Femininity In Twelfth Night

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will, femininity plays an essential role in the major themes of this drama. Femininity derives from the traits that people perceive of one another. Femininity poses questions like; ‘What does it mean to be female?’ or ‘What lengths do females have to take to be perceived in a likely standing as their male counterparts?’. Shakespeare’s idea of femininity plays a role in each of the themes which are; Love, Gender, and Deception.
The main characters that this drama is centralized upon are: Olivia, Viola, Orsinio, and Sebastian. The minor characters are; Malvolio, Antonio, Andrew Aguecheek, Maria, and Sir Toby Belch. Viola arrives in Illyria because she separated from her twin brother Sebastian. She was rescued at sea by the Captain and now is in need of a job. She wants to work for Olivia, but is informed that she already has a handmaiden and really is not looking for another one. Viola believes that her brother is dead therefore she wants to get in contact with Olivia because she lost her brother too. She does the only thing she could do which is become a man to get to her. She disguises herself as Caesario and works for the Duke, who is Orsino, to find her. This creates a triangular love affair because Orsinio is in love with Olivia. …show more content…
Viola’s deceptiveness allowed her to use her knowledge of feminine traits to deceive every one into thinking she was a guy. This was why Olivia was able to fall so deeply in love with Cesario. He appealed to her needs emotionally. They bonded because he understood those things because he was a woman. He understood things that not one real man would know. Masculinity is an act put on by men which is why Olivia did not bond with the Duke. He was forcing something that was not there. The mere fact that her femininity was so natural and so pure, that is what Olivia was attracted to. They shared a beautiful feminine