Olivia In William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'

Melissa Younan
SoHo­ Period 5
Mrs.Weatherington
December 4th, 2014

Twelfth Night
In Shakespeare 's
Twelfth Night
Act II scene two, a young woman finds herself in a compromising position. The story begins when she is swept to the shores of Illyria after a terrible shipwreck. Unable to find her brother, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and begins working for the nobleman, Duke Orsino. Soon after, the
Duke begins to confide in Cesario about his deep affections for Lady Olivia and his ongoing wish to marry her. However, Olivia does not return this sentiment and has sworn off marriage while mourning the death of her dear brother. Under the orders of the Duke, Viola goes to Lady Olivia in pursuit to convince her to marry Orsino, even
As for pathos, in lines such as, “Poor lady, she were better love a dream”(683), and, “What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe”(696), Viola implies
Olivia is chasing a fantasy and that since the man that she thinks she loves does not exist, the only outcome will be her sorrow and misery. This can be seen as pathos because it compels not only Viola, but the reader as well to feel compassion towards
Olivia. Also, when Viola begins to rant about how frail the hearts of women are and

“how easy is it for the proper­false / In women 's waxen hearts to set their forms!”(686­687), she begins to understand Olivia and how she is not to blame for her misguided love for Cesario. This is both pathos and logos because not only is she feeling pity for women, such as Olivia and herself, but she is also using false logic by saying that misguided love is caused by women having weak hearts. By the end of the speech, Viola understands Olivia’s love for who she believes is Cesario and empathizes with Olivia’s feelings.
Viola uses many rhetorical and literary devices throughout her speech as well
She used examples of apostrophes such as
“Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness”(Act II ii 684) and “O time! thou must untangle this, not I; / It is too hard a knot for me to untie!”(697­698). When she states “Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness”(684), she blames her disguise for making Olivia fall in love with her. As for “O time! thou must untangle this, not I; / It is too hard a knot for me to untie!”(697­698), it is used to show how complex their situation is and how she can’t fix it alone. The apostrophes show how Viola eagerly wants to avoid the conflict and have it resolved. This is shown through how she pins the blame on a simple disguise and wishes that time will resolve the matter on its own. There is also alliteration in the speech such as “Fortune forbid” and “she did speak in starts”. The alliteration is used to emphasize and show importance. For instance, in the sentence, “Fortune forbid my outside have not charm 'd her!”(675), the alliteration is used to show the reader that
Viola is worried about Olivia falling in love with her disguise, as well as to emphasize
Viola 's wishes to prevent more conflict and heartbreak to the reader. The sentence,