Twelfth Night: Top-Scoring Sample Essay on Love and appearances

'Love seems very much a matter of appearances in Twelfth Night.' Do you agree?

A full length (~950 word) essay covering:

•      Music and identity as vehicles of deception, with Orsino invested in the appearance of love and Viola employing disguise

•      The torment of desire built on appearance, in Viola's self reproach and Olivia's demand that Cesario be what she would have him be

•      A denouement that prolongs the illusion, including analysis of the marriage being deferred offstage

Written by a 47-scoring student (2025 graduate) who was rank top 5 at their school. Features highly complex vocabulary. Sophisticated prose, embedded quotes, and close attention to how Shakespeare withholds the closure the genre promises.