Many of Shakespeare's plays involve some form of disguise as a plot device and in my opinion the two that use this to maximum effect are 'The Twelfth night' and 'As You Like'. Furthermore, of all of Shakespeare's plays, these two plays are the most significant in terms of using gender confusion for comedic effect. In this essay I will explore both the similarities and differences that can be found within these plays and the significance of their uses. First, it is important to put the work in context. At the time Shakespeare wrote both plays, women were not allowed to perform on stage, so each character was played by a man. The use of male actors for each part contributes greatly to the confusion of the audience and also of many actors on stage. It brings forward the idea of ​​gender uncertainty, while also illustrating that gender is something that can be “represented” and personified through the means of costumes, voices, mannerisms; in other words, disguises. Gender is something that can be influenced, in terms of how you act, how it contrasts with something you are, referring to the more physical aspects that are associated with different genders. The relationship between performance and genre is even more complex in both 'Twelfth Night' and 'As You Like It', more than in most of Shakespeare's other plays. These complications are well expressed by Andrew Normington, the director of a recent production of 'As You Like It' from The Lord Chamberlain's Men, which continues to represent Shakespeare's plays as they were originally presented, with all the characters represented by men. He writes: “A boy plays a girl, who disguises herself as a boy , and pretends to be a girl to woo a boy, who doesn't want to... middle of paper... Be. Here we talk about "greatness" as a guise we take on, but it is highlighted that sometimes we have to take on roles that we don't we necessarily want and that are imposed on us. This quote has a lot of meaning not only with regards to actors on stage, who are sometimes assigned roles that they do not want, but also for real life, when we find ourselves in situations that are not to our liking. . But, as with many roles, we must rise to the challenge and achieve the desired goals. The plots of both plays represent confusion at the highest level, which is not helped by the fact that, especially in Shakespeare's time, many actors played more than one character. This reflects both the lack of money that was in the theater at the time and also, despite the theater being such a great source of entertainment, it was not a popular tradition to enter.