Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And Orisino This

First performed in 1601, twelfth night, written by renowned playwrite William Shakspeare is set in the fictional country of Illrya.The country wife,a comedy written in 1675 during the restoration period by William Wycherley, is set in London .Both plays explore the theme of relationships albeit in ways defined by the expectations of their societies.Whilst both plays were bhdis of patriarchal societies the expectations .William Shakepeare depicts relationships within his play as being and cmdi.Whilst William Wycherley depiction of relationships is littered with the repulsive reality of human nature.However both playwrights question and challenge their audiences perception as to what ,’love’ truly is.

We are initially introduced to Orisino
at the beginning of scene one, where upon he laments his love for Olivia, comparing it to an ‘appetite’.This immediately conveys to us the gluttonous craving he determines love to be, one which rather than be healthily sated, he wishes to ,’Sicken’ and make ‘die’, revealing to us the depraved and self indulgent attitude Orisino possesses.Additionally the hyperbole of his language throughout his speech,a most prominent example being that of his likening of Olivia having ,’purged the air of pestillence’ suggests he is more in love with the notion of love itself than Olivia as a person.Shakespeare’s use of the term ,’pestilence’ signifies the bubonic plague which would have been especially relevant to the contextual audience, whose society was frequently ravaged by the violent disease`, consequently her ability to ,’purge’ it, would signify the depth and reverence Orisino’s ,’love’ for Olivia.However this contrasts with the modern audience’s perception of his love, revealing it to be exaggerated and bjfewi ,also our advanced medical knowledge heightens this awareness of the njlaw of orsino’s emotion as we know that this purging’ so commonly practiced during Shakespeares era was in actuality a hinderance..

This is perception is bolstered in part by his lack of mention to Olivia herself till line 20, which suggests she, is considered secondary to Orsino’s narcissistic infatuation with her,as well as Shakespeares use of the literary device, iambic pentameter within this speech serves to signifies.Comparatively this infatuation could indeed be likened to a protagonist from one of Shakespeare’s most renowned plays; Romeo, whom similar to Orsino is introduced to us through his lovesick musings on Rosalyn .Furthermore his later depiction of his love being ,’full of shapes is fancy, That it alone is high fantastical’ further reinforces this initial impression as the use of plural verb ,’shapes’ suggests his love for Olivia is self constructed and changeable, whilst his use of the phrase,’high fantastical’ highlights his feelings as being separate from reality, and ergo not a true representation genuine emotion.
Consequently this serves to impress upon the audience Orsino’s fanciful, capricious nature, which i believe stand as direct impediments to any credibility being founded not just within his relationship to Olivia but others throughout the play, as it arises an inability to distinguish true love from whimsical longings, as ,Whilst this depiction of the relationship between Olivia and Orsino may have been readily accepted by the contextual audience for whom the strict bhl aristocratic courtships of the elizabethan period were familiar,for the modern audience whom believe that
love surfeits the importance of status and wealth in a marriage.

This is further reinforced throughout the progression of the play as Orsino’s view of love continuously being depicted as a fickle and self obsessed one, with Orisino’s likening of himself to Olivia’s ‘one self king’ this quote serves to illuminate to us the preconceptions of male superiority and marital hierarchy which he, as a product of his society possesses.Likewise his later rendition of mens’s ,’fancies’ being ‘more giddy and unfirm/More longing,wavering,sooner lost and worn/Than women’s are’ highlight this as the use of the verb ‘fancies’ illuminates to the modern audience perhaps the immaturity of Orsino’s relationship with Olivia;whilst his use of the adjective ‘wavering’ implies an uncertainty which directly undermines his prior adamant proclamations of his love for her.This disparaging of the inferiority of mens affections for women is then directly contrasted with his declaration of their female bodies incapacity to, ‘bide the beating of so strong a passion’ ; the use of the plosive alliteration,’bide….beating’ is especially effective as the sounds reminiscent of a heartbeat, which is used by Shakespeare to undercut the validity of this statement.
Similarly, his denigration of ,’their love may be called appetite’ contrasts directly with his earlier likening of his own love of being an ,’appitie’ this illuminates to us the audience his own hypocrisy and ignorance as to what love truly is, an inability spurred on by his skewered view of
women.

paragraph 2- Harcourt and Alithea

In direct contrast to this William Wycherley presents to us the relationship between Harcourt and Alithea. We are initially introduced to Harcourt the self professed rake through his skeptical denigration of ,marriage, love, and women, throwing off witticism like, “mistresses are like books; if you pore upon them too much they doze you and make you unfit for company, . . .” this quote instantly reveals to us his derogatory attitude towards women as well as his lack of belief in the institute of marriage.The use of the comparison,’books’ implies he sees them merely as objects,to be possessed and disposed of upon his favour,unchanging and almost fictitious.This immediately arises doubt as to the sincerity of his proclamation of love upon his and Alethea’s first meeting.

Shakespeare also uses the dramatic device of stage cue’s to symbolise the development in the relationship between the pair, for example Alitheas donning of her ,’new clothes’ represent on a metaphorical level,her newfound genuine attachment to Harcourt.Simularly Harcourt’s own development is revealed through his gallant proclamation ’tis possible for me to love too, without being jealous. This signifies Harcourt’s true devotion and love of Alethea as it contrasts directly with his assertion of ‘Poetry in love’ being ‘no more to be avoided than jealousy’ which impresses upon us the audience the growth Harcourt’s character has undergone both emotionally and socially, unlike the immature Orsino, his perception of love has evolved from a self obsessed, egotistical

paragraph 3 -Sebastian and viola

However one relationship which i do believe possess’ some credibility is that of the kinship depicted between the long separated twins ,Sebastian and Viola.Conveyed to us as a,’division’ of one another Shakespeare’s likening of them to ‘an apple cleft in twain’ serves to impress upon us not only just the close nature of this sibling bond, but also the fact that rather than being separate entities they are two parts of the same being. One an extension of the other. This is supported by Helen Schlesinger, whom herself notes from her experience through her portrayal viola in an recent production, there is a ,’a bit of her thats always hidden’; This is further reinforced by Sebastian being the first person to refer to her by her true name ,’thrice welcome drowned viola’ which signifies perhaps the truth of their connection as it recognises her as herself rather than merely the ,’part’ she has till this point been playing. this is further reinforced by her subsequent reiteration of ,’I am Viola’ this recognition of her true self could arguably be symbolic of the authenticity of their relationship, suggesting this in contrast to the many other relationship depicted throughout the play extends beyond the conventional enjwq unto something far more sincere and substantial.

Similarly it could be said that their tragic wave induced separation is metaphorical to the embryonic fluid of the womb and that their final reunion,eclipsing that of the hasty marriages signifies the true ‘happy ending’.in conclusion i believe this relationship holds far more credibility as contradictory to the popularity of plays ending in marriage and harmony during the elizabethan period it is argued by Micheal Pennington-,’that he marriages depicted ,’have something perfunctory about them,as if the fantastic contortions of the play had made the characters into puppets’ ; i agree with this view as to me personally as a member of the modern audience,i perceive this as being