Viola twelfth night character analysis. Viola Character Analysis in Twelfth Night 2022-10-23

Viola twelfth night character analysis Rating: 8,2/10 1679 reviews

In William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night," the character of Viola is a fascinating and complex individual who adds depth and richness to the story. Through her disguises and her relationships with other characters, Viola reveals much about her personality and motivations.

One of the most notable aspects of Viola's character is her intelligence and resourcefulness. After being separated from her twin brother, Sebastian, in a shipwreck, she quickly realizes that the only way to survive in the unfamiliar land of Illyria is to disguise herself as a man. She takes on the persona of Cesario, a young servant to Duke Orsino, and proves to be an adept and loyal servant. However, her intelligence and wit also allow her to use her disguise to her advantage, manipulating situations to achieve her goals and outsmart those around her.

Viola is also a deeply caring and compassionate individual. Despite the challenges she faces, she remains kind and sympathetic to those around her. This is evident in her relationship with Orsino, who is infatuated with the Lady Olivia. Viola initially tries to discourage Orsino's pursuit, knowing that it will likely lead to heartbreak, but ultimately agrees to serve as his messenger to Olivia. She does this not only out of a sense of duty to her employer, but also out of a desire to ease his suffering.

Viola's compassionate nature is also on display in her interactions with Olivia and the other characters in Illyria. Despite the fact that she is in disguise, Viola is able to form genuine connections with these individuals, and she is always willing to lend a helping hand or offer kind words of encouragement.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Viola's character is the duality that is present throughout the play. On the one hand, she is a strong and capable individual who is able to navigate complex social situations and outsmart those around her. On the other hand, she is vulnerable and sensitive, struggling with feelings of loss and isolation as she tries to find her place in the unfamiliar world of Illyria. This duality is reflected in her disguise as Cesario, as she is able to present a confident and capable facade to the outside world while also grappling with her own emotions and desires.

Overall, Viola is a multifaceted and dynamic character whose actions and relationships drive much of the plot of "Twelfth Night." Through her intelligence, compassion, and duality, she adds depth and complexity to the story, making her a truly memorable and enduring character.

Viola

viola twelfth night character analysis

However, whereas Olivia is more of a passive character characters fall in love with her, and pursue her , Viola is active throughout: the catalyst who drives the plot on. Many critics have called her passive and inactive, yet many others have found her inaction fitting, considering her situation. Olivia, like Viola, mourns the death of her own brother, allowing Cesario and Olivia to understand one another in a way another suitor might have not. There was no specific law about that but the authorities would not have allowed it. Twelfth Night is certainly a love story that shows us all how great love can be.


Next

Character Analysis Viola In Twelfth Night English Literature Essay

viola twelfth night character analysis

Desire acts as a leveling force, forcing characters to gain self-knowledge. When the Duke Orsino finds out Viola is a girl and Olivia has gotten married, he quickly switches from loving Olivia to Viola. Forced to masquerade as a man named Cesario for most of the play, Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino, who makes her his page. It is her sense of responsibility and sincerity towards her duty that makes her carry out her tasks for Orsino. Then again, the Viola on stage had to find herself disguised as young Cesario. Retrieved 30 November 2020. Make no compare Between the love a woman can bear me And that I love Olivia.


Next

Analysis of the Characters in Twelfth Night

viola twelfth night character analysis

She eventually realizes how she truly feels and decides to act on it at the end of the play. Retrieved 6 December 2019. She is the character whose love seems the purest. She knows that a single woman unattended in a foreign land would be in an extremely dangerous position. All these make Viola, the possible protagonist of this play. Viola has a strong sense of duty and loyalty. However, she then learns that Orsino is trying to woo Olivia, so she may have identified a role for herself: to play matchmaker for Orsino, by acting as the go-between and to try to win Olivia for him.

Next

Viola

viola twelfth night character analysis

He moves freely among the other characters and comments on what is going on among them. This conflict, on the whimsical island of Illyria, is that between the real and the imagined, the disguised and the actual. Viola, whom everyone thinks to be Cesario — a servant for Orsino — is slowly unveiling her true personality and secret. Later on Sebastian arrives. The play ends in a declaration of marriage between Duke Orsino and Viola, and it is learned that Sir Toby has married Maria. It is too hard a knot for me to untie? Viola in Twelfth Night The central protagonist of Shakespeare's 1602 play Twelfth Night is Viola, a young woman who survives a shipwreck and washes up on the shores of Illyria.

Next

Twelfth Night

viola twelfth night character analysis

Feste is a fairly central character. She has no serious faults, and we can easily discount the peculiarity of her decision to dress as a man, since it sets the entire plot in motion. Viola exhibits genuine excitement after learning her brother Sebastian could be alive, following Antonio's arrest. After all, for much of the play she is unsure whether her twin brother is dead or alive. One of the characteristics of the fool is that he has licence to speak truth to power with no holds barred — in a context where no-one else dare do that, for fear of their lives, in the case of monarchs and princes.

Next

Viola in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare

viola twelfth night character analysis

This might have been a simple act of kindness on the surface, yet it has its significance in showing that Viola is ready to undertake the challenges of an unfamiliar world in her own right. Sebastian and Olivia get married and Orsino, discovering that his best friend is really a woman, proposes to her instead. All Answers ltd, 'Character Analysis Viola In Twelfth Night English Literature Essay' UKEssays. His priggishness and haughty attitude earn him the enmity of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria, who play a cruel trick on him, making him believe that Olivia is in love with him. O time, thou must untangle this, not I 2. By that time, Orsino is also in love with her, even thought he thinks she is a boy. By disguising herself as a man, she finds the freedom to still be herself, in a society where it is dangerous to go out as a woman with no family to accompany her.

Next

Twelfth Night: Character List

viola twelfth night character analysis

He thinks that he is witty, brave, young, and good at languages and dancing, but he is actually an idiot. Viola and Gender Bending Shakespeare was interested in providing ways in which the audience could suspend their disbelief, giving them something they could easily relate to and become engaged with. The timidity, nervousness and ignorance she betrays on this occasion are characteristic of a woman who has no practical experience of fighting and is only passing herself off as a man. Feste played by Michael Milligan at Santa Cruz Shakespeare 2005. With his dramatic role in the play, and his conventional fool role, where he looks in at the action, he is both inside and outside the play, which makes him a marked innovation in drama, anticipating the postmodern plays of the 20th century. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries homosexuality was a taboo and illegal in most countries, and still is in some.

Next

Character Analysis Viola In Twelfth Night English Literature Essay

viola twelfth night character analysis

The quote is important because it shows Viola starting to see a connection to her past life and hope that she might be reunited with her family. Although it brings out her womanly delicacy, it leaves her imagination and intellect unaffected. This understanding of love and the optimism in her approach towards life have combined together to make her desirable as a potential companion. Twelfth Night is a comedy and a marvel. She will therefore not accept the overtures of a suitor at least not this one. When he arrives in Illyria, traveling with Antonio, his close friend and protector, Sebastian discovers that many people think that they know him. Olivia has met and was betrothed to Sebastian.

Next