In “Cross-dressing in Twelfth Night,” Jean E

In “Cross-dressing in Twelfth Night,” Jean E. Howard argues that the play seems to “applaud a crossdressed woman who does not aspire to the positions of power assigned to men, and to discipline a non-crossdressed woman who does” (160). Howards sets up this argument explaining that Viola only becomes Cesario in order to survive a place (Illyria) that she is unfamiliar with. In doing so, Viola/Cesario gains respect because she dresses and acts like a man, not because Viola desires this sort of respect. In fact, Howard thinks the opposite: “In short, for her, crossdressing is not so much a political act as a psychological haven, a holding place” (160). She goes on to say that Viola's intention for crossdressing does not deny her feminine role, which she accepts wholeheartedly. Olivia, on the other hand, is a woman with great power who refuses love for Orsino or “any man” for that matter. For this, Howard sees the play as punishing her for her masculine characteristics, “by being made to fall in love with the crossdressed Viola.” (161). Because of this disregard for Olivia as powerful woman, Howard argues that the real sex/gender conflict in the play does not come from the crossdressing Viola, but rather from the rigid gender roles that Olivia (as subordinate) and Orsino (as dominant) are forced to obey.