What literary device is apparent in the bolded lines of Viola’s speech to the captain in act II, scene IV, of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night?

VIOLA: Too well what love women to men may owe:

In faith, they are as true of heart as we.

My father had a daughter loved a man,

As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,

I should your lordship.

This is an example of dramatic irony. Dramatic Irnoy is the contrast between what the characters think they know and what the audience/readers know is true.

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vaduz vaduz · Answer 2 · 2019-12-02T12:56:15-05:00

Answer:

Dramatic irony.

Explanation:

Irony is a literary device where the expressed feeling of an individual is the opposite of what is meant. This use of irony is also mainly employed for humorous or comical effect.

The given excerpt from Act II scene iv of William Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" is a dialogue of Viola but disguised as Cesario. She, as a male in disguise, tells the Duke Orsino of how her/his father's daughter had once loved someone. Along that line, she proclaims that "were (he) a woman, (he) should your lordship." She is declaring her love for the Duke but as she's in disguise as a man, she cannot openly say it. Thus, this is a case of dramatic irony where the characters have no idea about the scene but the audience/ readers all know that Cesario is Viola in disguise. And we also know that she meant to say these words like she's her real self and not as Cesario.