Throughout Twelfth Night, love is the major theme along with disguise. Shakespeare shows that love comes in many varieties. The two main ones are courtly love and romantic love. Courtly love was very popular in Shakespearean times; this was where a man would choose a woman, who was often way above him in status, and then he would lavish all of his attention on her until she gave in and agreed to become involved with him. Very often, he would have been rejected but that was part of the ritual.
Romantic love was all based on physical attraction between one person and another.Orsino's love for Olivia is more spiritual, and there is not any physical interaction between them; Orsino sends Cesario to Olivia to tell her of his love. He loves her from a distance, through Cesario, we can see clearly in act one that he is infatuated with her, and is in a melancholy state. Orsino sees Olivia's mourning for her deceased brother as proof of her "sweet perfection."The love between Viola and Orsino is extremely intense.
We can see this by the way that Viola speaks to Olivia, for example, "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..." Here, Viola is releasing her emotions for Orsino to Olivia.
Although Viola loves Orsino she is loyal to him in that she still goes to Olivia and tells her of his love. She loves him so much that she just wants him to be happy, even if that happiness isn't with her.She can control her love for Orsino to a degree, but there are a few instances where she nearly tells him. Violas love is disguised, which fits in with the theme of the story. Viola gives quite a few hints to Orsino of her love for him, for example, when she is talking about the "woman" that she loves to Orsino, he asks "What kind of woman is't?" to which she replies "Of your complexion." And "About your years, my lord.
" This adds a touch of dramatic irony At this point because we know exactly what Viola is thinking, but Orsino has no idea.Olivia loves Viola (as Cesario,) and she wastes no time in letting her know of her feelings. She tells her on only their second meeting, when she is desperate for Viola to stay in the garden with her. After asking Viola what she thinks of her, and receiving the reply "I pity you", she clutches onto the fact that Viola might love her, and says "That's a degree to love." This instance of love in the play is similar to Orsino's love for Olivia, it is infatuation. Olivia just wants to see Viola so she can release her feelings to her.
When Olivia first comes across Sebastian, she loves him because she thinks that he is Viola. You might say she already knew him[TP1].Viola and Sebastian both share a simple brotherly-sisterly love. They both think a lot of one another.
Viola shares the grief for her brother with Olivia. Sebastian and Antonio share a friendly love, and in some productions of the play, there are hints of homosexual love between these two characters. When Sebastian goes to Illyria, Sebastian follows even though he has "many enemies in Orsino's court." He lends Sebastian his purse, and in the end he ends up getting caught by Orsino's officers.
Orsino and Viola eventually get together in the end of the play, as this turns into true love. Sir Toby Belch and Maria share a very close friendship throughout the play. They are protective of each other and are always having a laugh. Later on in the play this turns into true love also, and they get married.Malvolio has a very high opinion of himself, and is only too willing to believe that the note he finds in the garden is actually from Olivia.
He probably isn't bothered about Olivia; it would be the fact that his status would go up if they were to wed. "To be Count Malvolio" sounds very good to him. Toby, Maria and Fabian are listening to him speaking in the garden, "Calling my officers about me, in my branched velvetgown; having come from a day-bed, where I have left Olivia sleeping..." Olivia sums up Malvolio greatly when she says, "O, you are sick of self-love, Malvolio, and taste with a distempered appetite.
The three unrequited lovers, Orsino, Viola and Olivia form a love triangle in the main plot. The love triangle only travels in one direction. Viola loves Orsino, who loves Olivia, who loves Viola. Malvolio and Sir Andrew Aguecheek fit into this triangle in the subplot.
Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets when Olivia confesses her love to Viola,"A murderous guilt shows not itself more soonThan love that would seem hid. Love's night is noon;Cesario, by the roses of the spring,By maidhood, honour, truth and everything..." He uses prose with conversations between Maria and Sir Toby.
This displays the down to earth and laid back manner of them. Cesario's main speeches are written in different forms.To summarise, spiritual love, intense love, friendships, love between siblings, self love, unrequited love and maybe homosexual love all fit into the play somewhere. Many forms of love are displayed in Twelfth Night, and Shakespeare has done well to get them all in such a variety.
