... into one gender or the other, most show qualities of both. Shakespeare uses Feste to highlight the contradictions and confusions associated with defining gender, supported more obviously with his presentation of Viola as a man. It should be noted that in Elizabethan times, there would be an all male cast for Twelfth Night, so Viola would be played by a man, even when she is ... a woman in the play. In Elizabethan times women were seen as the weaker sex, yet Shakespeare portrays both sexes as being equally susceptible to the plights of unrequited love, and typically feminine and ... it ...

• Word Count: 2131
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate