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The Character Viola in Shakespear's Twelfth Night

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Viola is the central character in William Shakespeare's play, "Twelfth Night." She's the twin sister of Sebastian, and after being shipwrecked, finds herself on the coast of the kingdom of Illyria. After finding out that she cannot serve the Countess Olivia, Viola has the sea captain dress her as a man to become a eunuch for Duke Orsino. Thus begins her struggle with identity. Her mounting crisis and struggle of identity between the female Viola that she is, and the male eunuch Cesario she pretends to be, reaches a climax in the final scene. The decision of dressing as a man and the identity crises that ensues sets the plot in motion. We can see that Viola's love is pure in nature throughout the play, as she describes feelings towards Orsino that would seem to give her position away. When she proclaims to the Duke, "she pined in thought, and with a green and yellow melancholy she sat like patience on a monument, smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed?" (Act 2, scene 4). We see that she is professing her love for him without outright telling him. A few other instances show us the same thing. This is part of the identity crisis she is facing throughout the play. If she could be herself rather than Cesario then maybe she would have the Duke's hand. One can imagine that she begins to wonder how she will be able to keep going on like this. As Duke Orsino requests, Viola goes to the Countess Olivia to profess Orsino's love for Olivia. This basically backfires causing Olivia to fall in love with the innocent heart and mind of the young man Cesario. Viola is trying to push Olivia away from this, knowing that the Duke wants Olivia's hand and also that Viola herself wants the Duke's hand. One can see this creating a psychological turmoil in Viola's mind only compounded by the mistaken identity between her and Sebastian. In act 4 scene 3 Olivia meets Sebastian and mistakes him for Viola. They are married, which adds to the crisis

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