Preview

Twelfth Night, By William Shakespeare

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
507 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Twelfth Night, By William Shakespeare
“It’s easy to say I love you but if it's not behind the eyes or the truth then it's nonsense and the audience will see it”(Johnny Depp). In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare shows that love is a blind journey that can cause pain. When you have found your love or are already in love, you become a walking zombie; the only thing you see is the good things about your partner and your relationship. When we tend to fall in love we often make the worst mistakes of our lifetime. In Twelfth Night Shakespeare is saying that love makes you not able to see the truth. Viola is a girl playing a boy who works for the duke; but since the duke is madly in love with a lady named Olivia he isn’t able to see that Viola loves him. Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night to express how easily we fall under love’s spell; however, in the end we are always left with pain. …show more content…
Love can be precious like a puppy or evil like a knife. We let love control us, and our heads become clouded because we let the love overtake us and we aren’t able to see the right things. In Twelfth Night Duke Orsino lets his love for Olivia take control and he is not able to notice how Viola has confessed her love to him. “ Hath for your love a great a pang of heart as you have for Olivia. You cannot love her. You tell her so. Must she not then be answered?”(94). Viola explains to Orsino there is a lady who loves him as powerfully and agonizingly as he loves Olivia. Viola also expresses how she is the lady who loves him, but he can’t love her because she is thought to be a boy. This is an example how love is a quest of true emotional pain and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Love In Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'
    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page

    Love In Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'

    Twelfth Night is a comedic play written by Shakespeare centered around two twins, Viola and Sebastian. Viola who disguises herself as a eunuch named Cesario falls in love with Duke Orsino, who is in love with the Countess Olivia. When Cesario meets with Olivia, Olivia begins to fall in love with him thinking that she is a boy. Meanwhile, Malvolio, the steward of Olivia’s house, is tricked by other characters into thinking that Olivia has fallen in love with him. The characters often declare their love for one another through monologues. Throughout the story, Shakespeare effectively uses dramatic speeches to demonstrate love as being uncertain through the characters; Viola, Orsino, and Malvolio.…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explore the Ways in Which Shakespeare Presents and Develops the Character “Viola” in “Twelfth Night” Focusing on Act 1 Scene 5
    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Explore the Ways in Which Shakespeare Presents and Develops the Character “Viola” in “Twelfth Night” Focusing on Act 1 Scene 5

    “Twelfth Night” is a play written by William Shakespeare in the 17th Century that was supposed to be performed on the twelve days of Christmas. The play is about twins that get separated. Viola one of the twins, lands on an unknown land. She disguises herself as a man to work for Orsino, the duke of the land. She does all this to meet Olivia, the woman Orsino is wooing. While wooing Olivia for Orsino, Olivia starts to fall in love with Cesario (Viola’s male name). Throughout the play Viola starts to fall in love with Orsino as they get closer and closer. This love triangle gets more and more complicated throughout the play until Sebastian, the other twin, appears and marries Olivia. Orsino thinks Cesario has betrayed him until everyone meets and Sebastian and Viola reunite. Orsino, now understanding, realises he has been chasing the wrong woman and marries Viola to her great joy.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    'A comedy then is a problem-solving story, ending in resolution and order and normally symbolised by marriage.' How far would you agree with this statement when looking at Act 5 in 'Twelfth Night'?
    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    'A comedy then is a problem-solving story, ending in resolution and order and normally symbolised by marriage.' How far would you agree with this statement when looking at Act 5 in 'Twelfth Night'?

    The marriage of Orsino and Viola also resolved another issue within the play- Orsino's unrequited love for Olivia. We were first made clear of this love in Act 1 Scene 2 when the captain explained that 'he did seek the love of fair Olivia'. As well as this, in Act 2 Scene 4 we hear from Orsino himself that his love for Olivia is 'more noble than the world' portraying the idea that his love is true, and not just due to her status or wealth, however Olivia claims 'I think not of him' due to the fact that she is in love with Cesario. Despite this love that Orsino has for Olivia, he quickly directs that love to Viola in Act 5…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    ‘My Masters Are You Mad?’ How Does Malvolio Intend His Question and What Answers Does Twelfth Night Present to This Challenge?
    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages

    ‘My Masters Are You Mad?’ How Does Malvolio Intend His Question and What Answers Does Twelfth Night Present to This Challenge?

    Love should be, in theory, a powerful, all consuming feeling of euphoria and fulfillment. However, when Orsino describes this violent mix of desires accompanying love, he seems to be referring to everybody’s experience of love. He is generalising and assuming, however disruptive and chaotic love is, everybody experiences it in the same way he describes. As the play progresses, we are shown that his love for Olivia is unrequited, ‘How will she love, when the rich golden shaft hath killed the flock of all affections [...] !’ Unrequited love is impure love, as the path of the one who love is almost certainly headed for despair. The…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Which Character Faces the Greatest Challenges in the Play Twelfth Night ? Defend Your Answer.
    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Which Character Faces the Greatest Challenges in the Play Twelfth Night ? Defend Your Answer.

    Complications also arose when viola fell in love with her master, duke orsino, while at the same time had the love interest of orsino, the countess Olivia, trying to woo her. This placed viola in an extremely difficult and complex situation – on one hand, she loved the duke and would have liked to do all she could to win his heart. But because she was his servant, she was obliged to serve him and help him win the hand of Olivia. What was a poor girl to do ?…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
    • 949 Words
    • 3 Pages

    An Analysis of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    Orsino can be seen at the beginning of the play pining in a melancholic mood for his inamorata, the gorgeous and virtuous Countess Olivia. She spurned every single one of his advances without much thought or hesitation, and it is these rejections that lead Orsino to lament the fact that "there is no woman's sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion, and no woman's heart so big to hold so much as they lack retention". His grumpiness does not stop there as he continued to wax lyrical over the differing perceptions both genders have of love. He egoistically declared, "Make no compare between that love a woman can bear me, and that I owe Olivia". As was the case in the opening scene, Orsino's metaphorical relation of love to food is noteworthy. He deems his love as an appetite; he is "as hungry as the sea and can digest as much". Paradoxically, he had espoused the exact opposite view earlier in the play, stating that men…

    • 949 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Theme of Love in Much Ado and Twelfth Night
    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Theme of Love in Much Ado and Twelfth Night

    Shakespeare's romantic comedies explore love, the “divine passion”, in all its moods and intensities. Most characters in these two plays are in love, find love or seek it. Twelfth Night, reputedly the most mature of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, weaves several such love stories into an intricate collage to explore different types of love and its easy descent into pain or folly.…

    • 1770 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Jomon Period
    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Jomon Period

    Japan as we know it today is a group of islands located in the eastern part of Asia. While it is now a highly populated island filled with large cities, this was not always the case. The earliest people known to live on the islands of Japan were nomadic hunters from northeast Asia. These hunters settled on the islands as early as 35,000 B.C. and are considered the Paleolithic people of Japan. During this time, Japan was connected to Korea and Siberia by a land bridge that had formed when the seas receded after the ice ages. When the last ice age ended, the ice caps melted and the sea levels rose, once again separating the islands of Japan from the main land. This gave birth to the one of the earliest periods of Japan known as the Jomon Period.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night - the Changing Role in Viola/Cesario
    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Twelfth Night - the Changing Role in Viola/Cesario

    Orsino sees Cesario, as a young squire just starting out in the world, much like himself as a young, spry lad, so he has a tendency to be more willing to unload onto her with his troubles and sorrows, seeking a companion with which to share and to teach. Thus, Viola grows in her male disguise to get a better feeling for his inner self, not the self that he shows to the public, or would reveal and share with Viola in her true female self, but rather his secret self, as he believes he shares with a peer. So, she grows to love him. But, Orsino's motivation is actually not love for Viola, but rather he seems to be in love with love itself. His entire world is filled with love but he knows that there might be a turning point for him, like when he says:…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Theme of Secrecy in Twelfth Night
    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Theme of Secrecy in Twelfth Night

    The plot of Twelfth Night is affect by the secret that Viola keeps and reveals. Viola is a lady of Messaline who has been shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria. Believing her brother Sebastian is dead, she wants to start a new life in Illyria, but the court of Lady Olivia is not accepting any new members because Lady Olivia is in mourning after her father and brother have died. In order to join the court of Duke Orsino, Viola must disguise herself as a boy named Cesario. Orsino accepts “Cesario” into his court and from that point on, secrecy is embedded within the plot. Secrecy is necessary because she cannot be revealed as a woman for several reasons. Viola becomes close with Orsino, which causes her to fall in love with him, but since she has become so close to him, Orsino trusts “her” and sends “Cesario” to Lady Olivia’s house to try to convince her to accept his love. Even though Olivia has sworn off love, as soon as she meets Cesario she falls for him because he knows all the charming things to say to her. Since Cesario is actually Viola, the swooning words she says to Olivia is what Viola would want to hear if a man were confessing his love to her. Cesario says to Olivia, “Make me a willow cabin at your gate/ And call upon my soul within the house,/ Write loyal cantons of contemned love,/ And sing them loud even in the dead of night// Hallow your name to the reverberate hills/ And make the babbling gossip of the air/ Cry out ‘Olivia!’ O, you should not rest/ Between the…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Twelfth Night Essay
    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Twelfth Night Essay

    Self-love is one's self indulgence disguised as love in order to fulfill or satisfy one's egotism. In Twelfth Night, self-love is represented by the characters of Olivia, Orsino and Malvolio. Olivia embodies self-love which is clearly depicted in the scene where she mourns for her dead brother and she locks herself in her own world, refusing to speak to any guests until Viola comes along to deliver Orsino's message of love. After delivering her message, Olivia approaches Viola by sending her a diamond ring (Act I Scene V). This indicates the Olivia was indulging herself in the thought of love for her brother since she completely forgets about him at the first appearance of Viola disguised as Cesario. Also, in this scene, two motifs are shown in delivering messages - Viola and the diamond ring. They…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night
    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Twelfth Night

    In the play of Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare shows us many themes. One of them is about the nature of love. He displays this with three types of love: love of self, using the character Malvolio, unselfish love, using the character Antonio, and unrequited love, using the character Orsino. Each of which is expressed by different characters in different ways.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Love in Twelfth Night
    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Love in Twelfth Night

    Lust, which is probably one of the most confusing types of love was an apparent subject in twelfth night.There are many reasons why one would lust, one could be because you are attracted to a specific quality of a person or could maybe only like there looks or even just thing like there charisma. Shakespeare showed lust between Orsino and Olivia. Even though Orsino had not met or even seen Olivia, he was still madly in love with her. Lust is defined as an intense but temporary wanting of a persons attention or love. Orsino tried to capture the heart of Olivia through out the play, and lusted for her because he was attracted by her grieving for her family. It was thought by Orsino that She would have an intense love for him if she loved her family so much. As the play moves forward, Orsino actually meets Olivia but he loses his lust for her, and instead loves Viola ( formerly Cesario). Shakespeare also used lust between Malvolio and Olivia. Malvolio thought that Olivia had fallen in love with him (as the reader knows this was a joke being played on Malvolio). This grew a larger ego bubble on Malvolio. He thought that she truly wanted his love, and thusly his ego led him to believe that he truly did love her due to the fact that he was so full of himself. Once again Malvolio finds out in the end that it was a joke. Malvolio?s conceitedness was broken and then he sees that he did not truly love Olivia, but was only flattered that he had been loved by someone so beautiful and young.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Shakespeare Present The Different Types Of Love In Twelfth Night
    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Does Shakespeare Present The Different Types Of Love In Twelfth Night

    Shakespeare depicts different types of love, however, only true love is enduring out of all three. Viola resorts herself by hiding her feelings of love from the duke instead of sharing them. No matter how much it pains Viola to woo Olivia on Duke Orsino’s behalf, her loyalty for him is a strong sign of their endearing friendship. While Viola heads her way to court Olivia, she wistfully says to herself, “Yet a barful strife! Whoe’er I woo, myself should be his wife”( Shakespeare 1.4.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare
    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare

    Love is arguably one of the most powerful emotions. It can change someone's life for better or for worse. In the 17th century play Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, all aspects of the character Olivia’s life are either directly or indirectly dominated by love to show how the intimacy of passion can enrapture and consume someone; lead them to madness or merriment. There is a fine line between love and madness. Shakespeare emphasizes this in Twelfth Night when talking about all the men who love Oliva.…

    • 499 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics