How is homosexuality portrayed in Twelfth Night?

Twelfth Night, a play by William Shakespeare, has strong undertones of homosexual relationships. It is worth remembering that in Elizabethan England, during Shakespeare's time, homosexuality was punishable by death.

The sailor Antonio falls in love with the nobleman Sebastian after saving his life. Sebastian, however, is a heterosexual male who is unable to understand Antonio's feelings and thus fails to reciprocate them.

Antonio even proposes to live as Sebastian's servant. He says, "If you will not murder me for love, let me be your servant."

Antonio's choice of words in describing his feelings for Sebastian clearly indicates that the relationship he had in mind was more than that of strong male bonding or a platonic friendship. He talks of love, jealousy, and desire that is sharper than filed steel.

A similar homoerotic undercurrent is detected in the relationship between Duke Orsino and Viola, who is disguised as a man—Cesario. The duke is attracted to Cesario, and upon revelation that Cesario is actually Viola in disguise, he persists in addressing her as Cesario and exclaims,

Cesario, come;
For so you shall be, while you are a man;
But when in other habits you are seen,
Orsino’s mistress and his fancy’s queen.

The third relationship in the play that suggests homosexual behavior is that between Countess Olivia and Viola. The countess is attracted to Cesario for the character's visible feminine qualities, such as soft features, smooth limbs, and absence of facial hair.

Analyze the presentation of homosexuality in two Twelfth Night productions.

Generally there are two tendencies towards the presentation of homosexuality in this great Shakesperian comedy. Either it is downplayed, or much is made of it. The most obvious relationship that could be described as homosexual, is that of Sebastian and Antonio, who says, in Act II scene 1, to Sebastian:

But come what may, I do adore thee so

That danger shall seem sport, and I will go.

However, some productions treat this as a kind of brotherly love, whereas some openly portray it as a homosexual longing of an older man for a younger. Of course, this is not the only instance where homosexuality can be included. One of my favourite productions of this play is Trever Nunn's film version, with Imogen Stubbs and Helena Bonham-Carter, that includes such scenes as Orsino and the disguised Viola together pursuing manly activities and Orsino struggling against the rising attraction that he feels towards Cesario. Depending on the director, homosexuality can have a very overt presence in this play, or it can be barely repressed beneath the surface of respectability.