Deception in Twelfth Night
Passage 5.1.243–252 takes place near the closing events of Twelfth Night, just as Sebastian and Viola are reunited. It is written in iambic pentameter verse: ‘That I am Viola, which to confirm’ (51.244) — a stressed syllable falling after an unstressed syllable in a ten-syllable sentence Brown, R (2020, p.299). In the Twelfth Night, all noble born characters speak in blank verse using iambic pentameter when they exchange dialogue with other nobility; while servants and non-upper-class characters speak in prose and are never given the privilege of being spoken to in verse. This is a theme that informs the action of the Twelfth Night’s characters as it plays into the themes of disguise and mistaken identity, which will be discussed next.
Through the line ‘If nothing lets to make us happy both — But this my masculine usurped attire (5.1.244) Viola reveals a core theme of the Twelfth Night — disguise and the actions that result from mistaken identity. Twelfth Night explores duality, duplicity and fortune, all of which are in some way disguised either to the characters or the audience. In Viola saying: “my masculine usurped attire’ the word Usurped is poignant, as it means to take over or seize power.
Viola appropriating male attire is also her taking possession of, or taking over male power and agency, not merely a set of clothing, but the adopted persona of her twin brother. The connotations of the word usurp in the royal sense would have been apparent to contemporary audiences, as at the time Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne and had herself in some ways ‘usurped’ the power of a man and ruled much like a King. Perhaps the play was never shown or published until after Shakespeare’s death due to this. Cesario (Viola) had also, in the eyes of Count Orsino, usurped Olivia. Feste even adopts the disguise of Sir Topaz (4.2.22–57), usurping his persona in the duping of Malvolio, allowing the fool (Feste) power and agency over the steward (Malvolio) who had always oppressed him (5.1.361–367), an example of duplicity and disguise in the Twelfth Night.
Regarding the line ‘if nothing Lets to make us happy both,’ (5.1.244); here Viola is acknowledging that her disguise is responsible for confusion and misery in the play as she does in her soliloquy earlier in the performance: ‘And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me. What will become of this? As I am man, My state is desperate for my master’s love. As I am woman, now alas the day’ (2.2.35–38). Her usurpation of manhood is the barrier to everybody’s happiness, and another great example of duplicity and duality in the Twelfth Night.
Happiness in the Twelfth Night meaning the successful pairing of lovers — Orsino with Viola and Sebastian with Olivia. Viola is also subtly referring to the audience’s happiness as well, the audience know that Viola is played by a male actor, portraying a female who is dressed as a man, irony that would have been amusing to contemporary audiences as all characters were portrayed by male actors. The audience were also led to believe up until this point that the play was a tragedy, indeed the principal characters were about to come to blows until the confusion was allayed by the reunion of Sebastian and Viola. A successful conclusion was unexpected and bewildering, just as the miraculous appearance of two Cesario’s. It could be said that the Twelfth Night was also in disguise and guilty of duplicity, by subverting the audiences’ expectations.
References:
Brown, R (2020) Chapter 1: Twelfth Night: why Shakespeare? In Nicola J. Watson (2020) Cultures: Book 2. Milton Keynes: The Open University
Shakespeare, W., Shakespeare, W., Warren, R. and Wells, S., 2008. Twelfth night, or, What you will. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
