Twelfth Night & A Doll’s House: Choosing Change [spoilers]

Title: Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Author: William Shakespeare

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Who will like it? There’s cross-dressing, humour, wordplay, sarcasm, and a coincidental plot, ending in marriage and unison. A bit capricious for my liking, but if you like Shakespeare’s comedy, then yes, I bet you will like Twelfth Night.

Title: A Doll’s House

Author: Henrik Ibsen (translated by Martin Adamson and David Widger)

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Who will like it? During the play’s time in the 19th century, Nora’s character was unprecedented and unbelievable. The backlash! Now, most of us respect and accept her autonomy. I found the characters a bit flat and grating, but seeing the play in action would be a totally different experience. For people who want to learn about the breakthrough of women’s roles in marriage in the past 200 years, I would recommend season one of Why Women Kill (2019) first, and recommend this play second.

Here’s a more analytical essay in the books. I hit writer’s block for a good few weeks before even mustering the energy to start working on a draft.

When I did, I typed for an entire Saturday, from morning to late evening. When I finished, I thought, right here, this is the one. A bit old, a bit theoretical, and maybe a bit hefty, but if you know what’s going on, maybe you’ll at least like it too.

Choosing Change: The Exercise of Free Will in Twelfth Night and A Doll’s House

In both Twelfth Night and A Doll’s House, certain characters are favoured by the social environment, and therefore these characters tend to behave passively. These already privileged characters reap benefits when the world exists as the status quo. On the other hand, less fortunate characters, often women, struggle against heavy undercurrents of social conditions to find success. In both Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, characters generally possess free will to some extent, but women face more friction to become as equally accepted as men are. This essay focuses on the following characters: Duke Orsino, Lady Olivia, and Viola from Twelfth Night, and Torvald and Nora from A Doll’s House.

In Twelfth Night, socially privileged characters such as Orsino and Olivia choose to be more passive in their outlook towards life. Orsino dwells in his extravagant palace and professes his love for Olivia while listening to music, but he never leaves his palace to directly seek Olivia’s hand. The beauteous and wealthy Olivia is likewise pleased with her social status. Subsequently, Lady Olivia and Duke Orsino refuse to fall in love when he claims to bel in love with her, even when no outside forces are obstructing or even thwarting their union. Orsino almost finds pleasure in his misery, as his unrequited love is “So full of shapes… That it alone is high fantastical” (1.1.14–15). Olivia dramatizes her grief until sweet Cesario spontaneously sparks her romantic interest. Differing from Orsino, Olivia has greater constraints imposed on her by society as she is a woman — a woman cannot publicly court a man while maintaining her image. So, while Orsino sends countless messengers in the name of love, Olivia can only throw coquettish hints at Cesario. Olivia goes to greater lengths to send implicit messages, dropping subtle clues such as “Let him send no more — / Unless perchance you come to me again” (1.5.228–22) to Cesario. Lady Olivia takes control and eventually achieves marriage, but as a woman, she invests more effort than Duke Orsino to find happiness. At large, both Orsino and Olivia are of a high social class with fewer problems hindering their lives. The sumptuous elegance of Olivia’s house and the majestic propriety of Orsino’s palace both reflect Olivia and Orsino’s satisfaction with the status quo, and thus their choices of relative passivity compared to less privileged characters.

Nevertheless, other characters in Twelfth Night are not as fortunate, and they must earn a pivotal change in their lives. When the audience first meets Viola on the unpredictable and barren oceans, the setting conveys how Viola is thrust into the chaos of Illyria by uncontrollable circumstances, indicating she must establish herself from scratch. Unfortunately, society favours men over women in multiple prospects, including entry into Orsino’s court. Even noble Orsino holds prejudice and claims that women are fickle creatures with fleeting affections, “For women are as roses, whose fair flower / Being once display’d, doth fall that very hour” (2.4,36–37). Viola creates new opportunities through cross-dressing, and she silently defies the notion that only men are capable and virtuous. Moreover, Viola demonstrates persistence in her will to prove herself, thoroughly delivering Orsino’s message to Olivia even when her personal desires strikingly conflict with her master’s wishes. When Viola realizes she has created perplexing relationships between Orsino, Olivia, and herself, her appreciation for her disguise then shifts. At this point, Viola discovers that she alone is responsible for all these problems, and out of desperation, she states that “O time, thou must untangle this, not I./ It is too hard a knot for me t’untie” (2,2,35–36). Although Viola laments as if she has already relinquished control, she navigates her turbulent fate through diligence, loyalty, and patience. Coincidences surprise her occasionally, such as when Viola meets Antonio perchance, resulting in a misunderstanding. Yet the world is fair; fate brings the serendipitous news of Sebastian’s survival. Fate is equally unforgiving as it is forgiving to Viola, and Viola dedicates herself despite disaster and prejudice, creating the momentous change in her life.

In A Doll’s House, fate is less influential; however, social constructions are as equally relevant as in Twelfth Night. Notably, because Torvald is free of pressing worries concerning income, stature, and domestic life, he actively perpetuates the existing social system as he holds power. Like Orsino, Torvald is favoured by society. Torvald’s prime importance is his respectable reputation, thus he frequently works in his study, which is off-limits to Nora. His constant dwelling in his study reflects the true nature of his self-interest, which unravels towards the end of the play, showing that Torvald even wishes Nora could be “threatened by some great danger” (Act 3) so that he can appear like a hero. Torvald’s obsession with an admirable stature likely originates from his childhood, as he repeatedly emphasizes the influence a household has over the young minds of children. However, differing from Orsino, Torvald goes one step beyond complacency with his social position, because Torvald chooses to prioritize himself — his image, his pleasure, and his ego — above all else. Torvald lacks utter empathy for other men with families, such as Krogstad, and Torvald’s lack of compassion discloses his conceited character. As a husband, Torvald enjoys controlling Nora by excessively limiting her freedom, nullifying her dignity, and reducing her from “a reasonable human being” (Act 3) to a “featherbrain” (Act 3) that dances the Tarantella. Torvald enthusiastically objectifies Nora and his seemingly benevolent sexism makes her his puppet. Torvald enjoys pulling every string of Nora’s freedom in the name of protecting her. Patriarchal 19th-century thinking influences Torvald, and he further patronizes Nora for his egotistical pleasure by disregarding any of her emotional needs.

Strikingly, like Viola from Twelfth Night, Nora is capable, intelligent, and unafraid of radical change. Before the outset of the play, Nora decides to undergo enormous complications and everlasting stress to save her husband’s life. Until the ending of the play, Nora is confined to the setting of a generic 19th-century living room, by extension she lives like Torvald’s doll. During Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, Nora ironically stretches herself to her limit to preserve the harmony in her family. The entire family’s financial stress lies on her shoulders, yet she manages to wear the façade of a simplistic, naïve, and mindless woman to please Torvald. Nora hides herself behind a veneer to please society, not unlike Viola, because women face more barriers than men to self-actualization. The gruelling social context, confined location, and ironically festive time of the year all characterize Nora’s motivations to bring about momentous change for herself, building up prior to her final conversation with Torvald. As a mother, Nora cannot imagine poisoning her children with “dust clouds of lies” and “germ[s] of evil” (1.849). Like Viola, Nora has principles. Throughout the play, Nora is proactive in seeking fulfillment by bettering her circumstances — but even after risking her reputation to save her husband, she receives a spitefully ungrateful response from Torvald. Nora later attempts an honest and open conversation, only to be dismissed. Nora chooses to leave because she’d like to “stand on [her] own two feet … to get to know [herself] and the world outside” (Act 3). Even if society disdains or potentially outcasts her, Nora weighs her individual freedom above passivity, choosing her own consequences.

In both Twelfth Night and A Doll’s House, when characters (notably Viola and Nora) have interests at odds with society, they realize their own capacities for change. This trait also is apparent in other characters — Maria elevates her social status by marrying Sir Toby, through proving herself both humorous and astute. Mrs. Linden cannot find personal fulfillment as a widow, so she decides to care for Krogstad’s children who “need a mother”. Although no choice is ever perfect because one cannot suddenly alleviate all restrictive social norms, one can make a momentous change in life. Given prescribed social biases, individuals of diverse backgrounds must dedicate themselves against varying levels of friction to find similar contentment and reach equitable outcomes.

Written in winter 2020