Position:Home>Books & Authors> Appearance VS Reality in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare?

The focus of this question is definitely on Viola, but you can see it from several angles!. To the Duke and Olivia, she's Cesario, a boy, whom Olivia falls in love with and the Duke finds himself growing uncomfortably fond of!. Olivia, who has unrealistically undertaken to mourn for seven years for her dead brother and see no man but relatives and servants in all that time, is ripe to fall in love with the first apparent male she sees; and the Duke, who is almost as unrealistic in his courtship of a woman who refuses to see him, evidently finds himself questoning his orientation!.

To Antonio, however, Viola is Sebastian, to whom he earlier that day entrusted his purse and who now refuses to admit he knows him!. Viola, of course, DOESN'T know him, but she has the wit to put two and two together when he calls her Sebastian and insists that he saw "him" just that morning!. (The audience or reader has known since Act I, Scene 2 that Sebastian is alive, but Viola has no idea of that fact until now!.)

To Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, Sebastian is Cesario, who earlier fled from fighting Sir Andrew and whom Sir Andrew now thinks he can easily defeat!. Is he ever wrong!

To Olivia, too, Sebastian is Cesario, the bashful boy she loves, who has suddenly become gratifylingly receptive to her overtures and whom she hustles into marriage before he can change his mind!.

Now to the Duke, Cesario is the boy he loeved and trusted and who has betrayed him by marrying the woman he thinks--by now, probably MAKES himself think--he loves!.

To Sebastian, that slightly shorter, smooth-faced version of himself who confronts him can only be one person, but the realization is so wonderful that he can't accept it without their little question-and- answer game!.

The of course there's Malvolio's self-deception, so easily brought to life by the "appearance" of Olivia's handwriting, really Maria's!.

Sorry! I didn't see "first two acts" in your wuestion until now! So this should be more than enough!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Taught this play many times!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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