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Shakespeare wrote a series of heroines who disguise themselves as men, but Viola is unique in that she persists in presenting as masculine long after the ruse is up. Critics have suggested that this takes Twelfth Night's commentary on sexuality and gender beyond the realms of comedy - where in Shakespeare's other works mishaps related to mistaken gender and dress clearly serve a humorous function, here there is a profounder comment on the fluidity of sexual identity. This has led many to describe the play as Shakespeare's "most queer". In Shakespearean-era theatre, adolescent boys would tend to play the female characters on stage, presenting an amusing dilemma for the boy asked to play a woman playing a man. But for the critic Bruce R Smith, this in itself implies that "gender is more like a suit of clothes that can be put on and taken off at will than a matter of biological destiny".

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Twelfth Night employs many of the characteristic tropes of a Shakespearean comedy: mistaken identity, a wedding, slapstickA style of humour involving exaggerated physical comedy. physical humour, trickery, innuendo and a happy outcome. It is one of Shakespeare's festive plays, meaning that the mirth, tomfooleryFoolish or playful behaviour. and physical comedy would likely have been played up to the extreme on stage. Characters designed to provide a frivolous and comic foil to the exploits of the main characters include Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's drunkard uncle, Sir Andew Aguecheek, and Maria, who in one memorable section convince Olivia's dourWhen someone is gloomy, serious and unfriendly. and puritanicalMoralistic authoritarianism. The name derives from a 17th-Century Christian sect, the Puritans, who banned many forms of fun, including gambling, wearing fancy clothes and celebrating Christmas. steward Malvolio to dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters to prove to Olivia that he loves her, as he has been misled to believe that she loves him too.

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There has been much debate about which bonds in Twelfth Night can be read as genuine. The play is a comedy, and as such many of the relationships lack substance or serious appeal. Olivia's capacity to transfer her love from Viola to Sebastian with little friction is one example of this, as well as the rapid turnaround of Duke Orsino, whose long-standing infatuation with Olivia metamorphosesTransforms. into a passionate love for Viola seemingly within seconds. Some have read this as a satirisation of courtship, treating romantic love more as a game than as a serious commitment. By contrast, platonicLove or emotion that is not romantic or sexual. and fraternal love are strong and inviolableNever to be broken. forces in the play.

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There is much deception in the plot, from physical disguises to forged documents and manipulation. Olivia is deceived in Cesario's identity, as is Duke Orsino. Viola is deceived that Sebastian is dead, and vice versa. Self-deception is another theme: Orsino mistakes his infatuation with Olivia for love, while Malvolio's vanity allows him to easily deceive himself that Olivia might be in love with him.

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Olivia's grief for her brother, signified by her willingness to postpone years of potential joy in order to honour him, is at first contrasted against the lovesick moping of Orsino. But even Olivia is willing to cast off her grief rapidly in order to flirt with Viola in the guise of Cesario. Likewise, though Viola mourns Sebastian deeply, it does not get in the way of developing a strong attraction to Orsino. Although grief and loss are mentioned often throughout the play, more often than not they are treated as pretexts or devices, rather than serious themes.

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