Twelfth Night has only three female roles. We all know that in Shakespeare’s day the women’s roles were played by boy actors (often apprentices), so of course there would be fewer female roles–and in most plays, particularly the histories and tragedies, less prominent ones.
In the comedies (especially the later ones, of which Twelfth Night is the last, the valedictory), the females take greater importance. While As You Like It has Rosalind as its central character with the most lines, its remaining female characters drop precipitously in both speeches and lines. Twelfth Night, on the other hand, has an interesting breakdown of parts. While Viola has the second most number of speeches (just over 30 speeches fewer than the number one character–more on him tomorrow), she has only 8 fewer lines, at 335. Olivia is a close third with about 20 fewer lines than Viola in just 3 fewer speeches. Maria’s in the top 8 characters in both speeches and lines, with nearly 150 lines.
Continue reading “Twelfth Night: Hard Out Here in Illyiria for a Woman”