Comparison Of The Twelfth Night And Kaichou Wa Maid-sama
As many say “Old is Gold”, this statement seems quite true when referred to Shakespeare. His works are clearly exceptional, even today we teach the English language based on his doings and using him as an example. His fairytale characters have been shown through genres of television. This essay seeks into the midst of resemblance between Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama and The Twelfth Night.
Introduction
In the anime Kaichou Maid-Sama, the main character Misaki Ayuzama is shown to have gone through a rough childhood in which her father had left his family in debt and had run away with another woman. From there on, Misaki was determined to achieve good grades in order to get in a university and side by side she worked as a maid in a nearby town. She became the president of the student council and made a veritable school for the girls since before it was an all-boys school which resulted in a lesser female population. She is shown to be extremely judgemental towards men, due to the incident with her mother which makes her believe that all men are insensitive and misleading. Yet, even so, Misaki is an independent woman who perseveres through the hardships life throws at her. She is a down-to-earth person who is also very helpful and generous from the inside, as there are many episodes where she is shown helping others. In the book The Twelfth Night, one sees that Shakespeare has written a comedy and general romance play. Viola, who is the main character, is lost and stranded alone in a foreign country after being shipwrecked and concludes that her twin brother has died; she meets with a captain and decides to act as a Eunuch until she is stable and back on her feet once again. Viola is indeed one of the smartest and quickest people in the play of The Twelfth Night. She is a strong female character who is selfless and independent, as she does not rely on anyone for help. Both characters are shown to develop feelings of dependency and reliability on others at the end. Both are straight forward with their actions as Viola helps to woo Olivia for Orsino yet ends up insulting her and Misaki tells of several people every day for breaking the rules of high school such as 'no running in the hallways'. Both have the characteristics of fearlessness and confidence, as they are able to overcome their obstacles.
Strive to do one’s best: Perseverance
As shown in Episode 18, Misaki job place 'Maid Latte' is being overthrown by a company who wants to make a restaurant with butler instead of maids. Their idea is to buy the building, reconstruct it and establish a high-class butler cafe. In disguise, Misaki and another fellow employee 'Usui Takumi' in the Maid Latte workplace team up and pretend to be a butler in the butler competition which will determine the right full butler's. This shows that Misaki is willing to go to many further extents than we can imagine because she is willing to protect others. At one point people start to question Misaki's gender at the competition yet she removes their disbelief by grabbing Usui's hand and putting it on her chest when he declares it is flat the tension is removed and she has been declared a boy. Through perseverance, Misaki uses the skill of cross-dressing and becoming a boy for the means of survival. Likewise, we see the Viola, The Twelfth's Night main character is stranded on Illyria with no relatives, money or any of survival since she is a girl she also will not be capable of arranging a suitable job that pays well. As Viola makes the decision of 'Conceal me what I am, and be my aid. For such disguise as haply shall become. The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke. Thou shall present me as an eunuch to him. It may be worth thy pains, for I can sing and speak to him in many sorts of music that will allow me very worth his service.' she has shown the great power of strength and perseverance in this scene since instead of mourning over what she thinks of her dead brother, she takes the reality into her own hands and wants to decide for herself. At the same time, cross-dressing into a Eunuch shows that she does this for the meals of her survival. As both, the characters not only cross-dress yet, they take the situation that is presented in front of them seriously and find out a solution that even if it is hard to solve they will not give up that quickly.
Acting before they think: Selfless
In Act 1, scene 5, Viola, disguised as Cesario, is sent to woo Olivia on the behalf of Duke Orsino. At one part during the confession, Cesario reveals how he has prepared a whole speech and memorized it and would like to present it to Olivia. Yet Olivia at this point is annoyed by the Duke's persistence in wooing her and so her stress and anger are released on Cesario. As a shock to Olivia, she finds herself agreeing with Cesario since he dared to open up his mouth and conclude how disrespectful Olivia is. Olivia finding this immense amount of shock yet entertainment makes her develop a crush on Cesario since he is one of the many few people who has ever treated her with truth, not royalty. Seen from Cesario's point of view, Viola is in love with the Duke yet she still goes to woo her love's love. She is at all anything but happy because she cannot have Orsino nor can she tell him that she is a boy in disguise. Despite the cruelty of faith and destiny, she tries everything to make Orsino come out of his current defeated state and look outside the bow. This shows that she is selfless as she puts aside all she believes and norms of society to help the people she admires. Similarly, Ayuzawa Misaki helps anyone who is in danger because she can't 'just sit back and do nothing' while others get hurt mindless of their gender. In episode 3 Misaki saves a male student who falls off a ladder however she stops the ladder to the strength and force of her arm, she later is shown to be bruised in that area. This shows that she thinks of others before her and doesn't hesitate to help. Another example would be shown in episode 12 when her friend unwillingly has become the prize at one of the competitions in the sports day event in school. Misaki tries her best to win the sport so that her friend Sakura doesn't have to be forced to kiss a guy on the cheek, instead, she comfortably does it for Misaki. Misaki is a role model for many and believes in putting others before her as she always does. She tends to protect the ones she loves.
Conclusion
Both in The Twelfth Night and Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama Misaki and Viola has shown excellent similarities. In which both characters are selfless because they always think about the circumstances of others before their own. As well as, because both characters have a vast amount of perseverance in they which allows them to seek further than their potential. Both are very open-minded people who do not hesitate to say what they feel or mean.
