In Twelfth Night, Viola dresses as the male Cesario in order to gain entry into Orsino's court. In Elizabethan England, women were not allowed to act professionally, and female parts were all performed by men, so Viola would have actually been played by a male actor, dressing as a woman dressing as a man. Let me know if this helped
She dressed up as Cesario so she could get into Orsino's Court. (the play) Women were not aloud to take parts in theatre, so all of the parts were played by men. Even the women parts.
