Term Paper
Lindsay Paige once stated in her novel, Whatever it Takes, that “Love is putting another person before yourself. Love means doing what's best for the other person, no matter what it means for you.”
Perhaps without realizing it, she stated the message that Shakespeare wished for us to grasp in his comedy, The Twelfth Night. In a day and age when marriages can last for seventy two days and some individuals consider a casual night together to be romantic, it can be hard to discern what the differences between lust driven passion and patient love are. Shakespeare's celebrated play, The Twelfth Night, aids us to distinguish the contrast between selfless love, and self-seeking infatuation.
One of the key points to this play is that the audience is shown the limitations of infatuation. The Duke Orsino is infected with an obsession for love so intense, that he inhibits himself from being able to truly love Olivia. She is simply the personified object of his desires. When Orsino's obsession burst from him, poor Olivia was the first woman it hit, causing a spotlight to fall on her in his mind. Orsino is only seeking Olivia's affection to satisfy is own craving for intimacy and while he is not a bad person, he is incapable of taking her feelings of grief and lack …show more content…
Alike Orsino, Sir Andrew seeks love with Olivia, but his overwhelming gloomy attitude shadows his will to pursue her due to what seems to be a past failed relationship (“I was adored once too”). Sadly it seems Sir Andrew has not been blessed with the wisdom to realize he is in an abusive relationship with himself; physically with his alcoholism, and mentally with his depression. He has the saddest story in the play, as he can't realize he's obsessed with his sadness and he will be caught in an endless cycle of loneliness and alcohol unless someone can help
Lindsay Paige once stated in her novel, Whatever it Takes, that “Love is putting another person before yourself. Love means doing what's best for the other person, no matter what it means for you.”
Perhaps without realizing it, she stated the message that Shakespeare wished for us to grasp in his comedy, The Twelfth Night. In a day and age when marriages can last for seventy two days and some individuals consider a casual night together to be romantic, it can be hard to discern what the differences between lust driven passion and patient love are. Shakespeare's celebrated play, The Twelfth Night, aids us to distinguish the contrast between selfless love, and self-seeking infatuation.
One of the key points to this play is that the audience is shown the limitations of infatuation. The Duke Orsino is infected with an obsession for love so intense, that he inhibits himself from being able to truly love Olivia. She is simply the personified object of his desires. When Orsino's obsession burst from him, poor Olivia was the first woman it hit, causing a spotlight to fall on her in his mind. Orsino is only seeking Olivia's affection to satisfy is own craving for intimacy and while he is not a bad person, he is incapable of taking her feelings of grief and lack …show more content…
Alike Orsino, Sir Andrew seeks love with Olivia, but his overwhelming gloomy attitude shadows his will to pursue her due to what seems to be a past failed relationship (“I was adored once too”). Sadly it seems Sir Andrew has not been blessed with the wisdom to realize he is in an abusive relationship with himself; physically with his alcoholism, and mentally with his depression. He has the saddest story in the play, as he can't realize he's obsessed with his sadness and he will be caught in an endless cycle of loneliness and alcohol unless someone can help