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97). While None Of Shakespeare's Female Protagonists Were Intentionally ...

While none of Shakespeare's female protagonists were intentionally subversive or aware of their own homoerotic powers, there were established unruly women such as Olivia who played into the dangers of rebelling against the patriarchal system. The degree of their malevolence, however, varied significantly as the outcome of Shakespeare's cross-dressing comedies ended in similar fashions.

As Osborne notes, the masculine behaviour of both Olivia and Viola compromises the acceptable love imagined in the poem and produces anxieties entered around those aspects of their characters; the excessive concern expressed by the critics about both Viola's cross-dressing and Olivia's amorous pursuit of her masks a larger anxiety about the potential homoeroticism of their relationship (Osborne 1996, p. 98). Viola's assumption of Cesario carries with it significant implications of her alter ego as serving the function of sexual ardour; without Cesario, Viola is just another woman. As Cesario, however, Viola is a sexual being, empowered by the adulation and desire of others.

This contention is most aptly evidenced in Act I, when Viola/Cesario is instructed by Orsino to pass on the Duke's messages of love. The dialogue that transpires next shows a degree of duality in the sexual power of both Viola/Cesario as well as Orsino. Both figures show a degree of homoeroticism as well as heterosexual lust. Viola/Cesario initially questions Orsino's faith in her/his abilities to woo Olivia; the act of doubt is one of sexual insubordination. As a woman, Viola disrupts the male pursuit of Orsino to Olivia, therein shifting the power in pursuit from Orsino to Viola. Moreover, given Olivia's propensity of denying Orsino's advances, the tempest cycle is made complete, with Olivia complete dissociating herself from the Duke and Viola assuming control of his romantic ruminations. Viola/Cesario's doubts are merely a façade masking her/his unwillingness to allow Orsino to pursue Olivia, craving the Duke's attention for her/himself. Second, there is a mutual bond of male homoeroticism. Though the figure of Cesario downplays the attraction of Viola to Orsino, the Duke's assurance of Cesario returns the affections to a degree. Returning to Viola/Cesario's doubt, Orsino makes a marked attempt to unwillingly coerce Viola to return to his sexual servitude. Though she is already taken with Orsino, Viola is still made into a pawn in the love triangle established by the Orsino and Olivia.

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