Tuesday, December 11, 2012

AE Identity Crisis in an Insecure Society

Brenda Lopez
Professor Flack
AE Project Final Draft
Eng. 6
                                    Twelfth Night: Identity Crisis in an Insecure Society
In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, characters Viola and Antonio are reasonably two of the most controversial characters throughout the play as they exemplify: social disorder, gender identity, and social class. Shakespeare portrayed such themes in this play to highlight the essence of breaking through his reserved society. Not only are such themes repeated in his other works, but are also important because modern society can connect with the issues that he mentions in his work. Viola, the protagonist, disguises herself as Cesario, a male who serves the Duke of Illyeria, in order to get closer to a powerful woman Olivia who is rather similar to her. Antonio, a banned and wanted pirate in Illyeria, saves Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, whom he also has homosexual feelings for. Although Viola disguises her gender identity, and Antonio explores his, they are both imperative examples of confident identity, which can be defined as recognizing one’s identity and embracing it. In other words, those that fear going against social order and the typical norm, are ones that can be easily influenced by societal rules. Essentially, Shakespeare wrote about such opposing themes to expose the importance living a happy life after accepting one’s identity regardless if it is controversially seen in society.
To begin with, the characters Viola and Antonio in Twelfth Night are presented in a contentious matter, which of course leads us to believe that Shakespeare’s intentions were to get the audience to critically think of the impact society has on one’s beliefs and actions. Viola’s purpose at first was to get closer to Olivia, but she ends up being Orsino’s counter partner disguised as a man to try to show him a different perspective on women. In this attempt, she reasons with him and his anti-feminist views. For example, Orsino tells viola, “Alas, their love may be called appetite / No motion of the liver, but the palate” (2.4. 96-97). Orsino insults the way in which women love, and compares it to an appetite, as it is empty and does not move. Cesario quickly rebuttals his claim, by declaring “We men may say more, swear more, but indeed / Our shows are more than will; for still we prove / Much in our vows but little in our love” (2.4. 116-118). Cesario replies by creating a clever story of a woman that she knew and how she was capable of loving. In saying this, Cesario has put himself at risk because men during this time believed that women were the ones whom were inept at loving. Although, Cesario/Viola finds herself in a precarious situation, she says that men are better at displaying their interest of love instead of expressing their true feelings. The significance of this is that regardless of Viola’s disguise, she is still more confident with her identity as she can act bravely and portray her thoughts of women, while Orsino has difficulty showing Olivia  how he truly feels, therefore has an identity that is focused too much on perception. Thus, Orsino’s struggle to adapt to his identity highlights Shakespeare’s message of living a difficult life when questioning self identity.
On a similar note, Viola and Olivia are rather similar characters, but have different intentions as they are both powerful women, love bound, and impacted by a male driven society. At first, Viola wanted to have a friendship with Olivia, but as she embodied her male disguise, Cesario, Olivia fell in love with him.  Olivia, a powerful woman, has sworn off men, not publically because she is a woman in a high social standing, but privately as she uses her brother’s death as an escape way to not dedicate herself to a man or love. Ironically, Olivia was not ready to be with a man because her brother had died, and she was still mourning him, but all of that seemed irrelevant when she met Cesario. Olivia seems happy after she realizes that “Cesario, by the roses of the spring, / By maidhood, honor, truth, and everything, / I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride, / Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide” (3.1. 146-149). The significance of this is that she seems to unravel her disguise of mourning and grips her identity of a woman in love. Clearly, Shakespeare has emphasized the meaning of accepting one’s identity is to disentangle disguises and portray one’s true intentions in order to be happy.
As we shift through characters and reasons for Shakespeare’s message, it is apparent that not all interpretations are the same. A different understanding is portrayed in “Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night” by Nancy Lindheim, in which she focuses on gender and class issues, but in a much more profound context. In other words, the author emphasizes on the actual understanding of the comedic play, and explains the main character’s contribution to the play. To be precise, Lindheim analyzes each character’s purpose and the reason for their role in the play by incorporating Renaissance and Greek ideology. For example, she discusses Viola and Orsino’s anomalous relationship and Maria and Sir Toby’s as well while also evaluating the importance of each character’s input to their society. Lindheim briefly discusses each character’s love affair and role, and the way that the audience may perceive or modify such details. Not only does the author do this, but she also takes into consideration the way Elizabethean audience may have changed the meaning of each character and of the play because they were reserved or afraid to think differently than what their society portrayed.
While Lindheim articulates a valid point about each character’s purpose and defining their relationships, there seems to be an over emphasis on the difference of class issues instead of focusing on the importance of identity.  I think that Lindheim’s article is similar to my interpretation of Twelfth Night to an extent because I do refer to social norms and how it can be distorted through rebellious characters, but also how those high on the social ladder can distance themselves from their self identity. Her interpretation is also dissimilar as she defines Orsino and Cesario’s relationship as a friendly one instead of emphasizing the homosexual undertones. Lindheim bases her argument “according to Renaissance theory, friendship occurs between male equals, usually either aristocrats or gentlemen; it is superior to male-female erotic relationships because it is a product of moral choice which finds pleasure in souls, not bodies, and superior also to marriage […]”. Significantly, Lindheim uses Renaissance ideology to prove that Orsino and Cesario have a friendship rather than a romantic relationship that has a greater importance to that with a woman because it is a choice that the men make. Although her points about “souls” and “bodies” makes perfect sense, her fault seems to be that she was not fond of male homosexuality. Furthermore, the obvious diction between Cesario and Orsino establishes that there is more than a friendship between the two, but rather an infectious love relationship that can also be an interconnection of two souls. Regardless, I understand Lindheim’s interpretation of Twelfth Night of how she takes a look into the audience’s perspective and further interprets her own analysis (Lindheim 689).
Although Lindheim portrays an interesting interpretation, we must think of the importance of Shakespeare’s repeating themes. One of those themes being homosexuality as highlighted through Antonio, the wanted pirate whom falls in love with Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother. Even though Sebastian does not show mutual feelings, Antonio still loves him,
His life I gave him and did thereto add
My  love, without retention or restraint
All his dedication. For his sake
Did I expose myself pure for his love,
Into the danger of this adverse town; (5.1 75-79).
Evidently, Antonio expresses to his capturers his love for Sebastian and how he let himself love so purely. Antonio is open about his attraction towards Sebastian and this shows how his confidence in his identity can overcome societal norms, while other characters are insecure of their identities. People in society are afraid of being themselves because opposition is all around and most people do not adapt to change well.  The significance of this is that Shakespeare made Antonio an open minded character that willingly exposes his controversial identity in order to be happy. During the Elizabethan era, homosexuality was not accepted, but clearly writers like Shakespeare wrote to change such disagreement. Undeniably, Antonio seemed to find his happiness once he fell in love with Sebastian and liberally represented his sexuality in order to be truthful and content.
            All in all Twelfth Night covers numerous controversial topics, but one of the most controversial is identity because all of Shakespeare’s characters demonstrate either a loss, confusion, or acceptance of their identities. Clearly it is important to keep the audience’s perspective in mind like Lindheim suggests, but it is also important to see the repetitiveness as an indication of Shakespeare’s purpose, which is to show that embracing one’s identity is important to achieving happiness. From protagonist Viola’s disguise to Antonio’s expressive homosexual love, Shakespeare vividly portrays such controversial themes in order to provoke more than judgmental views, but also to show his audience how relieving it can be to embrace one’s true identity. As seen in Shakepeare’s presentation of Olivia, she seemed to be miserable because she was mourning for her diseased brother, but once she found love with Cesario/Viola, she let the power of love influence her overall well being. Essentially, Shakepeare’s message is that once one can accept and embrace self identity without allowing society to influence your beliefs then happiness will fulfill your life.
                                                           














Works Cited
Lindheim, Nancy. "Rethinking Sexuality And Class In "Twelfth Night.." University Of Toronto Quarterly 76.2 (2007): 679-713. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.
Stillinger, Jack, George Logan, and Stephen Greenblatt. "Twelfth Night." Ed. M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. B. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &, 2006. 1189-250. Print.