Twelfth Night is all about confusion, disguise, transgression (both sexual and class-based), and disorder. Viola is cross-dressed as a man and plays the part of first a eunuch and then a page. Orsino is in love with Olivia; Viola as Viola is in love with Orsino, but Orsino thinks Viola is Cesario. Olivia falls in love with Viola as Cesario; Malvolio (a steward) is in love with Olivia. Olivia marries Sebastian, who is confused with Cesario. Sebastian and Antonio seem to have a homoerotic relationship. What kind of commentary is Shakespeare making about the role of gender and the role of transgression in this play? Does Shakespeare allow for the instability to continue or must he re-establish order? If you believe he reestablishes order, what kind of commentary is he making about the fluidity or the fixity of identity? What is acceptable transgression? What is too dangerous to be tolerated? Why? You can focus on:
Gender confusion and transgression
Love triangles/rectangles/octagons even!
Class transgressions (desire to marry up vs. Viola’s playing a page when she’s really an aristocrat)
Homoerotic desire
Melancholy and madness that ensues from the world being out of order
Familial bonds that are constantly being threatened
Mistaken communication
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