Twelfth Night Act 4

Twelfth Night Act 4

Twelfth Night Act 4, scene 1 reflects a controversial issue regarding male relationship dominance in modern society. When Olivia asks the alleged Cesario, who is, in reality, Sebastian, if he will be “ruled” by her, this raises concern about women’s power or dominance in relationships and even in society. Traditional culture typically elevates male dominance both in society and the household. However, this scene demonstrates Sebastian’s willingness to be ruled by Countess Olivia.

The scene portrays interesting thoughts of limitations to male dominance in wealth and social status. The play reflects the contemporary empowerment of the modern woman in her ability to pursue power and knowledge in fields that men conventionally dominated. Today women play the role of scientists, rulers, and role models to the community, paving the way to the ability for a woman to dominate in various ways. In this scene, Olivia dominates because she has the power of wealth and the influence of status. However, regardless of these privileges, she loved Sebastian (Cesario), who, too, loved her at first sight.

Moreover, it demonstrates the concept of cultural evolution, particularly in traditional masculinity. Having accepted to be ruled by Olivia, Sebastian shows value to intrinsic factors than physical aspects. Society embeds male masculinity in physical attributes such as wealth. Despite his limited influence on Olivia’s status, Sebastian goes against these notions and evolves the masculinity concept to show compassion, affection, honesty, and care.

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Twelfth Night Act 4

After you read act 4 scenes 1 through 3 of Twelfth Night in the slides, write a response to it.

Twelfth Night Act 4

I have uploaded my classmate’s response as well to be used as an example of how I want my post to be written short and straight forward.

Everything is uploaded below. Only use what is uploaded below, no outside sources, and everything in your own words.

Classmates response:

It is in Scene 1 of Act 4, where this unusual notion that a woman can rule over her man in an intimate relationship, has been introduced to the audience; as Olivia (who has more authority) asked Sebastian if he wanted to be ruled by her. This therefore does bring up interesting concepts such as wealth and status as factors that can outweigh male dominance in a relationship. One can see this in the modern world where women are now more capable and willingly to work and pursue fields that were once dominated by male, such as medicine, finance, entertainment, and many more; thus, many women (as illustrated by the #metoo movement) gain enormous confidence within themselves and their fellow women to speak out, and have a significant role and authority, not onty in dating men, but also in having a say or voice in their sexuality. Meanwhile, in reflection to Viola’s performance as Cesario, one can certainly say that masculinity can be expressed as somewhat of a performance, or “showing-off”; this can be seen as man fights with man (in a duel), or in today’s world, where man post in social media regarding post-workout looks. On the other hand, it was in Sonnet 138 where the question of can one always be honest without hurting the person they love, has been raised. It is in my belief that while honesty is essential in a healthy relationship, and also as a Christian, it is one of the concepts that a follower of Christ should abide by; it is still in my understanding that honesty can definitely inflict pain towards someone, whether that’ll be announcing a sudden disease, or a crucial mistakes that could potentially jeopardize the relationship. And therefore, being honest or desiring to be honest all the time, is not always simple, and depending on the context of a situation, it can definitely be complex and hard to abide by.

Twelfth Night Act 4