Viola's Skepticism Of True Love In Twelfth Night

     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.

The fantasy of Olivia he supposedly unconditionally loves is not about Olivia, but all about himself. Not only this, but Orsino is easily convinced to return the deep affection of Viola, possibly because the Duke focuses entirely on his success and desires in love rather than genuine affection. Perhaps, Orsino only developed these feelings for Olivia because he wanted more luxurious things in life. Orsino had great food, servants, and a giant castle. The one thing he lacked in was love. Therefore, the Duke wished to have the most beautiful countess in all of the land: Olivia, to continue owning more and more luxurious things. Through this, Shakespeare conveys that an egotist and wealthy man cannot genuinely love if he does not fixate the gain of love on himself. Not only this, but it also continues the previous message that one might be irrationally obsessed with the idea of love rather than a person due to all of the pleasures there are to

The fantasy of Olivia he “unconditionally loves” is not about Olivia, but all about himself. Not only this, but Orsino is easily convinced to return the deep affection of Viola, possibly because the Duke focuses entirely on his success and desires in love rather than genuine affection. Perhaps, Orsino only developed these feelings for Olivia because he wanted more luxurious things in life. Orsino had great food, servants, and a giant castle. The one thing he lacks is love. Therefore, the Duke wished to have the most beautiful countess in all of the land: Olivia, to continue owning more and more luxurious things. Through this, Shakespeare conveys that an egotist and wealthy man cannot genuinely love if only fixates on the gain of love for himself. Shakespeare is also demonstrating superficial love versus genuine love, and he illustrates the notion that a man who is too narcissistic cannot think about love beyond his erotic fantasies. Instead, Shakespeare conveys through Viola, wherein she genuinely loves Orsino for who he is and does not love for the sake of love's desire itself. She stays committed to Orsino over Countess

Malvolio is a social climber, he feels that if Olivia would love him his status would be higher. But because of

Malvolio?s conceitedness was broken and then he sees that he did not truly love Olivia, but was only flattered that he had been loved by someone so beautiful and young.

One can observe Orsino's love for Olivia as obsessive. Orsino’s first words “If music be the food of love, play on,” introduce him as a love-sick character whose mind revolves around a woman who does not return his feelings (I.i.1). Olivia constantly populates his mind and he does not cease his pursuit for her love, even after she expresses distaste towards him. Shakespeare mocks love-sick individuals for acting like fools and putting themselves through misery. After learning of Olivia’s marriage, Orsino realizes he has lost her and lashes out at Cesario. He threatens him by stating “I’ll sacrifice the lamb I do love to spite a raven’s heart within a dove”(V.i.33-34). Shakespeare uses Orsino’s love for Olivia to differentiate between good and bad love. Unrequited love can cause an individual to pursue violent actions in blind rage. Orsino shows how love is consuming, crippling, and hinders the ability to live out life.Orsino believes his love for Olivia is true, but he is actually in love with the idea of love, and believes he can only obtain it from Olivia. Shakespeare tries to inform the audiences that they could mistakenly believe they are in

Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an “appetite” that he wants to satisfy and cannot, at another point; he calls his desires “fell and cruel hounds”. Olivia more bluntly describes love as a

It doesn’t take long for Viola to view Olivia as an enemy because Olivia can have the one thing Viola wants and cannot have: Orsino. No matter how many times Olivia tells Cesario/”Sebastian” that she does not want to be with Orsino/Duke it doesn’t change the fact that Olivia is who Orsino/Duke originally wants and since social network approval can predict the success of a relationship ( ) them being together would make since. Viola’s view of Olivia becomes clear in the third act when Cesario says “that very oft we pity enemies” (III, I, 121-123). An example the movie is the scene where “Sebastian” and Duke are in the weight room when “Sebastian” is told by Duke that he wants to take Viola on a date. In Viola’s mind this is perfect.

Shakespeare presents Orsino as furious and irritated at Olivia’s constant refusal of his love and starts noticing how Olivia is not the perfect woman he claims she is while discreetly implying a shift of his romantic feelings for someone else (Cesario/Viola).

Unlike the other characters in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Viola's sense of love is genuine. She

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.

Throughout the history of literature and writing, love has been one of few constant human experiences and themes. Love can be expressed, viewed, and taken in many different ways. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term love is defined as, “a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person; attraction that can include sexual desire or the strong affection felt by people who have a romantic relationship; and/or a warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion” (Webster). It is difficult to decipher an exact meaning of love or situation where love is shown since this word has such a broad definition. In Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, love is expressed frequently and in quite a specific way. Particularly, throughout

Viola sacrificed who she was and expressing her love to Orsino so that she could create her voice in the world and be accepted in a dominate male society. Act one, scene two, lines 53 and 54, Viola says, “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid for such disguise as haply shall become.” She portrays her courage when she decides to disguise herself as a young man. She does not have to mask her inner bravery while dressed as a man, because it’s acceptable for a male to be openly courageous constantly, while Desdemona showed moments of her strength which I will discuss. Viola becomes “Cesario” and Olivia becomes infatuated with him because he is unlike any other man she has encountered. Act one, scene five, lines 296-298, Olivia speaks to herself after Cesario has exited, “Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections with an invisible and subtle stealth to creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.” Cesario acts as a close female friend would, because he is actually a female. He listens, cares, and makes Olivia a priority. I believe that this is Shakespeare’s way of convincing or proving to 1600’s men in the audience that if they show compassion and understanding toward women, young ladies will fall in love with them easier.

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 Twelfth Night, Shakespeare was able to embody the perfect love triangle between Olivia, Orsino, and