Essay
A* Twelfth Night Exemplar Essay 2 (Section B)
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‘Twelfth Night disrupts ideas of class, status and gender.’ How far do you agree with this view of the play?
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Twelfth Night practice essay 2‘Twelfth Night disrupts ideas of class, status and gender.’ How far do you agree with this view of the
play?
Arguably, the autonomy afforded to females such as Olivia and Viola, combined with the
leading role played by Maria in the gulling of Malvolio, establish compelling grounds to suggest that
Twelfth Night certainly disrupts ideas of gender. Regarding class and status, the distinction is more
ambiguous because Malvolio’s punishment for his aspersions to social-climbing is extremely
conservative, while the two principal marriages are perhaps based on being strong social matches.
Nevertheless, the folly and ridicule of the ‘Duke’ Orsino and the ‘Countess’ Olivia by the commoner,
Feste, together with the stupidity and cowardice of ‘Sir’ Andrew, could suggest that Shakespeare
also disrupts ideas of class and status in Twelfth Night.
The absence of parents, the traditional obstacles to love in comedic plays, arguably allows
Twelfth Night to disrupt ideas of class, status and gender. Olivia is certainly afforded more autonomy
than her tragic counterparts, such as Juliet and Desdemona, as Shakespeare demonstrates that a
woman is solely able to control her fate and reject all of her potential suitors, which is arguably a
daring portrayal given that marriage among the aristocracy was normally arranged in Elizabethan
times. Olivia is initially presented as ‘like a cloistress’, owing to her grief for her dead brother, yet
Shakespeare quickly proves this to be incorrect as Olivia falls almost instantaneously in love with
Viola (disguised as Cesario), thus mocking the Countess for her changeability and falseness. The
extent of her enchantment by Viola is clearly emphasised by Shakespeare’s use of blazon in her
utterance ‘thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon’. It is ironic
that Olivia is attracted to Viola’s individual body parts as such organs are actually female, henceforth
insinuating an element of homosexuality behind the veneer of Olivia’s veil which undoubtedly
challenges ideas of class, status and gender. She is further ridiculed by her fool for excessively
mourning her dead brother as Feste remarks dryly ‘The more fool, Madonna, to mourn for your
brother’s soul being in heaven’. It is an unmistakeable subversion of established ideas of class and
status that the pinnacle of lower orders, the Shakespearean clown, is able to call his own mistress a
‘fool’ and make her realise the futility of her actions in knowingly wasting away her life. Her chase of
Viola could perhaps be seen as a reaction to Feste’s guidance, suggesting he has a profound impact
on her, expressing just how blurred the social boundaries in the play become.
Viewing Feste as a means of disrupting ideas of class and status gains credibility when we
consider his ridicule of Duke Orsino. In a manner reminiscent of Romeo drooping all over the stage
for an ill-matched suitor (Rosaline), Orsino represents the starved Petrarchan lover who appears
more concerned with the idea of love than romance with Olivia itself according to the use of
apostrophe in his conceit ‘O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou’. His love is, indisputably,
extremely superficial given that he never even meets Olivia until the final Act, and above all he
instantly switches his love to Viola upon learning that she is a woman. Not only does this indicate his
possible homosexuality (like Olivia, he is attracted to someone apparently of the same gender), it
also demonstrates his inconstancy as a lover – something that is not missed by Feste, who remarks
‘thy mind is a very opal’. As a gem known for its changing colour, Feste witticism here is extremely
powerful in making a subtle criticism of the Duke, which is again ironic considering Feste is just a
fool. He is able to seamlessly transgress all social boundaries, even going as far to impersonate
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