In the famous comedy Twelfth Night, Shakespeare dabbles with the phenomenon of love. This is seen through his various characters who are forced to deal with the aspects brought on by love. Characters like Cesario, who is Viola dressed as a boy. In the play the characters deal with their problems around love. The three major characters that love seems to impact more than the rest are Duke Orsino, Lady Olivia, and her servant Malvolio. Each of these characters is affected by love and each reacts differently when in love to out of love. Their reactions to love are based on their behavior, their speech, and their relations with other characters. Through the play each character’s behavior is changed. The biggest change in behavior was that of Malvolio who began to believe in his own delusion. This delusion made him believe that the fair Lady Olivia loved him. His delusional state got him locked up in a shackles and isolated. This state of mind is an effect of love for him. Then the Lady Olivia’s behavior when she is not in love is a melancholy state. She had just lost her brother and her …show more content…
Though the effects of love on each of them varies,m they all are affected by love. Their reactions to love to to the effect of love are seen though their behavior, their speech and their relations to other characters. Each character changes in different ways, such as the Duke Orsino who changes the least from being in love while the character Malvolio changes the most from being in love. However each character dealing with the effects of love reacts differently they share common themes especially when in love. They even get a happy ending, well most. Therefore love is a powerful emotion that can change people, which is what Shakespeare was hinting at in the play Twelfth Night, as the Fool says “But that’s all one, our play is done” (Shakespeare
Another story where love is fickle is in Twelfth Night. Orsino loves Olivia and tries to woo her, but Olivia rejects his love. However, when Orsino sends his manservant Cesario to declare Orsino’s love for Olivia, Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario. Throughout the story, Orsino begins to take interest in his manservant and Olivia falls deeper in love with Cesario. Orsino’s love for Olivia is love at first sight, which does not last very long when he begins to love Cesario. At the end of the play, Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and marries Sebastian. In this play, Shakespeare shows that love is fickle and characters marry before they truly know if they really love each other. Olivia’s marriage to Sebastian does not display any
He wants to rise out of his social class through the love of Olivia. Knowing this, Maria forges a letter that seems to offer hope to Malvolio’s ambitions. As soon as he finds Maria’s forged letter, he completely goes against his Puritan philosophy and undergoes his first transformation through self-delusion. He starts strolling around in yellow stockings and cross garters, thinking that he will please Olivia and get what he has always wanted. Malvolio looks ridiculous in these scenes, adding humour and the element of comedy to the play. Essentially, he lets his ambitions overcome his senses and does foolish things in order to get the attention of Olivia, which entertains the
Sara Bell Professor Endicott Literature 181 11/22/15 What is Love? The idea of true love is a popular theme in Shakespeare's writings. In his play, Twelfth Night, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are all involved in a love triangle, but their love is not based on reality.
Unlike the other characters in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Viola's feelings of love are genuine. She is not mistaken about Orsino's true nature and loves him for who he really is, while the other characters in the play seem to be in love with an illusion. Viola's love for Orsino does not alter during the play, nor is it transferred to another person.
Shakespeare 's Twelfth Night is a critical Elizabethan-era work that explores attraction and sexuality within the relationship between Viola (as Cesario) and Duke Orsino. Her role is one of steadfast love towards Orsino; she willingly courts Olivia on his behalf as Cesario, burying her feelings for him because she cares that he is happy. There is a rigid dichotomy between Viola and Orsino’s passion; where Viola is steady, Orsino is inconsistent. Feste states directly to Orsino that his “mind is a very opal” (2.4.71) which implies he is constantly changing what he wants and is more in love with the idea of love rather than Olivia. Duke Orsino’s evolution from a typical Petrarchan lover to passionate love, through trials of gender confusion
In Shakespeare’s play, an illustration of love and obsession is revealed even though the ending is contradictory. The facet of infatuation is usually exhibited as precipitous and inevitable; love utilizes an outward attack method that is equivalent to an ailment. Individuals who are in love are acutely arduous to liberate or even alleviate. Many people struggle immensely with love; however, it is not easy to distinguish if someone is suffering or not. Twelfth Night’s Orsino depicts love as an “appetite” that needs to be appeased. Also, love is described as an epidemic by Olivia. The character of Viola groans “my state is desperate for my master’s love” (line 35). If one is hurt by love, then he/she becomes overcome with a feeling of desperation.
Love is intoxicating which makes individuals behave in mysterious ways .In Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare love influences many characters to act in many different ways .Love causes Orsion to become obsessive ,it also causes Viola to be insecure and jealous and finally love cause viola to become seductive .
Love can conquer or save us all. The great works of literature often reveal the mysteries of love. Specifically, shakespeare’s comedies always end in marriage, many marriages, marriages that comically examine this powerful force. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Viola shares with the reader the complexities of love; this study will examine Viola’s relationships with the many colorful characters and what these relationships represent about love.
The word love can mean many things. Love can be an object, emotion, and a life. However, love could lead to a loss of power, prosperity, and status. In the literary work “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, the readers are introduced to a tragic love story. In this play, readers are also shown the different perspectives of love and the many downfalls it could lead to. The central theme of this work is the recklessness of love. The theme is significant because it is shown throughout the whole story and it’s a strong force that takes place of all the other emotions and values. In this play, Shakespeare uses characters to present different aspects of love. In addition, Nurse, Mercutio, and Romeo completely show what actual love is and what it is like to lose it due to their experiences.
In William Shakespeare’s comedy play Twelfth Night, a love triangle between the characters Viola dressed as Cesario, Orsino the Duke, and Olivia runs rampant throughout the storyline. This conflict comes to a head in Act 5 Scene 1 lines (in my copy) 109 through 147. This is the first, and only, time during the play that the audience sees all three characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, together. In this climaxing scene, it is apparent that Orsino is distraught with more than friendly feelings for his manservant Cesario, and that Olivia is in love not with Cesario, but with Viola under male clothing.
Love breeds conflict as it always has, such is the case for Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and “She’s the Man” by Andy Fickman. Front and center of the conflict for both the play and movie is the love triangle with Orsino, Olivia and Viola/Cesario/Sebastian. Duke/Orsino like Olivia but she dosen’t like him back, then Viola comes along as Cesario or Sebastian in the movie and meets Orsino who she becomes enamoured by. Meanwhile Olivia longs for Viola who is dressed as a man. In all of this, Viola’s own passions are ignited for Orsino however to him she is a man so she can not pursue her interest. Through all of this fickle drama the one thing that is constant is that love causing considerable pain to everyone. In Twelfth Night Orsino is in a constant state of lovesickness with the play open by him saying “If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.”(I.i.1-4). As well as Olivia with her saying “After the last enchantment you did
Shakespeare’s brilliant weave of character relationships knit the gaps in the story. Viola’s Cesario identity models the expectations held towards men of Elizabethan society prim, proper, and eloquent in mannerisms. In privacy, Viola embodies a woman’s intuition, passion, and problems living in a man’s world trying to fit in. However, by spending time with Orsino, Viola gains insight from the men’s perspective of romance. “For boy, however we do praise ourselves, / Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, / More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, / Than women
In William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, love as the cause of suffering is one of the most prominent theme of the story. Even though this play ends in love and wedded bliss, Shakespeare also shows us that love can also cause pain. The characters often view love as a curse, something that is thrust upon you and you cannot easily or willing escape. Examples include Malvolio’s love for Olivia, the love triangle between Olivia, Duke Orsino, and Viola as Cesario, and Antonio’s crush on Sebastian. There are countless occasions where unrequited love for another results in heartbreak and sorrow.
Women can easily fall in love as they are gullible and over-trusting, whereas men are mindless and foolish. In Twelfth Night, the characters who prove this are Olivia and Sir Andrew. Olivia has fallen in love with the fake man “Cesario”, and Sir Andrew is deliberately trying to woo Olivia through foolish and pathetic ways. Twelfth Night demonstrates that women are weak and are able to fall in love easily, due to their gullibility when it comes to love. This was shown as Olivia was able to fall in love with fake man “Cesario”, who was truly Viola in disguise. Although the Duke Orsino has real feelings for Olivia, she refuses to love him back as her love is only for “Cesario”. Shakespeare conveys this message through Viola’s soliloquy, and is
The main focus of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Twelfth Night is, fittingly, love. Despite the fact that the play ends in happiness, and marriage, the characters are not always this happy throughout the entire play. Love seems to be a curse in this play rather than a blessing, and it may seem that love causes more problems than it solves most of the time. All of the characters in Twelfth Night are affected by love in some way, and most of the time it is not the “right” love. For example, the main plot of the play is the love triangle between Olivia, Violet, and Duke Orsino. This love triangle causes mass chaos and confusion for the characters, mainly because of the misunderstandings. At the start of the play, Orsino is in love with Olivia, who is mourning her brother, and has no interest in the duke. In turn, Viola, who is in disguise as eunuch named Cesario is in love with Orsino. To round out the triangle, Olivia is in love with Viola, who she believes is really Cesario. The misunderstandings love causes for Orsino, Olivia, and Viola may even cause more suffering than happiness, despite the fact that the play ends in marriages.