In Shakespeare's time women were generally thought of as inferior to men. In "Twelfth night" does the playwright suggest that he may not accept this idea and how does he show the audience this?

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Jennifer Spooner 10C

Twelfth Night

In Shakespeare’s time women were generally thought of as inferior to men. In “Twelfth night” does the playwright suggest that he may not accept this idea and how does he show the audience this?

When Shakespeare wrote the play Twelfth Night in about 1602, women were generally thought of inferior to men meaning they were lower class. Shakespeare does no accept this idea. He shows this when he was asked by Queen Elizabeth 1 to write a play with love and comedy, the two main characters are very strong women and the male characters are very weak.

Olivia is rich, noble and very emotional and very strong in character. In act 1 scene 2 we learn that Olivia’s brother and father have recently passed away, Olivia has a very strong love for her brother because of this she made some extreme vows: she will not show her face at ample view, “but like a cloistress she will veiled walk”. She will cry in her room everyday, she loved her brother so much that she was willing to keep his memory alive by mourning for seven years, this shows the very strong character she held, as this was an almost impossible task.

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Women were thought of as inferior at the time the play was written. Women were ruled by the men of the household, but because Olivia’s father and brother have died she has no-one to rule her life, this shows her strength as she has taken advantage of this, by ruling her own household and servants by herself. Olivia is confident enough to seek what she wants gracefully for example in act 1 scene 5 Olivia wants Cesario/Viola to come back again, in order to get Cesario/Viola to come back Olivia removes her ring and forces Marvolio, (her head servant) ...

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