The Twelfth Night is a Shakespearean romantic comedy that is filled with plenty of humor and lots of deception. It is frequently read as a play about masking, about the conscious and unconscious assumption of false identities and about levels of self-knowledge and self-deception; this theme is played out prominently through Viola's transsexual disguise (Kahn 43). The play is comprised of five acts and numerous scenes. However, I am only going to touch on one of these scenes in my paper. The scene I chose to write about is act V scene I. I chose this scene because it is the one that interested me the most, and I feel that it is also the scene with the most hidden meanings.
             Act V scene I, in my opinion, is a very complicated scene. I am going to discuss the part of the scene just before Sebastian enters, with Viola disguised as Cesario. Viola, in this part, is surrounded by many people all of whom think she is someone other than the person she actually is. This is where Viola/Cesario speaking to Olivia protests undoubtedly her love for Orsino by saying, "After him I love, More than I love these eyes, more than my life (Twelfth Night 5.1. 134)." Olivia, after hearing this, is confused and protests to Viola that they are married by saying, "Whither, my lord? Cesario, husband, stay (Twelfth Night 5.1. 141)!" Viola/Cesario denies this and is shocked by the accusation. Olivia continues to press the issue by getting the priest to confirm the marriage. It is at this point, when Orsino hears and believes the priest's confirmation of the marriage, that I feel he expresses signs of homosexuality towards Viola whom he still believes is Cesario. Orsino becomes filled with anger and jealousy towards Viola/Cesario saying, "Farewell, and take her, but direct thy feet where thou and I henceforth may never meet. (Twelfth Night 5.1. 166-167)." At some level, Cesario is a homosexual object choice fo...