In William Shakespeare's comedic play, Twelfth Night, a recurring theme is deception. The characters in the play used deception for a variety of purposes. Viola's use of deception involves her disguising herself as a man in order to obtain a job with the Duke of Illyria, Orsino. On the other hand, Maria, Olivia's servant, writes a letter to Malvolio in Olivia's handwriting to make Malvolio act foolishly because of his love for Olivia. While some use deception as a means of survival, others use deception to trick others and make them act foolishly.

The first example of deception in this play was when Viola decides to disguise herself as a man. Viola barely escapes a shipwreck along with her twin brother Sebastian. Separated in this terrible disaster each twin believes the other has died in the wreck. The captain of the shipwrecked vessel advises Viola to go and...