Identity In Twelfth Night

Viola’s quest to thrive in society heavily complicates her love life, but she is ultimately able to find harmony in the end. Upon shipwrecking on the coast of Illyria, Viola makes the decision to conceal her identity to better her chances of survival in this new society with no one to guide her. Her captain is able to get her a job working for the Duke as she requested and assists her in transformation- which ultimately consists of assuming the identity of male. While her new employment guarantees her safety, shelter, and income, it also creates a new obstacle to overcome. Viola, although a strong and independent figure in this play, is instantly crippled by her love for Orsino and her inability to act upon it. In the process of suppressing …show more content…
Upon receiving news of her brother’s death, Olivia pledges to a seven-year mourning period in his remembrance and ultimately rejects Orsino’s love on countless occasions. She finds an exception to this pledge when she finds love in the form of Orsino’s messenger, Cesario. When Cesario’s twin brother Sebastian comes into the picture, Olivia is mistaken and believes they are the same person. She eventually asks him to marry her, to which he agrees. In the final act of Twelfth Night, Olivia finds herself absolutely crushed by love when Cesario comes back into the picture, rather than Sebastian, and Cesario has no knowledge of the marriage. “Ay me, detested! How am I beguiled!.. Alas, it is the baseness of thy fear that makes thee strangle thy propriety. Fear not, Cesario. Take thy fortunes up. Be that thou know’st thou art, and then thou art as great as that thou fear’st... Hold little faith, though thou hast too much fear” (Shakespeare). Olivia is extremely hurt when she is forced to believe that Cesario is hiding their marriage. She feels used and completely fooled, as if the love he claimed to have for her by agreeing to marriage was all a lie. Although heartbroken, she appears to have some sympathy for him when she presumes Cesario is simply fearful of revealing the marriage to Orsino. She becomes understanding and almost sympathetic to his fear and encourages him to overcome it, rather than expressing her feelings of anger and betrayal. Instead of jumping to conclusions, she first tries to resolve the situation by explaining that he should not be fearful but accepting of the good luck that has come his way. By the end of their conversation, she becomes fed up with him and realizes that she should not lower her expectations for not only a coward, but a liar. Although she is first faced with feelings of dishonestly