Alexa
Giuliani
Understanding
Literature 101.16
Dr.
Ellis
20
November 2013
Disguise and Identity
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night deals with a complicated
love triangle, which presents the reader with an understanding of the
consequences of disguising the truth. Throughout the play, Viola, disguises
herself as a male named Cesario after a tragic shipwreck leaves her on Illyrian
land. She works for Duke Orsino, whom she ultimately falls in love with. Orsino,
on the other hand, is in love with Olivia. Olivia, whose brother has recently died,
rejects Orsino’s love for seven years, but at the same time falls in love with
Cesario, who is actually Viola. While
Viola changed her identify in order to receive a job, this disguise ultimately
created a very complex love triangle in which she has to face the consequences
and confusion as a result. Thus, the central idea of the consequences of
disguise is accurately portrayed through Orsino’s measures in courting Olivia,
Olivia’s love for Cesario, Viola’s attraction to Orsino, and the confusion when
Sebastian arrives. Additionally, these ideas relate to the Zen Meditation event
based on the focus of finding true identities and getting rid of stresses or
disguises. Through meditation, we are constantly encouraged to embrace our
inner soul, rather than putting on a differing physical front or personality.
Therefore, both Shakespeare’s Twelfth
Night and the meditation event relate to the ideas of disguise and
identity.
Throughout the course of the play,
Orsino attempts to grab Olivia’s attention in a number of ridiculous ways.
Specifically, he uses messengers, like Cesario, in order to portray his love
for Olivia. This gesture is not genuine and ultimately causes Olivia to shy
away from liking Orsino. Rather, when Cesario delivers messages to Olivia, she
quickly falls in love with his sensitivity and overall persona. This poses as a
consequence of Viola’s disguise. Because she is not the person she says she is,
she is put in the middle of a relationship as Orsino confides in her to relay
messages to Olivia. At the same time, Viola is in, what many would call, an
awkward situation as Olivia develops a liking for Cesario, who is, in fact, a
girl. While Olivia does not know this, the love triangle becomes rather
complicated. Thus, the love triangle that was created as a result of Orsino’s
actions in trying to court Olivia caused several difficult situations based on
Viola’s disguise. If she had not disguised her true identity, then Duke would
not have confided in her, she would not have to relay messages, and Olivia
would not have fallen in love with her character of Cesario.
Additionally, Viola’s disguise
forced conflict upon herself based on the feelings she developed for Orsino. While
she was working for him, she noticed her increasing liking towards him. Through
the play, Shakespeare uses Cesario as a confidant. Essentially, Orsino’s
emotions and attitudes are expressed through his act of confiding in Cesario.
Orsino tells Cesario that he has “unclasp’d to thee the book even of my secret
soul” (8). With this statement, it is clear that the two have a trusting and
open relationship. As a result, Viola is able to understand Orsino’s
sensitivity, which ultimately makes him so appealing. Orsino; however, does not
know she is a girl and thus, no mutual feeling is created at this point. Later, Viola states in an aside, “Whoe’er I
woo, myself would be his wife” (9). This statement clearly depicts the inner
conflict that Viola experiences as a result of her disguise. While she is
ambitious in making Orsino fall in love with her, he still believes she is a
man. Thus, he has no interest in her and only confides in Cesario in order to
help him get Olivia. Therefore, as a result of Viola’s own disguise, her love
for Orsino is, for the while, put on hold.
The disguise also creates a massive
amount of confusion when Sebastian appears with Antonio in Act III. Antonio, a
wanted man in Illyria, asks Sebastian, who is actually Cesario, for help in
freeing him. Viola does not know who Antonio is and chooses not to help him.
Thus, major confusion is created when Antonio thinks Sebastian is betraying
him. At the same time, the real Sebastian is found and Olivia asks him to marry
her thinking that he is actually Cesario. As a result of this information, Orsino
was at first maddened at the idea. Because of all of this misperception, Viola’s
true identity is revealed. Orsino comes
to understand his true love for Viola all along. Although Orsino does realize
his love for Viola and they ultimately wed, what could have been a much easier
process was created into a larger and more complicated conflict. With Viola’s
disguise a love triangle, which entailed many complex relationships, was
created. As her true identity was revealed, the true feelings of characters
were finally expressed. Orsino and Viola expressed their love for each other
and Olivia realized her love for Sebastian. Thus, Viola, Orsino, Olivia, and Sebastian
suffered consequences as a result of Viola’s disguise that were ultimately
solved at the end of the play when Viola’s true identity was revealed.
This play and the ideas of disguises
and identities relate to the Zen Meditation I attended. Zen focuses on getting
rid of stresses and finding your true personality. While this is always hard
for me to do, I really focused on freeing myself from stresses this particular
time. With a rough and stressful week before Thanksgiving break, I realized
that I was not acting like myself. I found myself, not only stressed, but also
hiding my stress levels from my peers. I tried to disguise my stress by acting
happy and pushing it aside. I realized that inside, I was making myself sick
from not getting my stress out and not dealing with the anxiety I was feeling
about quizzes, work, essays, and grades. With Zen, I was able to relieve myself
from stress and just breathe for a while. Additionally, I was able to see that
I was disguising my true feelings and personality for that time. If I was truly
worried and stressed, I shouldn’t have held it back. Therefore, I suffered
about a week of stress because I disguised what I was really feeling. Just as
Viola gave up her disguise, conflicts and confusions were resolved. When I gave
up this disguise I was putting on, I was able to manage my time better and
express the stresses I had. With this management and expression, I was able to
get through a day without feeling totally swamped from the amount of stuff I had
to do or had going on.
Overall, it is clear that Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night and my meditation
experience share the common idea of disguises vs. identities. When disguises
are put on, no one is experiencing the “real deal.” When the disguises are
pushed aside; however, the truth comes out and the conflicts that were created
by the disguise are essentially resolved.
Throughout the semester, I learned a
lot about myself not only as an English student, but also as a true member of
the Loyola community. Through the participation in writing weekly blogs, I strengthened
my writing and reading while I immersed myself into different activities. My
participation in attending weekly events and lectures made me both more
involved on campus and in my classes. I also really enjoyed the participation
in the iExamens. Both of the blogs allowed me to understand my communication
skills and made me more aware of my actions. I was able to see how I interact
and what I could change about myself. All of these aspects of the class were
really inspiring as they helped me grow as a person and student.
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