The Positive Side of Imposture in Twelfth Night

Abstract

We are taught from childhood that lies have negative consequences, but Shakespeare has them often result in happy endings. We want to know why, in Shakespearean comedy, lying can be good. In reading Twelfth Night, we wanted to understand why leading characters tell lies, and why those lies so often end favourably. What is Shakespeare really saying by having lies not necessarily be a bad thing? To achieve our goal, we employed primary textual analysis, a review of published critical analyses, and heuristic reasoning. We continue to be interested in what motivates a leading character in a comedy to want to lie, and what are the consequences for her doing so.