Metatheater in Twelfth Night

An important element of Shakespeare’s plays is its metatheatrical qualities. Metatheater is defined as theatre that is aware of itself as theatre. By definition, theatre itself is highly metatheatrical, as is general life. Society engrains roles and scripts upon men and women, and such cultural constructions are the main source of stereotypes. An obvious example of metatheater is when a play takes place inside a play. Thus far, Twelfth Night has proved to be highly metatheatrical. Viola performs the role of a young male, Cesario. While disguised as him she tries to emulate the stereotypical part of a young man, which is somewhat ironic due to the fact that when the play was originally performed Viola was actually played by a young man who was trained to perform the role of a woman. After finding what he believes to be a love letter from Olivia, Malvolio foolishly fashions himself to be what he believes she desires—he smiles constantly and dresses in yellow stockings with cross garters, playing a ridiculous part which he believes will win her ehart. Watching this spectacle, Fabian comments, “If this were played upon a stage, now, I could condemn it as improbable fiction,” (3.4, l. 114-115), again reminding the audience of the plays theatrical state.

Amber Ackerman
Section 1B
Ian Hoch