Viola in Twelfth Night

8/20/2019 Viola in Twelfth Night

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As a man, Viola is also able to influence the negative biases about women that the other

men in the play hold. When the Duke argues to her that women have no capability of true love,

she retorts with:

Too well what love women to men may owe;

In faith, they are as true of heart as we.

My father had a daughter lov ’d a man,

As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,

I should your lordship …

She never told her love,But let concealment, like a worm I’the’bud,

Feed on her damask cheek; she pin ’d in thought,

And with a green and yellow melancholy,

She sat, like a patience on a monument,

Smiling at grief. Was this not love indeed?

We men may say more, swear more; but indeed

Our shows are more than will, for still we prove

Much in our vows, but little in our love.

In this speech, she both uplifts the capabilities of women and undermines those of men. She

emphasizes the fact that just because women don ’t play by men ’s rules doesn ’t mean they don ’t

have experiences and emotions just as complex as theirs. She even goes so far as to say that

women are more apt to follow through on their promises, whereas men are only able to talk of

what they would do and never follow through. Concurrent with this presentation of herself,

Sebastian also speaks very highly of Viola. When Sebastian tells Antonio about her, he says that



“she bore a mind that envy could but call fair ”. He emphasizes her intelligence as well as her

beauty, representing her as an individual with complex thought rather than merely a beautiful

woman to be desired by men.

Viola ’s dual-gender presentation, defense of women, and Sebastian ’s appreciation of her

all work to present an image to the audience of women people who are equal to men and able to

think for themselves. Despite these presentations, much of the dialogue is inflammatory and

presents a negative representation of women, much of it even coming from Viola herself.

When Olivia sends a ring to Viola in an offer of romantic affection, Viola belittles

women ’s capability of thought, stating:How easy it is for the proper-false

In women ’s waxen hearts to set their forms!

Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!

For such as we are made of, such we be.

O time, thou must untangle this, not I;

It is too hard a knot for me to untie!

Viola positions herself as the representation of the male gaze, looking upon Olivia ’s offer as a

man would. She scorns not only Olivia but also herself, which she then goes on to contradict

later in the play when attempting to win the affections of the Duke. Shakespeare makes a nod

here to the fact that while Viola is a female, she is ultimately represented through the male

perspective as a result of being constructed to be represented by a man. This commentary also

undermines the earlier praise she was given by Sebastian; if she is thought of as wise, it is only

because she is able to separate herself from her identity as a woman and think as a man does.



We see these negative representations upheld by Viola again in her interactions with the

Duke. He tells her that women lose their worth once their beauty has been “display ’d”, it then

loses its worth. Viola agrees with him, saying that once a woman ’s beauty and purity is lost, she

is as good as dead. These negative self-perceptions support the theory presented by Sue-Ellen

Case that women ’s roles in the classics are fictional ideas created by men not representative of

women ’s experiences, and that they need not be roles that feminist actors aspire to.

Viola presents a complicated picture for the actress to navigate, but I believe there is

worth in her character to dig beyond the superficial layers of her negative representation and

work toward a liberating performance. Rather than approaching Viola as a woman who upholds patriarchal bindings of gender, the performer can think of her as a woman trapped in the struggle

of unfitting gender imposed upon herself fighting against the system to land in a representation

that suits her needs. Her assumption of the male role can represent her attempt to conform with

society in order to fulfil her needs for self-satisfaction and advancement. As she grapples with

the rejection of her gender and the assumption of male traits, she attempts to distance herself

from the gender affixed upon her, and thus looks down upon it. As she progresses through the

play and experiences the varying ways people perceive her gender and interact with her, she

comes to the realization that her gender need not control her self-expression and is able to cast

off her male form but retain the sense of autonomy and self-respect in her female form.

In Viola, Shakespeare gives us a wealth of ideas about the representation of women to be

mined. She gives us both a strong woman who is well respected by herself and her peers and a

woman struggling with her inability to identify with her gender and the characteristics assigned

to it. If we fight back against the male structures imposed upon her and recognize the journey of

self-discovery she has to embark upon, we can separate her from these negative images of



women meant solely to be looked upon by men and lift her up as an independent character who

goes on a journey to learn how to command herself and her own worth.

Viola in Twelfth Night

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Transcript of Viola in Twelfth Night