Crossdressing without Intention

Viola’s crossdressing in Twelfth Night is one of the more unique crossdressing narratives in existence, if you ask me. It has a unique attribute that sets it apart not only from other stories, but even from its own adaptations, at times. Even in movies like She’s the Man, directly based off Twelfth Night, the crossdressing involved has a significant difference at hand: it’s fully intentional.

In She’s the Man, Viola wants to play soccer, so her choice to switch with her brother is a specifically chosen act. In Disney’s Motocrossed, loosely based on Twelfth Night, Andrea (the Viola character) takes her brother’s place in the race. In other Shakespeare tales, such as The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It, the audience is given the impression that the crossdressing can be undone at any time. Portia in The Merchant of Venice hopes to fix Bassanio’s debt to Antonio, ensuring the safety of her marriage. Rosalind in As You Like It maintains her disguise to continue wooing Orlando.

Yet, in Twelfth Night, none of that flexibility seems to be present. Sure, Viola makes the choice to dress as Cesario, but it’s not out of any personal benefit. It’s for the sake of her safety. In Illyria there are only two great powers, Orsino and Olivia, and Olivia is grieving and won’t take new staff. Orsino, on the other hand, will likely only accept a man, or at least, Viola doesn’t seem to feel like going into his service as a woman.

Then Viola, as Cesario, woos Olivia for Orsino – but it backfires. Olivia falls for her instead. And Viola then reaffirms the idea that she is crossdressing mainly because she has to, not because she wants to, because of how much she seems to regret that Olivia has been tricked. “Poor lady, she would better love a dream,” she says, mourning Olivia’s unluckiness in falling for her. She also mentions that “time” must untangle this problem, because “it is too hard a knot for me to untie!” Viola feels that there is nothing she can do about Olivia’s doomed love.

"Arry" with Gendry, a fellow recuit, among other things.

The only other instance I can think of where a female character crossdresses out of necessity, not opportunity, might be something like Arya’s situation in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire. At one point early in the story, when her family is in trouble, Arya is forced to flee for her life. She joins up with some Night’s Watch recruits, but in order to do so safely, she dresses as a boy and takes on the name “Arry.” A few interesting incidents come up as a result of her disguise. At times, Arya shows frustration with her disguise, similarly to Viola in her position in Twelfth Night.

Perhaps it’s just that these situations are more difficult to write and deal with, but it’s still interesting how crossdressing women in fiction usually seem to have some degree of agency in their crossdressing, and to point out the exceptions to that guideline. I would argue that it often paints a more sympathetic picture of the crossdresser in question – fiction often demonizes women being selfish and taking action, or pursuing “usurp’d” masculinity, so a woman forced into those situations, rather than choosing them, becomes more palatable to a generally sexist audience.

Oliva Getting The Short End Of The Stick

Shakespeare plays are mostly known for having a huge conflict and towards the end it works toward a “tidy” ending where social order is restored and couples are paired off to have a happy ever after. But for the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night it’s quite interesting how at one point we are rooting for Oliva for going after her man ‘Cesario’ because instead of just sitting around and waiting for him to come to her like a typical situation that was expected from a woman during that time by being silent. She is the one taking control by proposing to him and also breaking away from the idea that she should marry a man of the same age and social status. Granted “he” was really Viola it was still awesome to see a woman character taking control of the situation and acting rebellious.

But all of that was lost towards the end of the play because even after Viola reveals the big secret that she isn’t ‘Cesario’ but instead a girl, one would expect to see Oliva be one to hold a grudge and become infuriated for being the most deceived. But instead she disappoints us all with just quickly moving on to loving, Viola’s look-alike brother Sebastian. Who she knows nothing about because it was Viola who was the one who caught Oliva’s eye, not Sebastian. Oliva easily was able to transfer all of her passion for ‘Cesario’ into a relationship with Sebastian when she marries Viola's look-alike brother.

Yet somehow her marriage to Sebastian helps to reestablish the play's sense of social order because it leads back to how Shakespeare’s play almost always ends with marriage and that would pretty much lead to reestablishing the order in the world. Oliva’s character was a huge disappointment and the ending was quite awful because it portrayed her as pretty much willing to settle down for anyone. Which leads to the conclusion that she couldn’t become independent but rather have a male figure in her life in order to feel a sense of belonging.

Shakespearean Contracts and Marriage as Misdirection

Throughout Shakespeare’s work, contracts, whether in the form of a literal written document (such as the picture above) or a spoken promise of sorts (such as Viola/Cessario’s promise to Olivia that she/he will never marry a man), often play a key role in both the surface and underlying functioning of the play. Specifically, it is in Shakespeare’s focus on language and word play, and the deceptions/complications possible through this, that these contracts draw much of their significance/power in his works (the specificity of Shylock’s own contract proving to be his undoing). Yet the contract of marriage remains surprisingly untouched; while individuals (such as Bertram in All’s Well) might be “tricked” into getting married to someone in the first place, the actual marriage often appears to lack duplicity or major incident, the characters simply marrying once the time has come. I wonder, was this simply necessitated by each play’s narrative (the weddings serving often acting in part as a conclusion) or was this more of a reflection of the age Shakespeare inhabited and perhaps his desire to (while still playing with the lines of gender and sexuality) not alienate his potential audience through a total break in the current social norm?

It seems likely, or at least possible, that Shakespeare’s preservation of the “sanctity” of the marriage contract would've been used to simultaneously mask the often more fluid treatment of gender throughout the rest of the work[s]. Consider the conclusion of Twelfth Night. The Duke continues to refer to Viola/Cessario as his “boy,” even after the reveal of Viola’s true nature; this appears to be playing with the notion of the Duke’s sexuality, with a possible interpretation being that the Duke would/does/will love Viola Cessario no matter her/his form. However, it is made clear that before the wedding of Viola and the Duke, Viola will once more dawn her “woman’s weeds.” Thus, the two will be married as man and wife, adhering to the social standard, and in doing so possibly reassuring the piece’s original audience. A similar situation occurs in As You Like It, with the relationship of Orlando and Ganymede/Rosalind toeing the line between homosocial and homoerotic, until the quadruple wedding, at which point Rosalind abandons her disguise and returns to what would be considered the feminine norm in the play/society.  These examples lend credibility to the argument that Shakespeare might have in particular sought to preserve the “sanctity” of the marriage contract to allow for the relatively gray area of each couple’s sexuality to be addressed while still adhering to the social norm.

Love Triangles

Love Triangles

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the entire story is based around one other thing besides crossdressing: a love triangle. Duke Orsino has fallen in love with Olivia, Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario - who is actually Viola in disguise – and Viola has fallen in love with Duke Orsino. In the end, there is confusion but a happy ending with the marriage of Duke Orsino and Viola.

Love Triangles are an interesting twist in literature, but are they ever a good idea in real life or anything beyond fiction?

Now in fiction, a love triangle makes for an interesting plot twist, keeping the reader or viewer – whatever the medium is - on the edge of their seats with suspense as to who will fall in love with who. In real life, however, such an act of compassion could have undesired consequences, and might not end with a happy ending.

The best reflection of this is TV’s sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The series follows one Ted Mosby on his quest to find true love while dealing with the lives of those around him. On the sitcom, Ted falls in love with many girls, often at the same time. The most notable and perhaps well known of these times is when he is dating Victoria and is still friends with Robin. Now, Ted initially was in love with Robin, who did not return Ted’s affection at first. When Ted meets and starts dating Victoria, a little baker in New York, Robin realizes that she has feelings for Ted, but chooses to ignore them so that he may be happy. Then Victoria moves to Europe, and Ted finds out that Robin has feelings for him. In the End, Ted eventually gets together with Robin, but only after going through an awkward breakup and interaction with Robin as friends.

Another example of this is the Relationship between Robin and Barney. Barney initially only sees Robin as a target for intercourse, which luckily Robin doesn’t return. When Barney becomes in love with Robin, he tries and tries to understand his feelings while trying to get Robin to see how he feels. They wind up together, but it ends badly and the two go through one of the rockiest break-ups seen on television. Eventually, they try dating other people, only to hoo0ok up once more and end badly, with Robin choosing someone else over Barney, and Barney left with nothing.

Series like How I Met Your Mother are hilarious, but often times leave us with reflections on how things like Love Triangles can really affect those involved and those around you. So it begs the question:” is it ever a good idea, really?”

What Qualifies as Homo-erotic?

In Twelfth Night, the attraction between Duke Orsino and Viola-as-Cesario can be interpreted as homoerotic pretty easily. The duke takes an instant liking to Cesario, noting the "young man's" beauty and even taking pains to describe it. He tells Cesario that "Diana's lip / is not more smooth and rubious; thy small pipe / is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound" (1.5.30-32). He clearly admires Cesario's looks, and describes them as more beautiful than Diana. Orsino does emphasize Cesario's feminine traits, but this desire can still be categorized as homoerotic since he believes himself to be attracted to a man. In fact, even in the end of the play, when Viola's plot is revealed, Orsino refers to her as "boy" and leaves the stage with Viola still in drag. Her true "women's weeds" are never shown, leading us to believe that the desire here, at least from Orsino, is homoerotic and homosexual.

I find this attraction very interesting. In Shakespeare's day, homosocial bonding was the norm; men had relationships with other men that they simply did not have with women. Male friendship was certainly idolized, but I would argue that it was often homoerotic as well. This is certainly the case with Cesario and Orsino's relationship; there is an underlying homoerotic tension throughout every interaction.

What I thought was interesting was how this has changed. Today, the terms "homosocial" and "homoerotic" are fairly uncommon, even unknown to some. However, I would argue that the underlying culture has not changed. Homosocial bonding is still very prevalent, even flaunted and celebrated as the highest level of friendship.

I think the idea of underlying homoeroticism is very interesting when applied to ideas of masculinity today. What came to mind immediately were Men's Health covers. Here is a magazine marketed towards men and largely written by and for men, with health, dating, and sex tips. Here's an example of a recent cover featuring Shaun T, fitness guru known for his Insanity and T-25 videos.

This feels incredibly homoerotic to me. All of the covers are similar; men set up to be admired for their physique. However, I'm willing to bet that were we to throw out the word homoerotic, most of  the "Men's Health" audience would recoil. Interestingly, Orsino is attracted to Cesario for his boyish, feminine traits, while chiseled, muscular men frequent the cover of Men's Health. Regardless, I view both situations as homoerotic, and I would be interested to see what you all think about this and how our views of homoeroticism have changed since Shakespeare's day.

Shakespeare Plot and Modern Counterparts

We’ve seen a lot of deception in the past few plays: As You Like It, Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night. When I looked at the basics of these plots, I realized these plays are similar to many movies today. There’s the double-identity plot in As You Like It, manipulative scheming in Merchant of Venice, and the imposter and cross-dressing of Twelfth Night. These elements are certainly not limited to Shakespearean theater, and if you think about it, they are probably present in some of your favorite movies.

For example, here are some of my favorite plot counterparts:

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Like Rosalind, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) acts as both Kathleen Kelly’s (Meg Ryan) best friend and object of her affection. She doesn’t realize that Joe Fox, who she actually hated at first but then befriended—is also the man she met online. By acting as Kathleen Kelly’s best friend, Joe Fox asserts her feelings for himself, the anonymous email buddy—just as Rosalind does. The big reveal of Joe Fox as her online love interest ends in the epic line: “I wanted it to be you” (sobs), as sweet as Orlando’s realization, “If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind” (5.4.108).

Mean Girls (2004)

If you really think about it, this classic is not far off from The Merchant of Venice. Just hear me out. Cady (Lohan) pretends to be friends with the most popular girls in school in order to get closer to Aaron and secure her friendship with Janis and Damien. In a similar way, Portia impersonates a judge to secure her finances (Bassanio’s debt) and her husband’s loyalty. In both situations, the impersonators seem to bite off more than they can chew: Portia ruins the life of Shylock by taking away his livelihood; Cady hurts Janis and Damien by becoming a mean girl herself. Portia nearly loses Bassanio’s loyalty when he says “I would lose all [wife and life], ay, sacrifice them all / … to deliver you [Antonio]” (4.1.281-2)—willing to get rid of his own wife for the sake of his best friend. Similarly, Cady loses her true friends when Janis says, “You’re a bitch. You’re a mean girl.” Luckily, both heroines win back the affection of their friends and lovers by revealing themselves as imposters. Cady reconciles with her friends by breaking the tiara and apologizing; while Portia succeeds in her scheme and asserts her success, “You are all amazed” (5.1.265).

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Like Viola and Sebastian, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) are forced to flee from dire situations. The shipwreck of Twelfth Night is similar to the mob killings Joe and Jerry witness, leading them to run from the mafia with an all-girls singing group. Dressed in drag, like Viola, both men end up falling for their lead singer, Sugar (Marilyn Monroe). While Joe ends up with Sugar, Jerry has to ward off the millionaire Osgood who fell in love with him in drag. Most interesting about this relationship is Osgood’s response to Jerry: when Jerry says, “I’m a man!” Osgood responds, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” Osgood’s quasi-acceptance of the gender-reversal loosely parallels Orsino’s continuing habit of calling Viola “boy” (5.1.260). Overall, the tension between the characters in and out of drag is portrayed as comical and seemingly experimental. 

What does this say about Shakespeare? His works are indeed everlasting, and in part for their timeless drama and plot devices. If we look closely, we can see a lot of similarities between the works of old, like Shakespeare, and the new.

He's the Woman

            She’s the Man gives a modern-day adaptation (well, modern-day 2000’s adaptation) of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. There are many differences between the movie and the play, but one of the most significant differences is the reveal of Viola at the end.

            In She’s the Man, we see Amanda Bynes as Viola reveal herself at the end, shaking out her hair and showing her breasts to prove she is a woman (a cis gender woman, that is). However, in Twelfth Night Viola remains in a boy’s garb from her initial idea to employ herself with the Duke Orsino till the end of the play. In fact, Viola herself asks that until she removes her “masculine usurped attire… / [Orsino] do not embrace [her] till each circumstance / of place, time, fortune do cohere and jump / That [she is] Viola” (5.1.243-45). While thinking that in Shakespeare’s time a boy actor would be playing Viola, this breaks the illusion of the play and reaffirms that Viola, played by a boy, cannot end up with Orsino, played by a man, due to societal expectations of early modern times unless the boy was truly a woman. Having an attraction to one of the same gender is fine in plays, so long as in the end a cis gender man and cis gender woman end up with each other. However, because Viola only reveals herself as a woman through words instead of physically, the two characters cannot be together in front of an early modern audience while they both are portrayed as male.

This refers to As You Like It, but it's still extremely relevant in its rendition of Shakespearean boy actors.

            Orsino still refers to Viola as Cesario when he bids her, “Cesario, come— / For so you shall be while you are a man; / But when in other habits you are seen, / Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen” (5.1.372-75). He reinforces what Viola has expressed, except adding that she won’t even be known by her female name until she is dressed as one; until then, she is still Cesario to him, though he admits he is still her “master,” but now she will transform into his “mistress” instead of his servant (5.1.312, 314). Orsino establishes himself as still in charge of Viola, only now it is due to her status of being a woman and rather than her employment as a servant to him. Basically, he equates the two, and that’s not cool.

In the end, the lack of a reveal from Viola in Twelfth Night is indicative that the boy actor is playing the woman, but he will still be a man. Without revealing himself as a woman, even just as his character, for audiences in Shakespeare’s time they felt it was inappropriate for Viola and Orsino to show affection to each other while Viola is still dressed as a man. 

In Twelfth Night, the Duke Orsino is in love with Olivia. Viola falls in love with Orsino, while disguised as a boy, Cessario. Olivia falls in love with Cessario. This love triangle is only resolved when Olivia happens to fall in love with Viola's twin brother, Sebastian and at the last second, Orsino decides that he actually loves Viola. The movie She's the Man some-what mirrors this play and twists it into a more modern version. The title page of this movie goes something like... “Everybody has a secret… Duke wants Olivia, who likes Sebastian, who is really Viola, whose brother is dating Monique, so she hates Olivia, who’s with Duke to make Sebastian jealous, who is really Viola, who’s crushing on Duke, who thinks she’s a guy…”Sounds about right except some major homo-social/sexual tensions they leave out of the movie that are included in the play. While I think the movie does a great job of "destroying social norms" like this buzzfeed article suggests, there are still homophobic qualities that were pretty disappointing, but that's just how Hollywood and our society still work right now.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lilyhiottmillis/21-times-shes-the-man-totally-destroyed-gender-norms#.yraMYmYo5

What fascinates me the most about these differences between the actual play and the movie is that the differences mostly surround the homo-social/sexual relationships found in the play. Like the fact that Duke Orsino is definitely attracted to Viola when she is dressed as the boy, Cessario. After they are married, while she is still dressed as a male, and even calls her "boy." In the movie, there is no sexual tension between Duke and Viola ( while she is dressed as Sebastian) and there is even some homophobic qualities that come out of Duke when she sometimes forgets to act more manly and when they are jumping on the bed scared of the spider.
And in opposition to the play, when Viola and Duke end up together, she is in a dress at a ball.



Also, there are a ton of derogatory comments from the coaches made toward the soccer players in the movie referring to them as "girls," or "playing like girls," etc. While I understand athletics is added into the movie version, why is a film that is "destroying gender norms" adding these comments in and then having one of the same characters saying his team doesn't discriminate. This seems contradictory to me but maybe it's because I'm so conscious of these issues, especially after taking this Shakespeare course!

So, my question is, why is our society less progressive in this take on the play than Shakespearean society, especially when we claim to be so progressive towards these homophobic issues? 

Why Soccer in She's the Man?

After reading Twelfth Night and other Shakespearian works that include transvestite theater, the inclusion of soccer to the plot of She’s the Man, seems like the perfect plot enhancer.

After discussions in class about Shakespeare’s characters, such as Viola, Rosalind, and/or Portia ability to effectively act as a male. It makes sense that the writers of She’s the Man would want an activity that perhaps their female, in disguise as a male, would realistically be able to take part in. Of course, there is an argument to be made that a female could do this for any sport, but without getting into a gender debate, soccer makes the most sense.

Men or Women's soccer??

 Soccer is one of the few popular sports with male and female equivalency.  Think about it. There if football, a primarily male sport, with no other “female” equivalency. With baseball there is softball, a completely separate sport. In men and women’s basketball, although they are very similar there are several different rules for each gender, plus despite the similarities, the basketball size is different for both. In volleyball, the net for men and women’s are at different height. Unlike all the sports mentioned above, there is an equivalent to men’s soccer for women and the rules do not change based on gender.

Viola probably could have worn her hair up...

I feel that there is a modern day anxiety questioning Shakespeare’s ability to realistically portray a female dressed as a male and for it to appear plausible. We have examined different interpretations to how to handle cross-dressing, comical, realistic, effective. After reading reviews on She’s the Man, many people are critical towards the plot, saying it’s not really believable—which isn’t necessarily the point. Even though overall the movie is handled as a comedy and probably not meant to be believable, there is a sense of realism to it because of Viola/Sebastian’s ability to take part in a sport that is meant for both males and females. I wonder how the movie would have been different if the sport would have been football, per say.

Cougars, and Cheetahs, and Kittens, and Cubs... Oh my...

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