The Use of Secrecy in the Twelfth Night

Mannixs Paul Jr

Twelfth Night Writing Task

The use of secrecy has proved effective as a way in which writers develop their plot in literary pieces. The way in which a character keeps or reveals a secret affects the plot and adds to the main theme of the work. Whether it be in a Mysterious book or even a comedic play, the use of secret is a great way in triggering the plot and kickstarting the readers' eagerness to know what will happen next. Secrecy is an important element in Shakespeare’s comedy “The Twelfth Night”. Shakespeare uses secrecy as an important element of the plot because by in doing this created irony, situational comedy, and tension, as well as affecting the plot and contributing to the overall meaning of the play.

Viola, the protagonist of the story, must keep her gender a secret. Shipwrecked in Illyria and thinking that her older brother Sebastian is dead, Viola dresses as a man and keeps her gender a secret and worked for Duke Orsino under her new name “Cesario”. The only two people who knew of Viola's choice to keep her gender a secret was her and the ship’s captain. Due to her decision, the plot was drastically shaken up and has developed until the end. Viola's secret is, in fact, what causes certain events to occur in the plot. Since Viola is pretending to be a man, she has no option but to hide her love for the Duke, which causes her a few problems. One of these problems is Olivia, who's fallen in love with Cesario, not knowing her true identity. Due to the fact that Viola is a woman, she is unable to love Olivia back and avoids her flirting. This love triangle leads to chaos at the end of the play. Viola's brother, Sebastian, who was really alive, returns to Illyria. Olivia, then, confuses him with Viola. Since Viola still hasn't revealed her secret, Sebastian, who is has no idea what's going on, accepts Olivia's marriage proposal. This causes the Duke to believe that Viola/Cesario betrayed him. To clear the confusion, Viola finally reveals her true gender and marries the Duke.

The secret of Violas gender swap contributes to the overall plot of the play. One the most obvious plot is Mistaken Identity. Viola's disguise leads to many believing that she's a man, though she is a woman. This also causes for Sebastian to be mistaken as Viola/ Cesario. Another that deals with the theme of secrecy is the secret letter that is given to Malvolio. Due to the fact that Malvolio is such as stuck up a person Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew choose to play a prank on him. Malvolio is given a letter to make him believe that Olivia is in love with him. This kind of the comedic part of the play because of Malvolio’s confusion and utter madness. This leads to an eventual prank that makes everyone think that Malvolio is a mad person.

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