The Secretive Woman – Viola de Lesseps

Viola de Lesseps – Shakespeare in Love

Smart, rich, beautiful, and resilience are words that perfectly describe this young lady, who wants to be an actor in Elizabethan England. Viola played a major role in Shakespeare’s life, that he named one of his major characters in his play, Twelve Night, “Viola”. Viola fell in love with Shakespeare and his theater. She knows the lines to his plays, and she will do anything to earn a role in his play. There was only one problem; women were not allowed on stage back then. Thus, she disguises herself as a man, which is a difficult task to accomplish. Viola is one of the major factors that helped Shakespeare with his famous play, Romeo and Juliet. This play was about star-crossed lovers, and was written by Shakespeare and inspired by Viola. Viola and Shakespeare have a secretive relationship, and the play that Shakespeare is working on symbolizes their relationship. Shakespeare never knew that one of his actors was a lady, who disguised herself as a man. After knowing that Viola was the lady he fell in love with at first sight, he was constantly thinking about her. Viola called herself “Thomas Kent” when she was in disguise. After admitting her love to Shakespeare, they got very close to each other and spend almost every night together. This helped “Thomas” with his expressions while performing the play, and it made Romeo and Juliet very successful. Even though these two lovers were always together, there was another problem. Viola was supposed to marry another man, Lord Wessex, whom she does not love. Even so, she has no choice, since it was an arranged marriage by her father, and was acknowledge by Queen Elizabeth I. But, because Viola is a strong person, she will eventually find a way to solve this problem.

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