How do Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Sonnet 73 explore the theme "don't judge a book by its cover"?

Both Twelfth Night and Sonnet 73 celebrate love that is based on more than physical appearance or plausible attraction. Both Orsino and Olivia see something lovable in Cesario that they can't quite explain based on the "young man's" physical appearance. Both learn to appreciate something more inward and lasting than youth and beauty. The "cover" of disguise Viola adopts is capable of revealing something more truthful about her inner self, allowing her to express hew own longing for love. Because Orsino thinks he cannot love Cesario, he reveals the inner book of his love as well. Because Olivia does not feel threatened by this younger servant to Orsino, she can reveal her playfulness and openness to folly as well, not fearing she will lose her self in love of another, more powerful man like Orsino. Disguise is the venue for inner truth to be revealed. When the disguise is revealed at the end of the play, both Orsino and Olivia feel they have already read the contents of Viola/Cesario/Sebastian's heart.

The same is true in the sonnet, where the older speaker acknowledges his loss of youth and beauty yet is profoundly appreciative of the young man who looks upon the diminishing beauty, energy, and life in the speaker yet continues to love:

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

How do Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Sonnet 73 explore the theme "don't judge a book by its cover"?

In Shakespeare's gender bending Twelfth Night, examples of the pitfalls of judging a book by its cover, or, in other words, being deceived by surface appearances, abound. For example, Olivia falls in love with Viola, who is disguised as a male, Cesario. This is definitely a case of judging a book by its cover, because Cesario is not, despite outward appearances, a man. (It could be argued that this shows that love transcends gender.) In another "don't judge a book by its cover" moment, the conceited Malvolio is tricked into thinking Olivia is in love with him when Maria deceives him by writing him love letters purportedly from Olivia. Finally, Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, which is maybe not such a stretch as he is Viola's twin. In any case, this mishap works in Olivia's favor by uniting her with her proper mate.

In Sonnet 73, the narrator speaks of getting old, stating

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie

Nevertheless, the sonnet argues that love shouldn't judge by appearances. Rather than fading or quieting with age, the lover's passion grows stronger because he realizes he doesn't have that much time left to be with the beloved in this world.

How do Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Sonnet 73 explore the theme "don't judge a book by its cover"?

Sonnet 73 is about someone who loves a person who is getting old. According to the speaker in the sonnet, the love is stronger because the lover recognizes that they don't have long together. It is about someone who loves a person despite his outward appearance. So, people who are not judging the book by the cover.

In 12th Night, what is below the surface is more important than what is above. Olivia and Orsinio both judge books by their covers, so to speak, when they fall in love with people who are attractive on the outside but wrong for them in one way or another. Orsino likes Olivia's looks but he doesn't see (or care to see her character) and Olivia falls in love with Viola without realizing the "boy" she's fallen for is actually a girl. The truest love is the one between Orsinio and Viola for that is the love of friends who recongize and understand each other's true character. That kind of love is one that judges from the inside rather than outside appearances.

How does Twelfth Night use the theme of not judging a book by its cover?

In William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the issue of taking someone at face value, or "judging a book by its cover," is a pivotal one. The characters assume disguises and false names, pursuing their own needs and desires under the guise of serving someone else. This leads to an ironic and humorous love triangle, which causes the characters much grief before its resolution. Of course, there is only resolution when the characters' true identities are revealed.

The first disguise of the play, and the most important one, is that of Viola. She is a young woman who has been shipwrecked and disguises herself as a man named Cesario so that she can serve in Duke Orsino's court and find information about her missing brother, Sebastian. While disguised as Cesario, the Duke asks Viola to help him win the heart of Countess Olivia. When Olivia meets "Cesario," she sets her sights on him rather than accepting the Duke's suit. All the while, Viola falls in love with the Duke, though she is disguised as a man and cannot express her love for him.

Viola's disguise itself is a test of the characters' willingness to judge a book by its cover and often leads to ironic conversations between the characters, such as in act 3, scene 1:

Olivia: Stay; I prithee, tell me what thou think'st of me.

Viola: That you do think you are not what you are.

Olivia: If I think so, I think the same of you.

Viola: Then think you right: I am not what I am.

Olivia: I would you were as I would have you be!

Countess Olivia believes she is flirting with Cesario in this conversation, while Viola is trying to subtly hint that Olivia's flirtations are aimed at the wrong person. Olivia also reveals her stubbornness here, as she is happy to believe that Cesario is who she wants him to be and unwilling to change her perspective, no matter what Viola says.