Gender in "Twelfth Night"

Paper Summary:

The paper explores Shakespeare's gender disguise that distorted female identity and investigates early modern constructions of gender as distinct from sexual difference. The paper examines the play "Twelfth Night" in order to show how it was Shakespeare's intention to challenge gender taboos of the Elizabethan age.

From the Paper:

"Considered by critics as Shakespeare's best achievement in the comic genre, the play Twelfth Night or, What You Will affords an elaborate exploration of love and power relationships, gender roles and taboos. Identity poses highly confounding problems, as there are numerous layers to the characters' gender roles and their maze-like relationships and (homo) erotic affinities. Through a range of female characters and the implications of (wo)man disguises, Shakespeare exposes gender issues. Several heroines of the comedies appear in disguise on the Renaissance stage, which represents the cultural context of the play."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990
• Howard, Jean. 'Cross-dressing, the Theatre, and Gender Struggle in Early Modern England', Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Winter, 1988), pp. 418-440
• Jardine, Lisa. Still Harping on Daughters: Women and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare. Brighton: Sussex University Press, 1983. 9-36
• Kimbrough, Robert. 'Androgyny Seen Through Shakespeare's Disguise', Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), pp. 17-33
• Nicholson, Linda (ed.). Feminism/Postmodernism. New York and London: Routledge, 1990

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