Disguises In Twelfth Night Essay

In the play, Twelfth Night there are many different characters that have disguises. Shakespeare uses these as a tool because the conflict and confusion appeal to the audience and therefore entertain on several levels. The main reason that Shakespeare uses these disguises is to add a twist to the story and make it a little more interesting. Shakespeare uses disguises in Twelfth Night to cause confusion and internal conflict between the characters, especially with Olivia and Cesario. The idea of internal conflict and disguises in Twelfth Night is essentially the basis for the story.

One key example for the significance of disguise is Viola. The first time the audience realizes the disguise is when Cesario (Viola) is sent out by her master Count Orsino to try to win the love of Olivia for him. This becomes extremely complicated because Viola likes Orsino and he is sending her to win over Olivia for him. This becomes an internal conflict because Cesario likes Orsino herself but she is currently disguised as a man for safety, and is trying to convince someone else to fall in love with the object of her affection.

The suspense builds even more when Cesario tries to profess the Dukes love for Olivia and she rejects it saying that she cannot return his love Olivia realizes that she has fallen for the messenger and tries to tell Cesario how she feels. Olivia of course is unaware that Cesario is really a woman so she does not realize why he doesnt like her. Shakespeare knows this will cause both confusion and internal conflict between the characters which will entertain his audience.

The disguise of Cesario makes the scene more confusing and causes internal conflict between Olivia, Viola, and Orsino. It essentially causes a love triangle that Viola becomes stuck in the middle of when she discovers that Olivia likes her. If it were not for the disguise in character of Viola then this love triangle could not have happened. Shakespeare did not want to avoid this though because he knew it would entertain and help create great dialogue. He also probably realized it would be very funny to his audience that Viola is really in love with a girl who is disguised as a man, Cesario.

Shakespeare feeds on the internal conflict of the characters and confusion his audience responds with for Twelfth Night. The main reason that Shakespeare uses these disguises is to add a twist to the story and make it a little more interesting. Without the internal conflict and disguise many actions in the play would not have occurred Disguise and internal conflict is essentially the basis for the entire play.