The works of William Shakespeare are regarded as some of the greatest English literature of all time. Writing colorful plays Shakespeare grabs the attention of anyone reading or watching. Dating back to the 17th century Shakespeare’s plays have influenced modern society in varied ways. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is shown to have influenced society by its recent film modernized adaptation. Despite the fact that Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare has been banned it deserves to be analyzed in high school classrooms of today. In 1996 when a high school in Merrimack, New Hampshire removed Twelfth Night from their classroom, the plot was criticized without taking into account the historical context. The school found controversy in the fact that Viola crosses-dresses and conceals her true gender to all around her. This was not her first desire as shown in Act 1 Scene 2, when first Viola is faced with the possibility of the death of her twin brother, Sebastian, and is in need of stability. Hearing of Olivia’s estate, Viola’s said
“ O, that I served that lady, / And might not be delivered to the world / Till I had made mine occasion mellow, / What my estate is.”(Shakespeare 1.2.43-46) This shows that Viola originally wanted to maintain her true identity as a woman. Only after learning that …show more content…
The fear that this play would encourage young readers to pursue Viola’s supposed immorality is as Richard LaGravenese pointed out “[If] teenagers in the 80’s had survived Boy George, for teenagers in the 90’s Shakespeare would have been lethal. ” (LaGravenese) Another reason the school's banning of the play is misplaced is that Twelfth Night is meant to be performed by a completely male cast. As Catherine Belsey said “It is very difficult to reconstruct the experience of an audience accustomed to an all-male theater, where women were always played by men or
“ O, that I served that lady, / And might not be delivered to the world / Till I had made mine occasion mellow, / What my estate is.”(Shakespeare 1.2.43-46) This shows that Viola originally wanted to maintain her true identity as a woman. Only after learning that …show more content…
The fear that this play would encourage young readers to pursue Viola’s supposed immorality is as Richard LaGravenese pointed out “[If] teenagers in the 80’s had survived Boy George, for teenagers in the 90’s Shakespeare would have been lethal. ” (LaGravenese) Another reason the school's banning of the play is misplaced is that Twelfth Night is meant to be performed by a completely male cast. As Catherine Belsey said “It is very difficult to reconstruct the experience of an audience accustomed to an all-male theater, where women were always played by men or