Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011

We live in a sexually liberated society. With homosexuality as prevalent as it is in current media, the gender role reversals and homoerotic undertones of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare come as no shock to the modern audience or reader. Barber, a major theorist of festive comedy, writes of Twelfth Night: with sexual as with other relations, it is when the normal is secure that playful aberration is benign. This basic security explains why there is so little that is queasy in [Twelfth Night] (Barber 245). Yet current societal norms have greatly changed since Barbers time. Our sources of entertainment have become open and comfortable with homosexuality. The potential for queasiness in Twelfth Night now comes from a different source-- the so-called happy ending. Twelfth Night tidily resolves with heterosexual couplings. Orsino marries Viola and Olivia marries Sebastian. While the Elizabethan and Barbers audience may have viewed this as securing the normal, with everything appropriately being returned to its proper place, the modern audience member may leave the theater with a feeling of discontent. For a contemporary society that places such high value on love, (just think of all the romantic comedies that have come out this year alone) Olivias rapid shift in devotion from Cesario to Sebastian may seem disingenuous. The abrupt transfer of Orsinos attraction from Olivia to Viola may feel false. How can the modern audience member overcome this feeling of queasiness? The shift in devotion from one party to the other must be believable to the contemporary audience. The only way this can truly be accomplished is by removing genders barrier to love. Orsinos feelings of companionship towards Cesario, Violas male persona, must directly translate to an attraction to Viola, a female. Fortunately for the contemporary audience, the fashioning of gender and the disrupting of its binarism are central to Twelfth Night. Critics may have noticed that both

Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 Viola and Sebastian exhibit both feminine and masculine traits. Once the gender binarism is broken down, love isnt explicitly homo or heterosexual. Only then would the transfer of Olivias affections from Cesario, a persona molded around Sebastians characteristics, to Sebastian himself appear feasible. Only then do Orsinos feelings for Viola seem real. If Viola is both the female Viola and Cesario, Orsinos connection to her as Cesario carries over to his attraction to her as Viola. The catalyst that necessitates Violas Cesario disguise and gender role reversal is the shipwreck in Act I Scene II. Yet even before she adopts the disguise of Cesario, she already exhibits masculine traits. Her response to the shipwreck does not conform to the typical gender roles of the time and thereby disrupts gender binarism. Societal rules dictated that a woman was required to have a protector when traveling, as it was unsafe for women to travel alone. Viola is companionless after being separated from her brother Sebastian in the shipwreck. She has befriended a captain whom she has deemed noble in nature. She says, There is a fair behavior in thee captain, but she doesnt ask for his protection (I.ii.44). Viola chooses to protect herself. She tells the captain of the ship, Conceal me what I am.../For such disguise as haply shall become/ The form of my intent (I.ii.50-3). She asks only for his assistance in her disguise, preferring to find a solution that doesnt leave her indebted to another person, as is the conventional dynamic of the helpless female and her male protector. Instead, she chooses to serve the duke in disguise. While Orsino does offer her a form of protection, she provides service for him in return. She is indebted to no one, and embodies the stereotypically masculine trait of independence.

Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 Viola also exhibits many typically feminine traits. She quickly forms a romantic attachment to the man she is serving. During Elizabethan times this attachment may have paralleled the type of attachment a woman felt toward the husband she served. In the first scene in which the Duke and Cesario are seen together she even says of him, whoeer I woo, myself would be his wife (I.ii.44). The way Malvolio describes Cesario captures Violas juggling of different gender roles: Tis with him in standing water, between boy and man (I.v. 153-4). Malvolio misinterprets Violas femininity for boyishness; what he is really seeing is someone who appears to be somewhere in between man and woman. Viola, who tries admirably but cannot contain her femininity from seeping through her Cesario persona, is masculine enough to convince those around her she is male, but not that she is a man. Thus she is seen by Malvolio and others as between a boy and a man (I.v.153-4). Viola is not solely Viola or Cesario-- she is an amalgam of the two. I am all the daughters of my fathers house/ And all the brothers too, Viola as Cesario tells Orsino (II.iv.120-1). Violas choice of disguise is symbolic of this concept. Thou shalt present me as a eunuch to [Orsino] she says to the captain (I.ii.56). Eunuchs escape gender binarism entirely. They are missing the key physical part that would define them as either male or female and, if castrated at a young age, have softer features that are not distinctive to a particular sex. Just as the castration itself is indicative of the physical alterability of gender, gendered behavior is also mutable. Violas personality and appearance are a combination of both feminine and masculine traits. This could explain how Orsinos feelings for Cesario translate into romantic ones for Viola. When Orsino is trying to convince Cesario that Olivia will be more receptive to Cesarios requests for the Duke, Orsino describes Cesarios attractiveness. This passage has romantic
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Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 undertones, and can be played by Orsino to imply that he is attracted to Cesarios combination of masculine and feminine traits. While Orsino acknowledges that Cesario is male, that say thou art a man, the qualities Orsino describes as alluring are female ones. Dianas lip/ Is not more smooth and rubious, he says, thy small pipe/ Is as a maidens organ, shrill and sound/ And all is semblative a womans part (I.iv.31-34). This seems to imply that at least subconsciously Orsino may suspect Cesario is female, and is attracted to Viola. At the same time, he develops his bond to her while she is playing Cesario. He says, Cesario,/ Thou knowst no less than all. I have unclasped/ To thee the book even of my secret soul(I.iv.12-4) His closeness to her results from the fact that he believes she is male, and was able to confide completely in her, which he wouldnt have been able to do had he known she was female. In Twelfth Night, the line between the two genders is blurred. Viola has both masculine and feminine traits. With the gender binarism already broken down, it is possible for Orsino to be in love with Viola as just a person, and not as someone who is explicitly masculine or feminine. This is supported by Orsinos reaction when he learns that Cesario is actually female. In his proposal, Orsino tells Viola, Your master quits you; and for the service done him/ So much against the mettle of your sex...here is my hand; you shall from this time be your masters mistress (V.i.315-19). He acknowledges her femininity and its affects on their evolving relationship. She will now be his mistress and not his male servant. At the same time, he also continues to see her as Cesario, a man. Even after her disguise is lifted, he continues to call her boy (V.i.262). Orsinos last line in the play is Cesario, come-- For so you shall be while you are a man, But when in other habits you are seen, Orsinos mistress and his fancys queen (V.i.368-81) . He continues to address her by her male name, saying she is both Cesario (for so you shall be while you are a man) and Viola, his
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Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 mistress and fancys queen. Orsino is in love with his friend, Cesario, and physically attracted to Viola, but this is one and the same, as Viola simultaneously exhibits both masculine and feminine qualities throughout the play. It is arguable that this combination of masculine and feminine traits was what Olivia found so alluring in Cesario. When Olivia comments on what she finds so attractive in Cesario, she says, Ill be sworn thou art [a gentleman]/ Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit,/ Do give thee fivefold blazon (I.iv.268-70). This unique, gentlemanly quality that Cesario possesses is commented on by a number of characters in the play. But where does it arise from? Cesarios soft, more feminine features and behaviors are explained by those under the impression Cesario is a male as the behaviors of a gentleman (I.iv.270). The Duke is surprised when Cesario is accused of fighting Sir Andrew and Sir Toby Belch and is described by them as the very devil incardinate (V.i.177). My Gentleman, Cesario? the Duke replies (V.i.178). Cesario doesnt fight like the devil because she is a girl and never learned how, yet Orsino believes Cesario doesnt fight because he behaves as a gentleman. This gentlemanly behavior, a result of Cesarios combination of masculine and feminine traits, is what Olivia finds attractive. Violas brother, Sebastian, also possesses a combination of masculine and feminine traits. While Viola defies gender norms by both disguising herself as a male and behaving in a more stereotypically masculine manner, her brother violates gender roles by taking courses of action that would be considered feminine. Unlike Viola, who travels independently after the shipwreck, Sebastian complies with the female norm of traveling with a protector, Antonio. When Sebastian asks Antonio about his reasons for journeying with him, Antonio responds:
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Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011

But jealous what might befall your travel, Being skill-less in these parts; which to a stranger, Unguided and unfriended, often prove Rough and unhospitable. My willing love, The rather by these arguments of fear, Set forth in your pursuit (III.iii.8-13). Antonios relationship with Sebastian mirrors that of the male protector and the indebted female. Antonio travels with Sebastian to protect him from harm in a rough and unhospitable environment. Sebastian is extremely indebted to Antonio-- Antonio not only acts as his guide but also saved his life from the shipwreck. Sebastian has given him nothing in return except gratitude, which the enamored Antonio quickly accepts as payment enough. But like Viola, Sebastian also behaves in a manner that encompasses both gender roles. Although Sebastian is receiving affection and protection from Antonio, he also is a talented swordsman who easily bests Sir Andrew and Sir Toby in the same fight they tell Orsino about in Act V scene i. Because his behavior is both masculine and feminine, he too possesses the gentlemanly quality which Olivia finds so alluring. Thus, the disruption of gender binaries in both Viola and Sebastian can also help explain the sudden transfer of Olivias affections from Viola to Sebastian. Additionally, Viola based Cesarios persona on the personal characteristics of her brother. Antonio runs into Viola as Cesario and mistakenly thinks she is her brother. I my brother know/ Yet living in my glass Viola explains afterward (III.iv.345-6). It makes sense that Antonio would confuse the two, because every time Viola, disguised as Cesario, looks in a mirror, she sees

Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 Sebastian. Him I imitate she also says (III.iv.349). It isnt surprising, then, that Olivia was attracted to Sebastian. Not only is he nearly physically identical to Cesario, and similarly gentlemanly, but Violas masculine impressions as Cesario were based on her brother. If Olivia liked the copy, why wouldnt she like the original upon which the copy was based? One may notice that even after Viola is discovered as a woman, Shakespeare chooses to leave her in her masculine attire, symbolic of the fact that she is not deserting her Cesario persona even though disguise is no longer necessary. It is a part of who she is. Orsino is in love with and marrying both Cesario and Viola. Once the gender binary is broken down, it is attraction to a person, or in Olivias case, the attraction to particular traits, that is the most important. A modern production, aimed at capturing the imagination of the contemporary audience, should try to get the audience to question the concepts of sexual attraction and gender. Ironically, it is the questioning and un-securing of these norms that will lead the play to its modern happy ending. Successfully breaking down the gender binarism is the vehicle through which a production can convince the contemporary audience of the love felt between the main couples at the end of the play. Orsino should emphasize his attraction and companionship with Cesario in earlier scenes. Viola should draw attention to her uncertainty in her role of Cesario and the masculine and feminine traits she infuses into his character. Olivia should be attracted to this uncertainty and the similar traits she sees within Sebastian. With the proper setup, the heterosexual couplings at the end of the play can be seen as genuine love. It is natural for Orsino to fall in love with his closest friend and confidante. Likewise, it makes sense for Olivia to fall in love with the man on whom Cesarios traits were based. The romantic pairings shouldnt be, as

Breaking Gender Binaries: An Essay on Twelfth Night Monica Burnett 12/09/2011 Barber claims, a return to, or securing of, the normal. Ideally, the audience should realize that there really is no normal to return to.