Gender and Sexuality in “Twelfth Night” and “The Merchant of Venice” Essay

12th Night and The Merchant of Venice are two of William Shakespeares comedies which are famous for their theme of sexual activity and cross-dressing characters. duodecimal Night tells the story of a young woman named genus Viola who pretends to be a man to be able to find work in the dwelling house of the Duke of Illyria. On the some other hand, The Merchant of Venice is a story of a merchant named Antonio who helps his friend Bassanio to win the hands of his have a go at it, Portia, by allowing Bassanio to loan m singley from usurer and to get Antonio his loan guarantor.These two Shakespearean comedies similarly contain scenes where a woman cross-dresses as a man to achieve a p contrivanceicular goal. In twelfth Night, Viola pretends to be a man named Cesario to able to get a job under Duke Ullyria, while in The Merchant of Venice, Portia and Nerissa dress as men to prevent Shylock from taking a pound of Antonios flesh. The cross-dressing of the characters, at that place fore, reveals a theme of sexual practice in the plays. other aspect in the plays that discloses the theme of sex activity is the concept of close friendships or attraction between the same-sex characters in the stories such as Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Olivia and Viola ( sham to be Cesario), Antonio and Sebastian, and Duke Orsino and Cesario (finally revealed as Viola) in twelfth Night. These complicated relationships in the stories show the complexity of sexuality and gender in relation to the attraction, whether animal(prenominal) or emotional, felt by the characters towards the other. With the characters cross-dressing, Shakespeare reveals the nature of sexuality in an obscure light.Brief Summary of Twelfth NightWilliam Shakespeares Twelfth Night starts with a scene where the Duke Orsino of the kingdom of Illyria hangs around with music in the terra firma as he thinks about his crawl in for the beautiful Lady Olivia. Unfortunately, Olivia does non ret urn his love because she is still in the midst of mourning for her brother who has died a long time ago.She rejects suitors and does not look upon marriage proposals. Unknown to these two characters, a young woman and survivor of a shipwreck with the name of Viola lands in the shore of Illyria. Unfamiliar with the place, she wonders if her twin brother Sebastian has died in the shipwreck. Upon hearing the story of Orsino and Olivia from a captain, she decides to work for Olivia in the meantime. However, upon finding out that Olivia does not entertain any strangers, she resorts to working for the Duke or else. This is where the pretension as a man starts. Viola begins dressing as a man with a new identity as Cesario.Duke Orsino immediately approves of Cesario and hires her as his messenger. The appointment of the story now arises as Viola begins to fall in love with the Duke who thinks she is a man, and he later asks Cesario to send his love letters to Olivia who, also believing t hat she is man, immediately falls for Cesario. In the end, all is revealed when Cesario and Duke Orsino arrive in Olivias house. Olivia greets Cesario with warmth believing her to be her new economise Sebastian, who was rescued by Antonio from the shipwreck.Witnessing this, Duke Orsino feels betrayed, save when the real Sebastian appears in the scene everyone realizes the truth of Viola and Sebastians personality. Duke Orsino proposes marriage to Viola upon finding out that he is real in love with her, and Sir Toby and Maria also privately marry. The play ends with Malvolio being freed and feeling defeated.Sexuality and Gender in Twelfth NightTwelfth Night embodies a great deal of issues with regard to sexuality regardless of whether it is homosexuality or heterosexuality. Shakespeare has clear illustrated the ambiguity of the nature of gender and sexuality. The issue of sexuality is evident as characters of the story have their own love interests. Firstly, Orsinos love for Oliv ia is described by Cesario to be With adorations, fertile tears, / With groans that thunder love, with sighs of resurrect (1.5.238-239). Cesarios line evidently depicts a passionate feeling which is intensified more by the use of words such as adoration, groans, thunder and fire. This choice of words obviously demonstrates an immense imagery of sexuality.It is also clear that Viola (as Cesario) has fallen in love with the Duke Orsino. She proclaims her misery in wooing his wench when in concomitant, she wishes to be his wife. To woo your lady. Yet, a barful strife / Whoeer I woo, myself would be his wife (1.4.41-42). The concept of hasty attractions between characters is always present in Shakespearean plays.In Twelfth Night, Viola quickly falls in love with the duke, Olivia also hastily becomes attracted to Cesario despite the event the she has just met him, and Orsino fleetly switches his feelings from Olivia to Viola as soon as he finds out that Cesario is real a woman. The notion of physical attraction to the opposite clearly demonstrates the concept of sexuality as the characters have not even spent enough time with from each one other to dismiss their feelings to be of love already. It is most likely to be feelings of lust as the characters would often refer to the physical attributes of the person first every time they ponder about love such as Olivias lines Ill be sworn thou art / Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit, (1.5.273-274)The fact that Olivia also feels an attraction towards Cesario opens the issue of lesbianism as the audience all know that Cesario is Viola pretending to be a man. Her final monologue upon the departure of Cesario from Olivias house reveals her attraction towards the young and handsome messenger. Ill be sworn thou art / Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit, / Do give thee five-fold blazon. Not too fast soft soft (1.5.273-275). She is easily drawn to the sentimentality of Cesarios idea whe n he declares that if he is the one courting Olivia and not his master, he would stay outside her gates and cry out his love for her until she takes pity on him.Violas assurance to Olivia as Cesario also reveals a somewhat obvious attraction of Cesario to Olivia. By delivering those lines, despite the fact the Cesario is a woman, shows that Cesario does believe that Lady Olivia is attractive and beautiful. Tis beauty truly blent, whose florid and white / Natures own sweet and cunning hand laid on. (1.5.222-223). He could not have delivered it so effectively without imagining Olivia to whom he is referring.Scholars go for that the concept of cross-dressing in Shakespeares plays illustrates the possibility of lessening conflicts between homosexuality and heterosexuality. Perhaps, the cross-dressed heroines of Twelfth Night or As You Like it offer a emblematic way in which the conflict between male-male friendships and heterosexual marriage fire be reconciled (Smith 147). Cleary, i n Olivias case of falling for Cesario, she fell in love not only for his handsome appearance but also because he has the sincerity that a woman needs from a lover. Obviously, Orsino does not receive them as he makes no risky effort to prove his love to Olivia. All he does is merely whine and complain about how his love is unrequited.Another part in the story that engages in the theme of sexuality is the seemingly homosexual love of Antonio to Sebastian. After rescuing Sebastian from the shipwreck, Antonio goes with him wherever he decides to go. He even goes as far as accompanying him to Illyria where he has many enemies. I have many enemies in Orsinos court, / come what may, I do adore thee so / That danger shall seem sport, and I will go (2.1.35-6). According to Smith, The word adore is a strong one where its used elsewhere by Shakespeare, it tends to refer either to the love of mortals for gods, or for an exalted form of romantic courtship (148). Antonio also entrusts his purse to Sebastian as they part, which reveals his genuine affection for Sebastian. This gesture clearly describes Antonios unrequited homosexual love for Sebastian.At the end of Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino still accepts Viola even after discovering that she has fooled him to believe that she was a man. Surprisingly, Orsino tells her that he actually loves her.Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times / Thou shall never shouldst love woman like to me (5.1.259-260). It is noticeable that despite his confession of love to her, he still refers to him as Boy, which is an interpretation that he still sees her as Cesario. It can be dismissed that the Dukes feelings towards Olivia and Viola may be just physical because he is easy to switch his feelings of love from Olivia to Viola. According to the book, A Companion to Shakespeares Works, in Twelfth night, embodied sexuality appears to be less important than garments in establishing gendered identity (Rackin 123).Brief Summary of The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is the story of Antonio, a Venetian merchant, who encounters a predicament when Bassanio borrowed a big amount of cash from him so he could afford to travel to Belmont and win the hand of Portia. Antonio replies that he cannot lend him any money because he has already invested them on his trade ships, but he assures Bassanio that he could lend from any money lending investor and refer to him as a complete guarantor.The two men approach Shylock, a Jewish money lender who secretly despises Antonio for humiliating him numerous times in the past. He agrees to lend money to Bassanio under the condition that if Antonio fails to pay the debt, he is authorize to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio. They closed the deal.Fortunately, Bassanio is able to win Portias hand despite the complexity of her dead fathers will but when he finds out that Antonios trade ships have been reported missing, he goes back to Venice to help his friend out. With the help of the Du ke of Venice and his hired attorney, Balthasar, who is in fact Portia pretending to be a man, try to convince Shylock to negotiate and just take double of the money that he has loaned to Bassanio. Shylock refuses to hear it and insists that he cuts a pound of Antonios flesh.Balthasar agrees by also adding that Shylock must cut the flesh without causing it to bleed or else all his properties would be confiscated. futile to protest any longer, Shylock surrenders and agrees to take the money from Bassanio. He is then prosecuted for attempting to kill a citizen, so half of his properties must go to the government and the other half to Antonio.In the end, Bassanio and Graziano thank Balthasar and his assistant, who is actually Grazianos wife Nerissa, by offering presents to them. Balthasar demands to have his ring to which Bassanio hesitates but later gives. Upon returning to Belmont, Portia and Nerissa confront and commove their husband of infidelity because of the ring that they prom ised never to give under any circumstances. After a short while of arguments, they reconcile by revealing their admittedly identities in the case of Shylock and Antonio.Sexuality and Gender in The Merchant of VeniceSimilar to Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice also includes a scene where a woman dresses as a man to accomplish a goal that would later benefit the protagonists at the end of the story. In this case, Portia is the woman character who pretends to be a male attorney to rescue Antonio from being cut by the vengeful Shylock.By using her wits and intelligence, she is able to notice a reverse in the earlier contract that the two men have agreed upon which leads to the successful negotiation of Shylock by just taking the money instead of taking a pound of Antonios flesh. In this regard, the em plyment of the female sexuality is insinuated by means of giving Portia authority in the case. The concept of womens liberation movement is clear in this play as female sexuality is deemed to be more empowered in the story than the male sexuality.Cross-dressing obviously plays a bigger role in symbolizing sexuality and gender in the play. Shakespeare uses Portias disguise to highlight the struggle between heterosexual love and homosexual love found within the love triangle consisting of Portia, Bassanio, and Antonio (eNotes.com). In the first part of the story, we witness Antonios unexplainable sadness, and when Bassanio arrives, he immediately asks him of his lady-love.This can be an indication that Antonio feels some kind of affection for Bassanio and it might be the reason why he cannot explain his own sadness. It is also apparent that upon Bassanios arrival, Antonio is very evoke in finding out about Bassanios new love. Antonios reference to Basssanio as, My purse, my person, my extremest means, / Lie all unlockd to your occasions (1.1.138-139), reveals an indication that there is more to Antonios brotherly feelings towards Bassanio.It is also clear that Antonio has lent Bassanio a big amount of money before and it is not the first time that Bassanio asks a big favor from him. This gesture of eminent closeness between two male friends demonstrates an implicit depth of relationship which is more than friendship.The pound of flesh can be a symbol of sexuality in the play. Flesh clearly symbolizes the lust of the flesh, and even though there is no direct evidence that Shylock is homosexual, it can be regarded that the symbolism of flesh refers to the other characters in the story. Clearly, there are a number of couples in the story such as Portia and Bassanio, Jessica and Lorenzo, and Nerissa and Graziano.This could be a reference that they are examples of people who lust after flesh because of their quick engagements despite the short span of time that they have known each other. It is also apparent that love in this play is much more associated with the hasty physical attraction rather than the concept of extensive courting and getti ng-to-know-each-other stage. The fact that Portias dead father prefers to have a groom for her who can luckily choose the right casket reveals that the present society of the play does not give much importance to feelings but more on practicality.The concept of patriarchal authority is also apparent in the plot of the play as symbolized by Portias fathers will. The will represents the authority that her father still has over her decisions despite the fact that he is already dead. The will, therefore, holds the remaining power of her father which clearly reveals a society where men rule.According the plays guide, The plot parallels and contrasts the rivalry between Portia and Antonio in the main plot and highlights the conflict between male friendship and marriage which runs throughout Shakespeares works (Janik 186). Clearly, in this play, Portia seems to be the hindrance between Antonio and Bassanios friendship. However, in the end, she proves to be the one with the authority, as sh e disguises herself as a man of law to save Antonio. Thus, Portias female sexuality becomes more authoritative in the play because she is able to resolve the task that neither Antonio nor the Duke of Venice can resolve.ConclusionTwelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice encompass a complex plot of mistaken identities and deliberate cross-dressing. The fact that the female characters finally save the men from their miseries in the end proves that these Shakespearean plays also include the concept of feminism. However, the theme of sexuality is more focused on the relationships between the heterosexual major characters, while the implicit concept of homosexuality is ambiguous in the male-male friendships. Nevertheless, these two Shakespearean works still embody a story that new(a) readers could still relate to as the theme of sexuality is continuously present in our society.Works CitedJanik, Vicki K. The Merchant of Venice A Guide to the Play. Connecticut Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.Rackin, Phyllis. Shakespeares Crossdressing Comedies. A Companion to Shakespeares Works. Eds. Richard Dutton and Jean Elizabeth Howard. unite Kingdom Blackwell Publishing, 2003.Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Ed. Roma Gill. Oxford Barrons Educational Series, 2001.Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. Ed. Cedric Thomas Watts. Hertfordshire Wordsworth Editions, 1992Smith, Emma. The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare. United Kingdom Cambridge University Press, 2007.The Merchant of Venice (Vol. 40) Introduction. Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Dana Ramel Barnes. Vol. 40. Gale Cengage, 2006. eNotes.com. 12 Mar 2009