Discussion Topic

Analysis of Viola's wit and quick thinking in Twelfth Night

Summary:

Viola's wit and quick thinking in Twelfth Night are evident through her ability to navigate complex social situations, her clever use of language, and her adeptness at improvisation. Disguised as Cesario, she skillfully manages romantic entanglements and misunderstandings, showcasing her intelligence and resourcefulness. Viola's sharp mind allows her to maintain her disguise and influence the play's events effectively.

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What evidence characterizes Viola as witty in Act 1, Scene 2 of Twelfth Night?

While we normally understand a wit to be someone whose cleverness makes the person amusing, a wit can also be just a very clever, intelligent, or perceptive person in general (Random House Dictionary). We are later given evidence that her cleverness and keen perception also make Viola amusing, but in only the second scene of Act 1, we are only shown how clever she is. We even see her proclaim her own cleverness or wit in the lines, "What else may hap to time I will commit; / Only shape thou silence to my wit" (I.ii.63-64).

In this scene, she has just landed in Illyria, and with both her father and brother now both being dead, she feels uncomfortable confessing to the strangers of Illyria that she is a noble woman and all alone. It would be very easy to take advantage of a woman in her situation. When she first hears of Olivia, she wishes she could work for Olivia until she feels it is safe to disclose that she is a wealthy noble woman. But upon hearing that Olivia will reject her service, she decides she could be of use to Duke Orsino. But again, she wants to protect her true, vulnerable identity and so devices a plan to masquerade as a Eunich and ask for employment. She asks the sea captain to help her conceal her feminine identity, and is so pleased with her plan to protect herself that she calls her plan and herself witty or clever.

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What evidence in Twelfth Night shows Viola's characteristic of quick thinking?

Two of Viola's characteristics are that she is not only quick thinking, she is also very self-preserving. In other words, she is quickly able to see and understand her vulnerabilities and think of a solution to protect herself. We particularly see this characteristic in the very first scene in which we meet her, Act 1, Scene 2. In this scene, we learn a great deal about her background. Not only has she just survived a shipwreck, we also learn that her father died when she was thirteen and quite possibly her mother before him, leaving her in the guardianship of her brother. But now she feels her brother probably drowned in the shipwreck, leaving her an orphan. More importantly, she is also a wealthy noble woman. Hence, here she is stranded in an unknown land with no family nor male protection, making her very vulnerable due to her wealthy status. It is because she sees her vulnerability that she decides to disguise herself as a servant until she feels it is safe to disclose her true identity. We see her express her desires to protect herself and her wealth in the lines:

O that I served that lady
And might not be delivered to the world,
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow,
What my estate is! (I.ii.43-46)

However, when the sea captain warns her that she would be rejected as a servant in Olivia's household, she next resolves to disguise herself as a eunuch to work for Duke Orsino. Hence, her ability to quickly think of a solution to protect herself not only shows her quick-thinking ability, it also shows she has a self-preserving nature.

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