horrible trick played on Malvolio by Sir Andrew, Fabian, Maria, and Sir Toby Belch is a second
example of deception. Olivia's "lady-in-waiting," Maria, writes a note in her mistress's
handwriting, stating that Olivia is attracted to males who wear high yellow stockings and always
smile. "By the letter that thou will drop, he'll think they come from my niece, and that she's in
love with him," Sir Toby replies. The accomplices then conceal the note in the garden, where
Malvolio will undoubtedly discover it. They do this to Malvolio because the night before he ruined
their boisterous fun. Malvolio locates and reads the letter. After then, he follows the letter's
instructions to dress in yellow stockings and cross garters. Later, Olivia confronts Malvolio, who is
clothed as specified in the letter, and she believes he is insane. Malvolio is imprisoned and
secluded as a result of his activities.
To frustrate Malvolio all the more, Feste obscures himself as Sir Topas for the third and final
example of deception. Maria instructs Feste to disguise himself as Sir Topas by adorning a gown
and wig and growing a lengthy beard. She asks him to do it because she wants Malvolio to be
tortured even more. While masked, Feste inquires of Malvolio about Pythagoras. When Malvolio
responds from his prison that he disagrees with Pythagoras' beliefs, Feste declares that he will be
imprisoned indefinitely. Malvolio then begs Feste for his release and tries to persuade him that he
is sane. Feste eventually feels pity for the imprisoned servant and releases him.
The resulting confusion of these several instances of deception and disguise are the most
fundamental parts of the play's storyline and are critical to its development. There would be no
suspense or excitement without it, and Shakespeare would be unable to fully express his thoughts
on humanity.
 07
Madness
In Twelfth Night, the idea of insanity frequently intersects with the themes of desire
and love. Orsino compares the faculty of love to hallucinations in that it produces
various fluctuating visions of the beloved. Olivia mentions a few times that her
longing for Cesario is driving her insane. The majority of these examples of madness
are metaphorical: madness is used by characters to represent the intensity of their
romantic feelings. Furthermore, there are other characters in the play that appear
to be going insane. Maria, Sir Toby, and Fabian perpetrate a prank on Malvolio in
which they convince everyone that he is insane. After Sebastian's arrival in Illyria,
the confusion caused by characters mixing up Viola/Cesario and Sebastian leads
many of them to believe they have lost their minds. The broad comedy and chaos
that causes (and results from) this consternation also allude to the Renaissance
England's Twelfth Night holiday's ceremonious disorder.