Section A - Drama Q1

In William Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, the theme of independent

women is consistent throughout. Both characters Olivia and Viola embody that
theme as they were both separated from their male relatives for one reason or
another. In this essay, the theme of independent women and the techniques by
which William Shakespeare portrays it through all women in the play will be
examined.
Lady Olivia had lost both her father and her brother leaving her in mourning.
Though she was sad, she took control of her court and showed her independence
by doing such. An instance in which she portrayed independence was when Duke
Orsino was her husband she turned him down, it is crucial to understand that in
this period, women of status were not allowed to remain unmarried nor was she
allowed to give any orders to her court without a male relative. However, Olivia
defied these norms by rejecting the Duke and deciding to remain unmarried for the
next couple of years.
On the contrary, Viola was not a woman of status as she was a regular village
woman who was involved in theatre with her twin brother. Her display of
independence came about when she had just survived the shipwreck and believed
that her brother, Sebastian, was dead. She was in a different country; she needed
money to purchase items, and the only way to get them was to get a job however
only men were permitted to work. As a result of Sebastian’s absence, Viola had to
adopt the male persona of Cesario and work as an eunuch to Duke Orsino.
In the instance in which Lady Olivia rejects Duke Orsino, he feels the need to
make grandeur gestures to win her hand in marriage, for example, he sent Cesario
to woo her in his absence. However this does not work as Olivia is not in love with
the Duke nor will she ever be, therefore his attempts at sending Cesario to woo her
were all in vain for his interest.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses the dramatic technique of disguise to
portray the women in this play, Maria, Lady Olivia and Viola/Cesario take on a form
of disguise one way or another. For example, Maria is Lady Olivia’s maid and maids
are supposed to be not very smart and quaint however, Maria uses this common
narrative to her advantage when she manipulates the drunken episodes created by
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew to get her revenge on Malvolio. In the instance of Lady
Olivia, her veil and her wits are used as a disguise. Her veil is meant to 1) show her
seclusion from the world during mourning but also to hide her features from the
men, because of this many people underestimate her wits and she can deceive
Malvolio by getting in his head about a ‘ring’ Cesario left, and though Malvolio is in
love with her, he was blinded by the attention she was giving him and he didn’t
realize that she is using him to potentially court Cesario. Viola/Cesario uses her
costume as her disguise as she represents herself to be male. This disguise is
essential as she uses it to get a job contributing to the main plot of the play. This
disguise deceives Duke Orsino and Lady Olivia as she falls in love with Cesario.
Consequently, the theme of independent women and the technique of disguise
go hand in hand as they both are the 2 main ingredients needed to thicken the plot.
All in all this play shows how unaware and gullible persons are resulting in it being
the perfect comedy.
Section B - Poetry Q4
Love can be expressed through different means as it is subjective. One can share
or express their love for someone or something differently and as a result, there are
different types of love for example romantic, unrequited, forbidden and love for
one’s country. The theme of reference to the 2 poems, ‘This is a Dark Time My Love’
and ‘It’s the Constant Image of Your Face’.
In the poem, This is a Dark Time My Love, the speaker is talking about his
admiration for his country is going through military turmoil. He expresses his
disheartedness on the dulling of the countrymen. This love is one of love for
country or otherwise patriotism. On the other hand the poem, It’s the Constant
Image of Your Face highlights not only patriotism but a sense of forbidden love as
the speaker feels as though he is torn between loving his country and another.
Subsequently, the forbidden love present in ‘It’s the Constant Image of Your
Face’ highlights the similarity to a marital home’s problem as it can be drown
parallel to infidelity between a husband and wife. The husband, the speaker, the
wife, the speaker’s home country and the mistress, the other country he fell in love
with. The effect that this predicament has on the speaker is one of confusion as he
knows morally he should lone his birth country (his wife), however, he is also
infatuated with another country (his mistress); because of this, he is unsure of
which one is closet to his heart and which one treats him better.
As a result of the speaker in ‘This a Dark Time My Love’ feeling deeply in love with
his country, the poet used repetition, ‘This is a dark time my love’ to highlight the
warning he is giving his lover in this time of war. Throughout the poem that is
repeated to not only warn his lower but to also draw the allusion to his lover being
his homeland. In addition, the line is also used to give hope to himself and others
who share this lover. In the poem, ‘It’s the Constant Image Of Your Face’ the
speaker relishes in forbidden love unsure of which country he should love more. The
poet uses the oxymoron, “convicts me of heart’s-treachery”, to draw reference to
the feeling/idea of infidelity existing because of the forbidden love, one’s heart
should not ache if they are in love since love is meant to bring comfort and peace.
Consequently, both poems end bittersweet though they both express love,
however, both poets end the poem with a feeling of more confusion than they
began with as well as no sure solution for the problem the speakers faced. For
example, in ‘This is a Dark Time My Love’ the last line reads, “watching aiming at
your dream”. This line leaves the reader with a level of insecurity in the speaker’s
resolution. Similarly in ‘It’s the Constant Image of Your Face’, the poet ends with
the line “I hope that she…pardon freely not attaching blame being your mistress (or
your match) in tenderness.”, this line shows that the speaker did not settle his
problem an ended with more confusion than he ever had before and it has an
almost pitiful tone.