Preview

‘Viola Is One of Shakespeare’s Most Sympathetic and Resourceful Heroines’. to What Extent Is This Interpretation Supported by Act 1 of 'Twelfth Night'? Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1551 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
‘Viola Is One of Shakespeare’s Most Sympathetic and Resourceful Heroines’. to What Extent Is This Interpretation Supported by Act 1 of 'Twelfth Night'? Essay Example
‘Viola is one of Shakespeare’s most sympathetic and resourceful heroines’.
To what extent is this interpretation supported by Act 1?

Watching the first scene of ‘Twelfth Night’, it seems quite obvious that Viola, shipwrecked with nothing, resourcefully survives and flourishes under Count Orsino’s court, successfully using her brilliant wit and intellect to maintain the disguise that she has adopts. Yet does this resourcefulness undermine the extent to which we feel sympathy for her and is there another character to which we should feel more sympathy towards? Does she hide her emotion from us in order to preserve her capability or is it truly cold-heartedness?
Viola shows herself as resourceful in taking the seemingly absurd measure of disguising herself as a man to survive. Her decision to disguise herself, setting up the whole plot of the play, is a ploy to obtain some control over the situation; ‘the form of my intent’ suggests that Viola is keeping a level, resourceful head in the situation and is carefully planning out her goals she wishes to achieve in disguising herself. The heroine of the play shows resourcefulness of language and a composed nature within her interactions with capricious characters such as Olivia; she uses controlled iambic pentameter and poetic phrases such as ‘tis beauty blent’ in a improvised speech, showing quick-wittedness and resourcefulness but also demonstrating that Viola has command through the use of verse over her emotions whereas Olivia, who even though is a high status figure, speaks loosely and melodramatically in prose. Viola consistently demonstrates her adept use of her wit and intelligence and uses it to her advantage in the early stages of the play. ‘Oft close in pollution’ (line 49) suggests that her intelligence gives her an understanding that appearances can be toxically deceptive but her resourcefulness allows her to use the knowledge of disguises to fashion a plan for survival. Ironically, Viola chooses the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    gets frustrated with her mother comments about how she might as well be her bother Sebastian when Viola doesn’t show any interest in puffy dresses or debutants. This is similar to Twelfth Night when Viola has to dress up as a man in order to work and provide for herself, due to not having any male family members to take care of her. She’s The Man is also similar to Twelfth Night because both show Viola dressing as a man to do something that she wants. The movie also has the character Viola fall in love with a character named Orsino.…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie She’s the Man is based on the Shakespeare Twelfth Night because in the movie it goes to show how the idea of gender stereotypes is still influenced in today's society and what the mainstream perceptions are about gender roles to show how the idea of gender equality transcends to the twelfth century. In the movie and twelfth Night the theme of disguise is very important because Olivia in the movie was very passionate about soccer to the fact that she was willing to disguises herself as her brother, so she can be able to compete with the boys soccer team. Unfortunately, her school disbands the girls soccer team. However, in Twelfth Night Viola decided to disguise herself as a man named Cesario, so she would not be in a vulnerable position in…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the movie Viola is a teenage girl who is obsessed with love and if she was in England at the time of the play her actions would not be appropriate. In the movie Viola is disguised as a boy so she cannot confess her love to those around her just like in the play. To make the movie more interesting though some of the scenes show Viola acting weird and almost blowing her cover because she loves the character Sebastian. In the play Viola goes about her actions carefully and tries not to make sure she is found out by the king, for if she is she would be thoroughly punished. As a high school girl Viola has a hard time controlling her emotions in the movie but in the play she is a little bit more grown up and is able to keep herself under control for the most…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. The reason as to why Viola becomes a “man” is due to the fact that during that period of time, money was an issue for woman as they did not receive as well jobs. She becomes a man so that she can make a living in a beautiful place such as the kingdom of Illyria.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is no escape from the horrors that were all around me. Dead bodies floated silently around while the living ones were face to face with death itself fighting until the very end. Others just lost hope and gave up. “How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky” (pg.341). Everything seemed so hopeless but there was something in me that didn’t give up, I wanted to see my dear Halinka so badly and cradle her in my arms, reassuring her that everything will be alright. But the truth is that I myself also need reassuring, but one thing I knew for sure was that I knew that the knight would be a savior.…

    • 192 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Just like Ophelia, Gertrude is also dependent but dependent on affection, and is portrayed as weak when she quickly marries Claudius after her husband dies. “Frailty, thy name is woman! A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body, like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourned longer! Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her gallèd eyes” ( 1.2.146-155). Within a month of mourning the king’s death, Gertrude now seeks attention from another man. So desperate for the attention of a man, she marries the king’s brother. An act like this is considered weak minded and submissive. Gertrude fell into the trap of Claudius when given love, affection, and attention ultimately demonstrating how the women in the play are portrayed as extremely weak, passive, and submissive, illustrating the power dynamics between men and…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Shakespeare's uniquely constructed comedy, Twelfth Night, there are several paradoxes within the characters. Misinterpretations as well as false presentation of reality are both common occurrences within the characters. Nearly the entire cast of characters use or fall victim to some form of deceit. Both Andrew and Viola present themselves as people they are not, and Orsino and Malvolio are fooled themselves about who they are and where they want and can be. Also, on a historical note, both Olivia and Feste the clown step (by default or self-attainment) out of the socially imposed stereotypes of their biologically born person. The reasons for Shakespeare's contradictions of characters are unknown; however, it can be hypothesized, knowing the man and his style that he was poking fun at elements of the society, in which he resided, as well as the ridiculousness of higher class citizens and the ritual absurdity of the lives they lived.…

    • 1285 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Like Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, TwelfthNight moves from personal frustration and social disorder to individual fulfilmentand social harmony by means of what Leo Salingar has shown to be the traditional comic combination of beneficent fortune and human intrigue.' This basic pattern, of course, takes a radically different form in each play. In comparison with many of the comedies, Twelfth Nightbegins with remarkablylittle conflict. The opening scenes introduce no villain bent on dissension and destruction, nor do they reveal disruptive antagonism between parents and children or between love and law. In contrast to the passion and anger of the first scene of A Midsummer Night'sDream,the restless melancholy or that pervades the beginning of TheMerchant Venice, the brutality and tyranny of LikeIt, the dominant note of Orsino's court and that precipitate the action in As You of Olivia's household is static self-containment. To be sure, both Orsino and Olivia…

    • 5488 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Born on approximately April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, William Shakespeare is considered by many to have been the greatest writer the English language has ever known. His literary legacy included 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and five major poems. Among his many plays is the notable, Twelfth Night, a romantic comedy, placed in a festive atmosphere in which three couples are brought together happily. The play opens with Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, expressing his deep love for the Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, the shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as a man and endeavors to enter the Duke's service. Although she has rejected his suit, the Duke then employs Viola, who takes the name of Cesario, to woo Olivia for him. As the play continues, Cesario falls in love with the Duke, and Olivia falls in love with Cesario, who is really Viola disguised. Maria, Olivia's servant woman, desires to seek revenge on Malvolio, Olivia's steward. "To the delight of Sir Toby, Olivia's uncle, and his friend Sir Andrew, Maria comes up with a plot to drop love letters supposedly written by Olivia in Malvolio's path. When she does, they observe him, along with Fabian, another servant, as Malvolio falls for the bait. Believing that Olivia loves him, he makes a fool of himself" (Napierkowski 3). The plot deepens as Cesario proceeds to woo Olivia for the Duke. It is only the second time that Cesario appears at Olivia's home when Olivia openly declares her love for Cesario. Throughout this time, Sir Andrew has been nursing a hope to win Olivia's love. When he plans to give up hope of her love, Sir Toby suggests that Sir Andrew fight with Cesario to impress Olivia. Cesario, however, refuses to fight. At the same time, Viola's brother, Sebastian, who is also shipwrecked, makes his way to safe lodging in Illyria with Antonio the sea captain. After the fight between Cesario and Sir Andrew begins, Antonio intervenes to save Cesario, whom he takes for Sebastian. But the Duke's officers…

    • 2191 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Twelfth Night the fundamental plot line of Viola arriving in Illyria, as a result of the shipwreck, and is the catalyst of some of the main comic events within the play. This is achieved through the visual, parallel image of Viola dressed up as her twin brother Sebastian. Her disguise creates hilarious moments of farce such as patterns of ludicrous suits for marriage and a comedic slapstick ‘play within a play’. However Shakespeare also uses parallel imagery within his structure and setting, disassociated from Viola’s disguise, to create comedy.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Viola's realization of Lady Olivia has just fallen in love with her causes her to say…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viola's Unselfish Love

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Compared to the Duke Orsino's pursuing of Olivia, Viola is very aggressive. She has the will power to become one of Duke Orsino's top servants. The Duke Orsino, who mopes around his home thinking of Olivia, is not very aggressively passionate. If he was truly in love with Olivia, he would go over to her house himself and get to know her instead of sending off servants. When Viola goes to visit Olivia for the first time, she seems to be very rude and even tells the servants to leave her and Olivia alone.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Twelfth Night

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages

    This relates to the gender identity conflict that arises from Viola’s cross-dressing. Her cross-dressing makes her gender unapparent when she is building relationships with Olivia and Cesairo, thus confusing the other characters as well as herself. Initially, in Act 5, when Sebastian arrives in Illyria and Viola reveals herself, the audience sees how Viola’s cross-dressing has caused her to become conflicted regarding her sexuality due to her relationships with Olivia and Cesairo. However, she always remains sure of her gender identity as a woman, allowing her to remember why relationships that would go against the heteronormative beliefs cannot…

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Viola ponders how such a thing could have happened and realizes that her disguise is to blame. She knows that being dishonest is a sin and thus can be comparable to Satan. She sees herself as a handsome man in disguise and blames the "frailty" of women as the cause of Olivia 's quick infatuation with "Cesario" (2.2.22-27). This can be seen throughout the play with Olivia as well. She is not a strong woman and in the beginning chooses to live a life dedicated to her deceased brother than to move on and be happy. It isn 't until she meets "Cesario" that she is pulled out from her sorrow and falls in love. Viola speaks of how women are made to be weak, especially for good-looking men, and thus proves in Olivia 's quick emotional turnaround and fondness of "Cesario". "I do I know not what, and fear to find Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind."…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night Women

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Viola gives two different descriptions of women. The first is a soliloquy and takes place after Malvolio has given her Olivia’s ring, which is when Viola realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with Viola’s disguise, Cesario. Viola’s second description of women is to Orsino, when she tells a story about a “sister” of hers who once fell in love as a way of indirectly communicating her love for Orsino. Viola’s two descriptions serve as complements to each other.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays