Throughout the whole play, Olivia’s main goal is to scare away all the suitors her father has lined up for her. Unlike the courteous females of that time, Olivia is a spirited and outspoken young woman in nature and that, for example, doesn’t fit John Gregory’s examples of proper female behavior. In A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters, Gregory states that “the art of pleasing in conversation consists in making the company pleased with themselves” (Jones 46) which, as a result, constitutes that Olivia must comply and completely agree with all her suitors without ever saying what’s on her mind. Because Olivia doesn’t behave the way Gregory describes, her father is constantly frustrated and that’s what creates the tension between a man and his daughter. Complete silence isn’t what Caesar expects from Olivia, but he expects her to be dainty and amiable in order to go through with a marriage that will bestow an heir to the de Zuniga family. At some point, Olivia pities her father for all the miseries she’s put him through but says that his “anxieties will never end” till he brings Don Julio and allows her to marry him (Cowley). She continues to don the role of a termagant and a vixen to rebel against her father and his wishes until she gets what she wishes for. Olivia has the right to choose when and whom to
Throughout the whole play, Olivia’s main goal is to scare away all the suitors her father has lined up for her. Unlike the courteous females of that time, Olivia is a spirited and outspoken young woman in nature and that, for example, doesn’t fit John Gregory’s examples of proper female behavior. In A Father’s Legacy to his Daughters, Gregory states that “the art of pleasing in conversation consists in making the company pleased with themselves” (Jones 46) which, as a result, constitutes that Olivia must comply and completely agree with all her suitors without ever saying what’s on her mind. Because Olivia doesn’t behave the way Gregory describes, her father is constantly frustrated and that’s what creates the tension between a man and his daughter. Complete silence isn’t what Caesar expects from Olivia, but he expects her to be dainty and amiable in order to go through with a marriage that will bestow an heir to the de Zuniga family. At some point, Olivia pities her father for all the miseries she’s put him through but says that his “anxieties will never end” till he brings Don Julio and allows her to marry him (Cowley). She continues to don the role of a termagant and a vixen to rebel against her father and his wishes until she gets what she wishes for. Olivia has the right to choose when and whom to