Cross-Dressing in Shakespeares Twelfth Night and As You...

Cross-Dressing in Shakespeares Twelfth Night and As You Like It In Shakespeares plays Twelfth Night and As You Like It both of the lead female characters dress as men. Both plays are comedies and the change in gender is used as a joke, but I think it goes much deeper. A woman can become a man, but only if it is not permanent. The affect of the change cannot be too great because she must change back to female once everything is settled. They are strong female characters, but must become men to protect themselves and ultimately solve the problem of the play. In the book Desire and Anxiety: The Circulation of Sexuality in Shakespearian Drama Valerie Traub calls the characters, the crossed-dressed heroine who elicits and enjoys†¦show more content†¦In these lines Orsino implies that he can only be with his true love when she looks like a woman. She looks like a woman when she is in womans clothing. In these play the characters are able to change from female to male by putting on different clothes. The women are treated differently when the y are dressed as men. This brings about the conclusion that clothes define gender. Gender is not about who you are, it is what you look like and how other perceive you. To prove her gender Viola must change into womens clothing. She also must go back to her correct female role and abandon the new male attitude she took on. When Rosalind removes her disguise she also gives up the strength it symbolizes (Erikson 23). Her soon to be husband Orsino will not accept her in her male attire. He says to her Give me thy hand/ And let me see thee in thy womans weeds (5.1.265-266). He can only know for sure that Viola is female if she is correctly dressed. In As You Like It Orlando recognizes his true love only after she changes into her womanly clothes. If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind (5.4.108). In both plays the women trick people who are very close to them into believing not only that they are men, but not even recognizing. Orlando speaks to Ganymede, Rosalind male persona, without noticing the resemblance to his love. How can people claim to be so in love and then mistake them with different clothes on? This is an obviousShow MoreRelatedOthello, By William Shakespeare1543 Words   |  7 Pagesemotions out. Similarly, Shakespeare utilizes the theme of disguise in countless plays, specifically in As you like it and Twelfth Night. Although many may postulate that he has disguised certain characters as the opposite gender solely for comedic purposes, the reason behind it is significantly deeper and complex. 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Twelfth night was written to commemorate the close of the Christmas season being possibly one of the first ever holiday specials, kind of like the Middle Ages version of â€Å"Love Actually†. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated during