Twelfth Night Essay

Orsino's love, however, is a courtly love. He claims to be in love with Olivia but seems rather to be in love with the idea of love and the behavior of a lover. Orsino is a Petrachan lover who chooses an object that will not return his love. Because he is not ready for commitment, he courts Olivia in a formal way. By sending his messengers to her house instead of going himself, he does not have to speak to her directly. Early in the play, Viola realises that Orsino's love for Olivia is denied and that she would also reject all men for a period of seven years. Viola believes that Orsino might not be rejected if he visited Olivia himself and says to him: "I think not so, my lord," but Orsino, not wanting to see Olivia himself and wanting to keep up the role of the disappointed lover, insists that Cesario woo her.

Different types of love and marriage play a significant role in Shakespeare’s twelfth night, whether unrequited like with Antonio and Malvolio; or something seemingly unattainable like with Duke Orsino. Love is prevalent as one of Shakespeare's central theme emphasized in the Twelfth Night. With that, we see Shakespeare communicate different interpretations and feelings regarding the subject. He does this with the medium of melodramatic characters. However, this essay will solely elaborate on the character Duke Orsino and his exploration of love. Through Orsino’s actions, Shakespeare conveys several messages still applicable today, some of which are about the fine line between superficial love and genuine love, love's incoherency, and love's

However, by the formal introduction of the rumoured moor in Act 1 Scene 2 and his monologue in Scene 3, our previous doubts of Othello’s character diminish. The magnificence of Othello shines through through his behaviour and rhetoric, becoming a juxtaposing image of a ‘Valiant Othello’ both the Duke and senators speak of. “Rude am i in my speech” proves Othello’s confidence and elegance in his language. The use of the rhythmic Iambic Pentameter within his monologue suggests a well thought out and educated response from Othello, Shakespeare decides to gift his character with eloquent and virtuous speech in order to highlight his composure as a hero and admirable character. His measured language is a sign of his confidence, self-discipline and virtue, thus agreeing to his admirability of being the tragic hero.

A sentimental response to the play is in some sense in league with love, the love to which Desdemona consecrates her soul and fortunes. No doubt in loving Othello with her we are also loving ourselves; but that may be no bad thing, indeed a necessary one, for a kind of self-love – among other things what his reputation means to Cassio – is at the basis of all honour and decency. (201)

    The meaningful term “love” can be applied to differing relationships in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. In this essay let us examine under a microscope the “love” that we find throughout the play.

Human nature has a tendency to be rather foolish. The topic of foolishness is shown and developed throughout Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Foolishness is developed using the actions of the characters and through Feste’s observations. This topic is important in this play because it exposes how foolishness is part of human life. The characters in this play act foolish throughout the play.

Yet he still continues to get a “yes” from Olivia. He grows rambunctious and upset when he says.” O’ she hath the heart of a fine frame, to pay the debt of love but to a dead brother” ( Shakespeare page 11 33-34) He lacks sympathy towards Olivia for her problems, but he has time to listen to his own desires. Nonetheless rather grieving with her, he goes and gives her his words of love. Duke Orsino knows that Olivia is unsure and this is an act of selfishness. Furthermore, he craves something he can’t have, Olivia’s love. Love is to crave to the extreme, it’s hunger that lovers hope they can never fully

I chose this passage because it shows the ironic nature of Orsino’s actions compared to his words. He claims woman love superficially but he demonstrates his own superficialness by loving Olivia purely based upon her looks. Throughout the play, it is shown that Orsino is more in love with himself and the idea

All major characters of the Twelfth Night experience some form of desire. Most of Twelfth Night's humour came from mocking the lovers. For instance, Shakespeare adds a little fun to the poem that Orsino recites (Shakespeare 1.1.1-15), by making it clear that he is more in love with the idea of love than with his actual physical love. Twelfth Night also mocks the idea of love through the pranks played by the servants. Malvolio's actions perfectly portray Orsino's silly romantic ideas.

Comedy, in the Elizabethan era, often included themes of wit, mistaken identity, love, and tragedy, all tied up with a happy ending. These themes are prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comical play that explores the pangs of unrequited love and the confusion of gender. Love is a powerful emotion that causes suffering, happiness, and disorder throughout the play. The play also demonstrates the blurred lines of gender identity, which ties into the modern day debate on sexuality and gender identity. The main characters in the play, Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are connected by a love triangle, each person pursuing an unrequited love. Suffering from love and the fluidity of gender are the prevalent themes explored throughout the play and intertwined with Viola, Olivia, and Orsino.

Although he doesn’t seem to learn or develop much through the duration of the play, Feste is no dull character. In fact, Feste is known as one of Shakespeare’s greatest, most interesting and well-written characters. The complexity of Feste’s speech and each of his interactions with other characters reveal multiple important perspectives and roles that help contribute to the play. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare puts a spin on the importance of Feste’s role by casting him as Olivia’s licensed fool, the play’s commentator and a connection joint towards the reality of the audience as well as for the play’s storyline. Through his frequent witty comments, Feste’s extensive intelligence of the other characters shines through as he pinpoints their

Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a classic play full of countless humorous encounters between couples and romantic happenstances between those who should not have romantic relationships. As one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, the play explores many problems that seem to be ahead of its time. Within the play, there are instances of cross dressing (Viola as Cesario), homosexual encounters (Sebastian and Antonio), and the ever-asked question of “what is love?”. Love is regarded in extremely different and confusing ways to the various characters of the play, especially Viola, Duke Orsino and Olivia. Focusing on these three main characters, this paper will discuss the problems each character has regarding love

   The love of the protagonist and his wife in William Shakespeare’s trgedy Othello can not stand up against the repeated assaults of the sinister Iago. Let us in this essay search for and comment on the examples of love found in the play.

The poems in Twelfth Night symbolize both the values and the concealed risks of messages. When that form of communication is composed from the heart, it has the power to bring a character closer to falling in love. Messages in the form of objects can easily mislead and confuse a character, thus adulterating the true meaning of the message. Olivia’s message foreshadows Viola’s internal conflicts, as she soon realizes that Olivia’s trick places her in a miserable love triangle where she loves Orsino, but he loves Olivia, and Olivia loves

A quote from Orsino proves that this is the case, “O when mine eyes did see Olivia first, me thought she purged the air of pestilence.” This quote in simple terms means that when Orsino first saw Olivia he felt that she made the world perfect and this was someone he wanted to marry, but Orsino did not know Olivia’s personality and only liked her because of her looks and wealth which means that what Orsino was feeling is lust. Lust is when a person is attracted to somebody purely off attraction rather than true feelings and does not even consider the person’s morals and mannerisms. Shakespeare was attempting to show that this type of love is not real love and purely for one to use someone else for wealth and or pleasure.