GENDER ROLES critical quotes

Question 1

Smith: The play suggests gender…

Answer 1

“is more like a suit of clothes that can be put on and taken off at a will than a matter of biological destiny.”

Question 2

David Schalkwyk - Cesario is a mix of identity between cesario and Sebastian

Answer 2

“Cesario is a point of converging identity between Viola and Sebastian”

Question 3

C.L Barber - difference between men and women

Answer 3

‘The most fundamental distinction the play brings home to us is the difference between men and women’

Question 4

Gender Roles: Viola’s ability to shift between genders shows both contrast and connection between them

Answer 4

‘The effect of moving back and forth from woman to sprightly page is to convey how much the sexes differ yet how much they both have in common, how everyone who is fully alive has qualities of both.’ (Ros Barber)

Question 5

Gender Roles: Viola as an object of desire Schalkwyk

Answer 5

‘Viola becomes an erotic ‘blank’, sexually disempowered but also a screen upon which others project their own desires.’ (David Schalkwyk)

Question 6

Gender Roles: Viola’s disguised love through speeches on orsino’s behalf
CRAIK

Answer 6

‘Viola’s speeches on Orsino’s behalf carry all the force of her own love for him. ‘ (Craik)