In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Olivia, a noble woman in the land of Illyria, is sought after for marriage by more people than any other character in the play. Even with multiple choices for a husband, she still ends up dissatisfied with love. Some of these men who seek her hand in marriage range from servant to nobles just like her, but not one of them can satisfy her. Even though love is one of the most central themes in the play, Olivia still cannot find a two way relationship. She can attract many people very easily but does not respond well to many of them. Olivia’s wealth and power makes finding love difficult for her, because she wants someone who will show her respect and truly has feelings for her unlike Malvolio and Orsino. Most of the men who want to marry her only want to be her husband for the money and power it would bring them. Many men offer themselves to Olivia, but secretly fantasize about the power their marriage would bring them. These men do not want to marry Olivia for her personality and plot to use her for their selfish desires. When the duke Orsino lets the audience know he wants to marry Olivia, he includes the sentence, “Her sweet perfections with one self king” (Shakespeare 1.1.39-40). Orsino essentially wants to exploit his relationship with Olivia by deciding what happens with her possessions and by taking control of everything she is in command of. Another way Orsino shows he does not respect Olivia, is when he attempts to get revenge on Olivia by telling her he will “sacrifice this boy I cafe for, just to spite a beautiful woman with a heart of stone” (5.1.120). Orsino, therefore makes it very clear that he does not have any feelings for Olivia and wants to emotionally harm her to make up for his disappointment. Orsino is not the only one to have a darker secondary reason for marrying Olivia, as the head servant Malvolio can also be accused of doing this. When Malvolio imagines himself marrying Olivia, he imagines he will “play with [his] -- some rich jewel” (2.5.60) while Olivia tells him that he is not just a servant anymore. This proves that just like Orsino, Malvolio does not wish to marry Olivia purely because of her personality. It is a continuous trend in the men who seek to win Olivia that they do not care about her as a person. They are simply overwhelmed by her power and wealth that the benefit they will get from the marriage outweighs having a wife they may not truly like. This upsets Olivia as she wants someone who respects her for who she is.
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Her wealth, power, and specific demands for someone she can fall in love with are the main reasons for this. The play shows that even though someone who has many people fall in love with them, might not mean they can fall in love with someone easily themselves. This issue provides a very large emotional toll on Olivia and makes her sad and weak for the majority of the play. If Olivia were not as wealthy, it would have been easier falling in love because she would be equal with the men she
Her wealth, power, and specific demands for someone she can fall in love with are the main reasons for this. The play shows that even though someone who has many people fall in love with them, might not mean they can fall in love with someone easily themselves. This issue provides a very large emotional toll on Olivia and makes her sad and weak for the majority of the play. If Olivia were not as wealthy, it would have been easier falling in love because she would be equal with the men she