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In the play Twelfth Night, Shakespeare explores many different themes that include love, sexuality and the different social classes. However, the most evident and outstanding theme in the play is definitely that of love. Love is explored in many ways in this play, like that of Orsino’s infatuation of Olivia, Olivia’s liking for Viola, disguised as Cesario, Viola’s indebtness to Orsino and many other examples. The many different forms of love explored by Shakespeare are all but un-meaningful. Shakespeare had sought to explain the many different forms of love evident in society and while many people might think they are ridiculous, like Malvolio’s craziness over Olivia, it is in fact a very true reflection of the way love works; unexplainable and confusing …
At the very start of the play, we are introduced to Duke Orsino whom is seen here as lovesick and yearning for Lady Olivia, a beautiful lady mourning the death of her brother. Orsino comes across as a very pitiful character at first but upon reading further into his character, one can see that his love for Olivia is but very shallow. “If music be the food of love, play on, give me surfeiting, the appetite may sicken and so die” – this sentence illustrates to us that what Orsino is wanting is simply just love and not Olivia. He simply has a hunger for love, a void in his emotions that he requires someone to fill. If he had loved Olivia so much, why then did he not seek her love personally and why did he fall for Viola later?
Approximate Word count = 1330
Approximate Pages = 5.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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