Theme Of Orsino In Twelfth Night

Love is an unyielding force that eventually humbles us all. In his comedies, William Shakespeare attempts to define this elusive entity in the play Twelfth Night . The Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy about a girl named Viola who has to disguise herself as a man for protection after a shipwreck where she thought she lost her brother. As the play continues Viola develops feelings for the man she works for Orsino although he is a lovesick fool for Olivia who doesn’t want a relationship because she is still mourning over her brother. Orsino asks for Viola’s help to get Olivia to choose him. This doesn’t work in his favor because Olivia starts to fall for Viola. This forms a love triangle. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night the most common theme …show more content…
In Twelfth Night Orsino asks disguised Viola to help him win over Olivia. Although this ends up failing because Olivia becomes more fond of disguised Viola than Orsino. When Orsino asks Cesario to help him woo Olivia over he makes the remark, “And all is semblative a woman’s part” (Twelfth Night Act I.iv). Orsino is sending disguised Viola because she is very ladylike and would sound more appealing to Olivia whereas if he went himself. This is ironic since she is actually a women. Throughout the play we discovered more and more Orsino wasn’t really in love with Olivia more so the idea of Olivia. “O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purged the air of pestilence. That instant was I turned into a hart, And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E’er since pursue me” (Twelfth Night Act I.i). This connects with the theme that love is a mystery because Orsino claims he knew he loved Olivia the first time he laid eyes on her. This shows love is a mystery because clearly Orsino doesn’t know what love is if he’s just basing it off of looks. It seems Orsino was using his dying love for Olivia as an excuse to talk about what he would love in a girl and listen to love music. Orsino and Olivia both have similar personalities because they both claim they are buffeted with strong emotions, but both seem to be self-indulgent …show more content…
Since this play was set back in the 1600’s it wasn’t really allowed for women to have jobs which is why she cross dressed. As Orsino’s left hand man he asks Viola to talk to Olivia for him she then tells him, “I’ll do my best To woo your lady: Aside, Yet a barful strife! Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife,” (Twelfth Night Act I.vi) This is when it is clear Viola is smitten for Orsino.This is an example of the mystery of love because Viola has only known Orsino for about 3 days and she would already do anything for him. After Viola visits Olivia it is clear she is starting to fall for Viola. This is probably Orsino’s fault because he was too scared to talk to Olivia himself. Viola realizes that her clever disguise has trapped her because she can’t tell Orsino she loves him and she can’t tell Olivia why she can’t love her, “Oh Time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie!” (Twelfth Night Act II.ii) This quote is when Viola discovers the love triangle she created. Eventually in the play Sebastian comes to Illyria and stirs up conflict. Sebastian marries Olivia and starts causing chaos but people think that Sebastian is actually Cesario. In the final scene everything is catching up to Viola, Olivia yells at her for being such a neglectful husband so soon after their vows, in front of Orsino. Viola is very