Twelfth Night Group

Question:

fabulous
fabulous
Student
High School - 10th Grade

Apart from enabling Viola to protect herself in a strange land, what are the dramatic advantages of a disguised character?

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Posted by fabulous on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 6:17 AM and tagged with act i, advantages, disguise, dramatic, twelfth night, viola.

Answers:

  1. jsmckenna
    jsmckenna Teacher
    College - Freshman

    In Elizabethian plays (Shakespearian comedies especially), the ideas of twins separated and gender switching were considered hilarious and poignant. Audiences would follow the character and laugh at others' inability to tell that the male/female character is, in fact, a member of the opposite sex. Interestingly enough, most, if not all, of the parts of plays were played by men so Viola would be a male actor, playing the role of Viola, who is disguised as a man, Cesario. The dramatic advantage would be that the character of Cesario could be even more convincing as a man, therefore, spiriting the play throughout.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/twelfth
    http://www.enotes.com/twelfth/viola-character-analysis

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    Posted by jsmckenna on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 4:58 PM