Certain characters in the play are very self-deluded. The character of Malvolio is a highly disillusioned man. He believes that his social status is above that of the other servants of Olivia’s house ‘Yes nightingales answer daws’ (Act three, scene four). The other characters see through his self-delusion ‘go rub your chains with crumbs!’ (Act two, scene three). In this line, Sir Toby reminds Malvolio of his ‘Steward’ position – his chain representing his job. Malvolio is badly deceived by Sir Toby, Maria and Feste with ‘Olivia’s’ letter. He is encouraged to dress in clothes that he would never usually wear ‘remember who commended thy yellow stockings and wished to see thee ever cross-gartered’ (Act three, scene four). Gradually throughout the play, Malvolio is made to look increasingly foolish and is eventually, completely humiliated when he is branded mad and locked up. He begs ‘Sir Topas’ – Feste in disguise – to let him out ‘Sir Topas, Sir Topas!’(Act four, scene two). The other characters derive much pleasure from deceiving Malvolio and his character is one of the two who do not recover from the deceiving with a happy ending ‘I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you’ (Act five, scene five). Although the play is, essentially a comedy, this level of deception could be perceived as cruel and unjust.
The other character who doesn’t receive a happy ending is Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Sir Toby Belch uses him for his money ‘why, he has three thousand ducats a year’ (Act 1, scene 3). Sir Andrew believes that Sir Toby is his friend and is deceived into believing that Sir Toby likes him. Sir Andrew is persuaded into humiliating himself in a fight with ‘Cesario’. Sir Toby gains a great sense of pleasure from frightening Cesario and Sir Andrew on the battlefield. He disguises the truth about Sir Andrews’s temperament from Cesario and vice-versa. In this way, Viola is deceived. When Sir Toby tires of Sir Andrew; he rejects him ‘Will you help? An ass head and a coxcomb and a knave – a thin faced knave, a gull’ (Act five, scene one). This rejection is very harsh. The illusion of Sir Toby’s humorous character, revealed in earlier scenes, quickly disperses to reveal a darker, crueller personality. Again, the audience has been deceived.
Love is deceptive in ‘Twelfth Night’. At the beginning of the play, Orsino believes that he is in love with Olivia ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ (Act one, scene one). It becomes quite clear, however, that he is in love with the notion of love because his love quickly turns to hate ‘Live you the
marble-breasted tyrant still’ (Act five, scene one). Eventually, after finding out the true identity of ‘Cesario’, he asks Viola to marry him, but only after she removes the male disguise ‘Cesario come; for so you shall be, whilst you are a man’ (Act five, scene one).
Olivia is also deceived in ‘Twelfth Night’. She believes that she is in love with ‘Cesario’ yet she does not know that he is Viola ‘I am the man. If it be so – as tis, she were better love a dream’ (Act two, scene two). Before the appearance of Sebastian at the end of the play, Olivia is utterly confused and feels deceived ‘Ay me detested! How am I beguiled?’ (Act five, scene one). Olivia also contributes to some of the deception at the beginning of the play. ‘Emotions and intentions are disguised behind an outer appearance or attitude’ (1). Olivia’s pretence at mourning at the beginning of the play is quickly discarded when she meets Cesario. ‘We will draw the curtain and show you the picture’ (Act one, scene five). The lifting of the veil represents Olivia lifting her guard against love to Cesario.
Following on the theme of people not being who they appear to be, Feste is a surprise for the audience. ‘The Fool’ is a deeply intelligent man ‘I wear not motley in my brain’ (Act one, scene 5). Other characters in the play also realise his intelligence. Viola uses the antithesis ‘This man is wise enough to play the fool’. This links in with the idea that Feste is deceiving the characters by pretending to be a fool but beneath his costume, he is an intellectual. He sees beneath the disguise of others, particularly Olivia ‘Why mournst thou?’ (Act one, scene five). The audience is also deceived by Feste. We don’t really see the real Feste in the play because he is always pretending to be someone else. ‘I am for all waters’ (Act four, scene two). When he is not playing the fool, he is playing ‘Sir Topas’ as part of the plot to humiliate Malvolio. He is a self-confessed ‘corrupter of words’ (Act three, scene one). An example of this is where Feste imitates the parson in order to torment Malvolio ‘So I, being Master Parson, am Master Parson; for what is ‘that’ but ‘that? And ‘is’ but ‘is’?’(Act four, scene two). His words overwhelm Malvolio’s sense of who he is. Feste’s power lies within words and words become his disguise.
In ‘Twelfth Night’, Shakespeare creates characters with appearances that give the audience a preconceived idea about their personality. For example, Feste is dressed in motley so the audience immediately assumes that he is unintelligent. The irony that the ‘fool’ is the sharpest character in the play is very entertaining and smashes all pre-judgements that the audience may have made. Therefore, the audience is deceived.
Also contributing to the deceiving of the audience is the fact that in Elizabethan times, women were not allowed to be on the stage so the female characters would be played by men pretending to be women. In a play like ‘Twelfth Night’ where disguise is integral to the plot, this could become very confusing. For example, Viola would be played by a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man!
Deception and disguise are utilised to create frustration and confusion. Antonio, for example, regrets the ‘devotion’ that Sebastian inspired in him (Act three, scene four). Ironically though, he is mistaken but his comments on the nature of virtue are relevant to the play as a whole, ‘Virtue is beauty but the beauteous evil are empty trunks o’er-flourished by the devil’ (Act three, scene four). This speech also reflects Viola’s speech at the beginning of the play ‘And though that nature with a beauteous wall doth oft close in pollution…’ (Act one, scene two). These lines both say that people are judged by their appearance and, as the play goes on to prove, this is not always an accurate way of judging.
Sebastian’s role in the play is to strip the illusion of disguise and sort out the confusion ‘Sebastian is the reality of which Cesario is the artful imitation’ (1).
He is confused by the affections of Olivia and the aggression from Sir Andrew Aguecheek ‘There’s something in’t that is deceivable’ (Act four, scene three). Despite this, his presence allows a happy ending for all the characters who accept that they have been deceived. The only character who cannot recognise himself at the end is Malvolio because he is ‘blinded by pride and self-righteousness’ (1). This is why his ending is not happy.
Disguise is used to bring comedy into the plot but also teaches the audience about the importance of seeing ourselves and others for who we really are. Whether our disguise be something physical (like Olivia’s veil or Viola’s male disguise), or something more abstract (Feste’s words are an example of this), whilst ever we are ‘pretending’ to be who we are not, we are deceiving ourselves and others around us. Although Twelfth Night is a comedy, there is a serious message behind all the confusion and many characters get hurt in the quest for happiness. It is not until the characters remove their disguises that they can really achieve their aspirations and the audience – who have also been deceived - can return happily to reality, in the knowledge that all characters got what they deserved in the end.
Bibliography
- York Notes Advanced – Twelfth Night (York Press)
- Shakespeare’s Language – Frank Kermode
Additional Reading
The New Penguin Shakespeare – Twelfth Night (Introduction, Commentary)
Word Count: 1,848