Similarities Between Viola And Olivia In The Twelfth Night

Though Orsino seems to have his eyes set solely on Olivia, he also looks at “Cesario” with some interest, commenting, “Diana’s lip is not more smooth and rubious, thy small pipe is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound, and all is semblative a woman’s part” (I. iv. 34-37). He recognizes some key features in Viola that pique his interest, but does not show his love for her because she disguises herself as a man. Shakespeare presents him by showing his ability to notice Viola’s masculine and feminine features, unlike with what he does with Olivia which he only looks at the broad characteristics that consist only on her shallowest features. Later on, he goes as far as to propose to Viola, “Meantime, sweet sister, we will not part from hence. -Cesario, come, for so you shall be while you are a man…Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen” (V. i. 407-411). To contrast Olivia’s swift rejection of her own love for Cesario because of “his” gender, Shakespeare presents Orsino as a character who quickly accepts Viola’s love for him, regardless of her current state of gender. However, unlike his stubborn, selfish desire for Olivia, Orsino’s blossoming relationship with Viola transfers his desire into a more selfless aspect of true love.

Although Viola faced a lot of confusion and conflicts she was equipped to handle this because she was mostly causing it by cross dressing and lying about who she truly was. But, Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andres, servants to Olivia, all decided to play practical jokes on Molvolio. By giving Molvolio a note and disguising it to look like Olivia’s hand writing, they caused Molvolio to make a fool of himself. The note left him directions to behave and dress a certain, this caused ignominious Molvolio to become confused. By being deceitful and conspiring, Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrews colors shined through. Not to mention, Molvolio’s true self became evident after misidentifying the letter. Molvolio became arrogant and was filled with self-importance, but when things became clear and Molvolio discovered the note was not written from Olivia he became embarrassed. He could not move forward, forgive and forget, so he left. This is how misidentification can cause conflicts and cause character’s true selves to shine

Olivia fell so in love with Cesario that she now refers to him as husband and when Duke hears this, he is shocked so Viola try’s to cover it up, to protect her relationship with Duke. This is why disguise caused the wrong characters to fall in love with each other and create

It stands as Olivia loves Cesario/Viola, who loves Duke Orsino who loves Olivia. Each character suffers in sorrow as they cannot have who they desire, because of status, gender or love for another.

was Olivia, a rich countess, ends up falling in love with her. Viola/Cesario did not

There is also the idea that Olivia's power and beauty causes many to fall for her. Orsino, Sebastian, Sir Andrew, and Malvolio all are in love with Olivia, but it may just be the shallow love for money and beauty and not one for true love that causes this. Sebastian agrees to marry her without ever

The Pursuit of Love: Complications Ending in Happiness One of the biggest parts of loving and learning in life is falling in love. In the books "Only in the Movies" by William Bell and "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare, the main plots and storylines are centered on the idea of love and the main characters' pursuit of love. Both stories have several situations where humorous conflicts are the outcome of a love triangle/ someone not loving you the way you love them. There are many similarities between the love in Only in the Movies and Twelfth Night.

Outward appearances are not always comparable to inner character. Identity is not the only thing that can be concealed. Penned letters and vocations of love can also be masked and coupled with dishonesty. In Shakespeare’s As you Like It, after Duke Frederick Banished Rosalind from his court, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy named Ganymede and enters the forest of Arden.

Aside from the fact that Cesario is falling for a man who is already infatuated, Olivia begins to reveal her true feelings as well. Establishing dramatic irony towards Cesario's disguise and feelings towards Olivia and Orsino add to the comedic effect while developing the plot and engaging the audience. Seeing how

Her brother disappeared due to the storm and Viola believed that he drowned. She had to figure out how to defend for herself in the new country. Viola decided to disguised herself as a guy to get close to Duke Orsino. Duke is a handsome bachelor that governs the land of Illyria. Duke is already in love with Olivia, who is not interesting in dating at the time. Duke asked for Cesario to vouch for him to Olivia. Ironically, Olivia falls in love with Cesario not knowing that “he” is a girl. As time went on, Viola ended up falling in love with Duke Orsino. By Viola being in disguised, she created a tangled love web between everyone. Malvolio is a character that becomes intertwined with the love web as well. He is in love with Olivia and he thinks he has a chance because of a forged letter he received. At the end of the play, Sebastian ended being rescued which made the plot thicken. Viola did not have a choice but to reveal her true identity to everyone. Once the truth was finally told, Viola and Duke ended up getting married with some

During his patronizing statement of Olivia and Cesario’s supposed love affair, he admits ‘and whom, by heaven, I swear I tender dearly’. In Shakespearean times, religion was important for many people in different social statuses where it influenced their lifestyle and took religious teachings seriously. Heaven is heavily associated with religion and God so his declaration for his love and care for Viola to heaven above establishes his devotion and compassion for

Viola, one of the main protagonists, experiences suffering when she falls in love with Orsino, whom she cannot pursue or express her true feelings for. After a shipwreck, Viola finds herself stranded in the country of Illyria. In order to work for the Duke Orsino, she disguises herself as a man named Cesario, which makes romance with the duke impossible. After spending three days with him, she falls in love. Not only does she have to repress her feelings toward Orsino, but to add to her pain, Orsino assigns her to spend her time trying to persuade Lady Olivia to marry him. Viola says to the audience, “whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (1.4.42), because she wishes to marry Orsino.

 There are many examples of disguise and Viola / Cesarios disguise alone enables her to work for Orsino as a messenger, it causes Olivia to fall in love with her and it causes both of them to disguise their feelings from each other.  From "I prithee tell me what thou think'st of me" to "Would it be better, madam, than I am?" Viola and Olivia spin in a web of doubt about disguised identity and emotions.

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will, written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era, centers around the convoluted and shifting nature of love. The play makes a point that the ways in which love and affection are expressed and interpreted differ amongst the different social classes. Count Orsino and Lady Olivia, representing the upper class of the nobility, demonstrate their love in grand, impersonal gestures, whereas Viola, whose status is slightly lower, does so in a selfless, more authentic manner. This stark difference in how these two classes perceive love is also seen in how quickly the feelings of Orsino and Olivia change for their love interests once someone new comes along. The nobility has little to no sense of what genuine love is, which is seen in both their frivolous displays of affection and how quickly they are able to fall for someone new.

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.