Many of the stories and plays during the Renaissance dealt with homophobic attractions between characters. He brings up the relationship between Antonio and Sebastian. In the play, Antonio rescues Sebastian after a shipwreck. He accompanies Sebastian to Illyria and he becomes very fond of him and cares for him. Olivia and Viola (Cesario) also have a homosexual relationship, though not directly I presume since Olivia didn 't know Cesario was a guy but Viola was only doing it to please Orsino and to marry him. Moving on to the play as a whole, during the Renaissance only male characters performed, meaning that young males had to play the parts of the females. The journal as a whole portrays the different conceptions of femininity and masculinity, as well as the homophobic and misogynistic aspects of the play. Do the homophobic traits of the play have a deeper meaning? Or are they just placed for an addition to the story line or even comical …show more content…
The play is quite complex due to the characters, which can be viewed in different perspectives, the settings, and also the plot of the play. Romance is very prominent throughout the play, for example, at the end of the play everyone seems to get married and everything falls into place, like they were all meant for each other. There are numerous recurring motifs, one of them being madness. Some characters expressing this motif include Sir Toby, Sebastian, and especially Malvolio, due to the prank that Maria played on him. Boyce also talks about the sexual confusion in the play, just like Casey Charles did. The main theme of this play as a whole is said to be the triumph of love. Why was love and romance such a prominent theme in plays and stories during the