Essay: Exploring Mistaken Identity in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night

When one thinks about identity, many think about who they are. Identity involves qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that makes up a person. When people begin to change, and alter their characteristics in society, it’s a sense of mistaken identity. Whether it’s a different look, or tone of voice, the person many around one sees is not their true selves, this being the case for William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Throughout the storyline, multiple characters used disguises to either prove a point, declare love for one, or to challenge gender roles at the time. Shakespeare’s use of multiple identities, including disguises and voices, served a purpose as the idea not only brought humor and conflict to the main storyline, but to highlight serious topics and challenge social norms and values of the period.
Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night near the middle of his career around the year 1601. The three main types of plays Shakespeare wrote in his career were comedies, tragedies, and histories, with many of his plays being comedies including Twelfth Night. The play follows certain patterns which are commonly found in Shakespeare’s comedies, as it ends in marriage and is based around disguise and false identities, creating humor in various situations. This is a typical element in comedies during Shakespeare’s time since the audience is always in on the joke. Instances like this occurred when Malvolio puts on yellow stockings and crossed garters to win Olivia’s heart after Maria wrote a letter to him as Olivia. Doing as what he thinks “Olivia” said, Malvolio came before her saying that “If it please the eye of one, it is with me as the very true sonnet is, “Please one, and please all,” mentioning “It did come to his hands, and commands shall be executed. I think we do know the sweet Roman hand,” (1226-1227). He was giving her hints based from the supposed letter that Olivia allegedly wrote. This created a comedic situation for the audience to laugh at, all while watching a complicated story unfold. In this case, comedy can “avoid individual characterization by focusing entirely on the humor of physical action; or it can stress the disparity between appearance and reality–what in his society a character sets himself out to be as opposed to what he is in reality behind the social mask,” (Champion).
While it was comedic, every story has its conflict to maintain appeal to the story. With the multiple identities used by the characters, this “creates problems for the dramatist who must maintain a comic perspective for the spectator or see his narrative turn to melodrama or tragicomedy,” (Twelfth Night: The Figure of Viola…). What seemed humorous in the beginning can quickly spiral downwards, causing major complications. This can be seen when Viola had dressed as a guy named Cesario for her to be a servant for Duke Orsino. At first, this event was used for comedic effect, but as the story continued it caused conflicts with all the characters, specifically creating the “love triangle” between Duke Orsino, Olivia, and Viola/Cesario. It began with Viola realizing that her appearance as a guy caused Olivia to become attracted to physical features of Cesario, “Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections. With an invisible and subtle stealth. To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be,” (1204). Due to this conflict, it caused additional conflicts with Malvolio as he thinks that Olivia is in love with Cesario. His narcissism leads him to these conclusions along with the misleading from Maria and other servants.
Many say that everything happens for a reason, there’s a purpose behind a decision or an event that took place in one’s life. For the play, the identities played a role to present issues in society during the time without mentioning it directly. At the time, it was a patriarchal society in which women remained passive and had to follow social expectations, with the traditional behavior being based on a natural biological fact rather than social convention. With Viola having to disguise as a man, this allowed Shakespeare to gain a considerable amount of power, challenging the status quo at the time of women only doing a certain set of tasks. This could be seen when Duke Orsino was describing Cesario’s facial features such as his mouth, lips, throat, voice, and other characteristics that normally belongs to women. “Dear lad, believe it; For they shall yet belie thy happy years. That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip Is not more smooth and rubious, thy small pipe Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound, And all is semblative a woman’s part,” (1196). These characteristics were out of the ordinary because Viola is Cesario, dressed as a guy. The fact that Viola is convincing as a boy servant tells us that gender and class identity can be “questioned as it’s possible it can be impersonated and performed,” (Maslen) connecting to the theme of identity. This allows the audience to wonder if things like gender and class are set in stone, or if they can be altered with a change of clothing.
Shakespeare’s continued efforts in these comedies to establish an effective perspective, with varying degrees of success, will “reveal his persistent concern for comic control over a narrative replete with potential tragedy,” (Champion).