When looking at the similarities between Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and As You Like It, the most obvious connections lie in the manner in which the two main female roles both disguise themselves as men within the plays. But with an even deeper look into this phenomenon one can begin to see that this subtle technique is just one more way in which Shakespeare seems to hint at the acceptance of homoeroticism. .
When Rosalind decides to cross dress as the shepherd Ganymede in Act I, scene 3 of As You Like It, she highlights the conceptions of gender as a central theme of the play. While As You Like It presents common Elizabethan notions of what it means to be male and female, it also makes an important point about the intelligence and capability of women by portraying clever and powerful girls who are capable of holding their own in a man's world. .
By giving these women power and intelligence, Shakespeare reminds us that although his contemporaries (and many of our contemporaries as well) assume that men and women fulfill certain stereotypes, both genders are more than capable of superseding those limitations in order to attain their goals. But even with all the power that Shakespeare may give to the females playing male roles, in both plays there are occasions where the women are powerless in the scenarios that they find themselves. It seems that he is implying that even with their man-masks' on, that these women are still limited to performing as a "woman would in the situation."" This can be seen in As You Like It act II, scene 4, when Rosalind breaks down and cries [unlike a man]. .
Throughout Twelfth Night Shakespeare examines patterns of love and courtship through a repositioning of traditional Elizabethan gender roles. The familiar comic formula of identical twins creating confusion is employed with an added twist so that identical twins of opposite gender provide the foundation for the comic confusion.