In Twelfth Night William Shakespeare shows what dramatic irony is all about, oblierating the 21st century misconceptions about what irony really entails, by having just one character, Viola, be aware of the irony of the situation taking place around her. Dramatic irony is demonstrated through the fact that an audience would know Olivia has fallen for Cesario and that, furthermore, the audience would also have the knowledge that Cesario is actually Viola. Like the audience, Viola is also intensely conscious that masquerading as a man will lead to impediments in attaining a rewarding romance with Orsino, as she indicates with her observation that “As I am man, my state is desperate for my master’s love. As I am woman, now alas the day, What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!”
This observation is initiated when Malvolio happens upon Cesario (Viola) and explains that Olivia has sent him to return a ring that he (Viola) supposedly left. Malvolio then goes on to add that Olivia desires for Cesario to let the Duke know she wants nothing to do with him. Viola finds herself in a state of bewilderment, but nonetheless gamely plays along by refusing to take the ring, the result of which is that Malvolio impertinently lets the ring fall to the ground and stomps off. But this incomprehension is only fleeting as Viola quickly reasons the true purpose behind this chain of events has to do with Olivia sending Malvolio to find her and give her the ring as a token of romantic interest. The dramatic irony of this act is lost on everyone but Viola, and the audience of course: While Viola herself is passionate for a man who has no idea she is actually a woman, that very same man is in love with a woman who is in love with a man who is actually a woman!
Viola’s soliloquy at this point is concerned with the nature of identity and is a reflection on the multitude of problems that identity will lead to as the play progresses. The keynote to the beginning of her speech is the confusion over exactly what has taken place. This confusion then gives way to her understanding and penetration through the disorder that she can already sense is taking place. In this speech Viola explicates the convoluted snarls of Shakespeare’s plot and in so doing also manages to slice through them and reveal many of the thematic elements at work. The issue of gender confusion may be said to already exist between Viola and her twin, Sebastian. After all, in the most strictly technical sense Viola is not actually masquerading as a man, but what might today be termed someone who is gender neutral. She may have the appearance of a male, but she can only at best be defined as an androgyne. As such, what Viola really stands for is an abomination of God’s will, neither totally woman nor man. When she references a pregnant enemy that exists in counterpoint to mankind, this can be viewed as an allusion to Satan, the tempter of human souls. Viola has already cursed the wickedness of her disguise so it is certainly no great leap of faith to assume that she may see herself as a vessel for the instruction of the devil. All the actions that are to be derived through mistaken identity can, therefore, be viewed through a dark glassy lens as the handiwork of evil. Not only does this apply to Viola herself, but it can even be brought to bear on Antonio’s possibly forbidden love for a man who says himself that he bears a strong resemblance to his sister Viola. Homosexuality, especially in today’s puritanical climate, is viewed with great suspicion as an example of evil incarnate by far too many. Perhaps Viola is, in many ways, a supreme example of the contemporary mind willing to pass along human failures in understanding to the work of the agency of all that is considered to be evil.
