SOURCE: "Challenging Conventions: Twelfth Night" in Women's Worlds in Shakespeare's Plays, University of Delaware Press, 1997, pp. 211-44.
In the essay below, Dash stresses the similarities between Viola and Olivia as young, single, upper-class women who, for a brief period, challenge patriarchal restraints on female independence. She also calls attention to the textual alternations put in place by generations of theatrical directors which have minimized the difficulties Viola and Olivia face as they try to resolve the tension between erotic desire and the norms of society.
This is a free excerpt of 85 words. There are 15,698 words (approx.
52 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Twelfth Night: Critical Essay by Irene G. Dash Access Pass.
