Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night?

Question

i have to write a 1500 essay on either gender codes in the play or the relationships between wealth, power and social status..
which do you think would be easier to write about? please help

Answer 1

Gender codes . You could look into how male means dominance how Viola feels she cannot survive as a women with the island. How the status of Olivia is high although she is a women, she is a unique women as she manages without a man as does Viola. Look at historical context and into why women wouldn't survive without men

There is the difference in men aswell look at Malvolio who is naive he is a feminine character compared to the duke and Sir Toby Belch especially. The range of masculinity is interesting is Viola more masculine than Malvolio despite being a women.

Answer 2

Gender and Sexuality

This page publishes texts which address gender studies and queer studies, with a particular focus upon discussions of sex, gender, sexual identity and sexuality in cultural practices.

http://gender.eserver.org/

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

I have found 10+ summaries for you to look at, via the links below.

http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/twelfth_night/twelfth_night.htm

http://www.pathguy.com/12n.htm

http://www.antistudy.com/search.php?title=Twelfth+night

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=423

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xTwelfth.html#Twelfth

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-152.html

http://www.twelfth-night.info/

http://www.jiffynotes.com/TwelfthNight/HistoricalContext.html

These links will give you a summary of the book, character analysis, plot and much more, so that you will be able to answer literary questions. Here is a short extract of what you can expect from the summaries.

Viola only needs her women’s clothes, which she left with a captain who, she says, was imprisoned by Malvolio. Olivia sends for him, and when Malvolio enters and gives her the letter he thinks she has written, she demands to know what happened. Fabian, another friend of Sir Toby’s, explains the details of the prank, adding that Sir Toby and Maria have gotten married. Malvolio storms off, vowing revenge. The two couples – Olivia and Sebastian, Orsino and Viola – leave the stage, as do the other characters, so that only Feste remains. He sings a ballad whose lyrics suggest that, despite the troubles of life, the actors will always provide entertainment.

http://www.jiffynotes.com/TwelfthNight/PlotSummary.html

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 3

There are many facets to wealth, power and social status in Twelfth Night, but I would personally choose the gender codes. The play is overflowing with sexuality, misrepresentations of gender and mistaken identity: Viola disguises herself as a boy to gain access to the Duke's court, Sebastian her twin, has a too-close-for-comfort relationship with his rescuer Antonio, raising the question of whether it is a homosexual friendship, and Olivia comes out of mourning for her dead brother (incest???) when she falls in love with Viola. Also, what about the Duke's preference for the company of what he perceives as a callow youth? Good luck!

Answer 4

This website will tell you all you need to know about Twelfth Night!

http://www.english-literature-essays.com/twelfth_night.htm