In Scene 5 Feste is introduced and is also known as a ‘fool’. In this scene he jokes about with Maria and ‘proves’ Olivia to be a fool. Malvolio, Olivia’s servant also plays quite a big scene in the play. Viola gives her message to Olivia who takes a good look at him for the first time and is keen to know more about Cesario, and asks a lot of questions. Olivia has vowed to mourn her dead brother and to avoid men for seven years. Yet she has already begun to respond in a very ‘positive’ way to Cesario because of his-her liveliness. In lines 191 Olivia unveils her face to Cesario. This may suggest that her thoughts and feelings are very distanced from being sad ones. In lines 223-31, Olivia describes Orsino and still gives no proper reason to why she does not love him but the way Cesario talks to her gets all her attention and her eyes are set on Cesario. Olivia judges Cesario to be a ‘gentleman’ by five qualities, ‘five-fold blazon’ but in lines 264 Olivia fears that she may have been deceived by appearances:
‘Mine eye too great flatterer for my mind’.
In this quote, certainly, Olivia has been deceived by Cesario’s outward appearance. Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario not knowing that he is a woman. She sends a ring to Cesario, which Malvolio rushes to give.
In Act 2, scene 1 we are introduced to Sebastian and Antonio who rescued Sebastian from the shipwreck and wishes to be Sebastian’s servant. Sebastian also believes that his sister, Viola is dead. Antonio asks to be Sebastian’s servant and is rejected twice but Antonio’s love, ‘more sharp than filed steel’ makes him follow Sebastian without thought of his own safety. This is the only really ‘True love, in the in the play. This highlights ‘Friendship love” which is also known as Platonic love. Antonio is very courageous to do such a thing for Sebastian.
In scene 2, Malvolio has caught up with Cesario to only drop the ring in front of her. This tells us a bit about Malvolio, that he is full of himself and thinks that he is high rated than Cesario. Viola is puzzled over Malvolio’s message and thinks that Olivia is in love with her. The soliloquy highlighted in this scene is when viola realizes that her disguise as a man has caused Olivia to fall in love with her. The soliloquy is trickily highlighted in their conversation when she asks herself the question:
I left no ring with her: what means this lady?’
Viola asks the question and tries to answer them. The question mark also highlights her confusion. Viola knows that Olivia is confused and thinks that anything else would be better for her rather than loving her:
‘Poor lady, she were better love a dream’.
This quote highlights unrequited love because viola obviously is not going to love Olivia, as she is not going to love her back, which is why viola says that she will rather love a dream where things come true. One of the main type of love highlighted in this scene is the love triangle:
‘O time, though must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie.’
In this quote Viola is disappointed on what has happened, as she loves Orsino, who loves Olivia, who loves Cesario. This is what a love triangle is that Viola must try to untangle but the love bond between them is too strong for her to break up.
Scene 3 finds Sir Toby and Sir Andrew have been dinking all night. This scene is also a great comic moment in the play when Malvolio wakes up to find Feste, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew drunk, and Maria also caught in the middle of it. Sir Toby and Feste sing an old song to annoy Malvolio, refusing to take him seriously. None of them still take Malvolio seriously so they get irritated and Maria comes up with a plan to trick Malvolio. There is not much love highlighted in this scene, as it is only Sir Toby and Maria who express their love for each other, but not privately. The love highlighted in this scene is ‘Physical love’. For example:
‘She’s a beagle, true bred’
This quote is an example of physical love as they are expressing their love for each other in front of anyone.
In Act 2, scene 4 Orsino and Viola discuss about the topic of love. This is important to the success of their marriage later towards the end of the play because in Shakespeare’s time men and women were not allowed or didn’t have the opportunity to express their love for each other, they also were not even allowed to speak to each other until they were married. This is an example of dramatic irony, as the audiences are aware that Cesario is really a woman whilst Orsino thinks that he is talking to a man. The irony is build up by the fact that Orsino is talking about love to a woman, which he believes is a man who secretly loves him. When Orsino asks Cesario about love, he says that, the ‘woman’ I love with is ‘Of your complexion’ and ‘About your years’. This is ironic as Viola is actually talking about her love for Orsino. In Shakespeare’s time women were not allowed to act, which is a perfect example of double irony as Cesario is a man as a woman dressed up disguising herself as a man. This adds to the comical aspect of the play. Orsino advises Viola that women should marry men older than themselves, because men fickle, and women soon loose their looks. In lines 31-3 Orsino mentions that men’s love is ‘more giddy and unfirm’ than women’s love, but a few minutes later in lines 89-92, he says that his love is stronger than any women’s. This is what Orsino is and he barely changes. These highlight his excessive love, maybe he’s confused with what love really is, but at the moment, Orsino is in his own world of love.
In this scene a simile is also highlighted:
‘For women are as roses, whose fair flower,
Being once displayed, doth fall that very hour’
The simile here, ‘For women are as roses’ means that women’s face grows up looking beautiful as roses but when the petals of roses turn brown and fall off nobody will want them any more, which Orsino is comparing between the roses and the beautiful faces of women. He also suggests that men should go out with women younger than themselves because that’s the only chance to keep them when they’re still young. Later near towards the end of the scene Feste sings a sad song about a true lover who died for love. He leaves commenting on Orsino’s changeable moods:
‘And the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal’
What Feste means by that is, he knows that Orsino will leave Olivia for good and definitely will love Viola as soon as she reveals her true self to him that she is a woman. In lines 91-2 Orsino claims that his capacity for love is greater than that of any women:
‘No women’s heart so big, to hold too much. They lack retention.
Alas, their love may be called appetite’
In this quote the point that Orsino tries to get across to Cesario is that, no women can’t love as much as men and can’t hold so much. This highlights ironic comparison because he’s talking about Viola as well, who has to stay up and listen to him talk about herself as well as other women. Orsino tries to show how much love he has in him:
‘But mine is all as hungry as the sea’
The simile used here, ‘as hungry as the sea’ highlights how much he’s been possessed by love. For example, the sea is so great and big it can take in anything in its way like as if its hungry, which is what is being compared. Orsino is saying that his love is also as hungry and can take in so much like the sea. Viola strikes back with words to back up women, herself really. In lines 101-4 Viola is suffering and is in distress because she can’t tell him that she is a woman and how much love she has for him, plus if she does, Orsino will be mistaken about what he said about women because he would have realized how much love viola had for him even disguised as a man. So she tries to back herself up in these lines by saying:
‘My father had a daughter loved a man
As it might be perhaps, were I a woman’
This quote clearly shows irony, as Viola is hinting that she has love for him when she says, ‘If I were a women’, because she still does not want to let Orsino know that she is a woman.
Scene five makes a delightful funny theatre as his own self-love tricks Malvolio. Animal imagery is used to describe Malvolio:
‘Here comes the trout that must be caught with tickling’
This quote tells how unintelligent Malvolio is described as, as a trout can be caught by gently stoking them to lull them into a false of security, which is what is going to happen to Malvolio. He’s as brainless as a trout. This scene is also full of humor and excitement as Malvolio’s self-love led him to believe that Olivia is in love with him by reading the forged letter. A lot of exclamation marks are also used to show the excitement and stupidity of Malvolio and more is used to show how excited Malvolio is, as he never knew that Olivia would ever love him. In the letter Malvolio is told how to dress up as, he is told to wear something unbelievable, which Maria knew that Olivia would hate. This adds to the comical aspect of the play.
In Act 3, scene 1 Viola is love sick for Orsino as she can’t hold the secret for not much longer but Olivia cant hold it either as she begins to reveal her true love for Viola and has had enough of listening to Orsino's messages:
‘I bade you never speak again of him’
This is another example of unrequited love, as Olivia does not want to hear about how much love Orsino has for her. Dramatic irony is highlighted here, as Olivia tells Cesario how much she loves him still not knowing what the audience know that Cesario is a female. Viola has had enough and hints to Olivia the she is a woman but only in riddles, ‘I am not what I am’. She says that to let Olivia discover herself that there’s no point in trying to love her, as she won’t get any love back. This is also unrequited love. This scene is full of dramatic irony because Olivia’s love for Cesario keeps on growing not realizing what’s really going on meanwhile in scene 2 the audience is getting prepared to see the outcome of Malvolio’s true self. In scene 3 between lines 1-18, we find out that Antonio seems to care for Sebastian more than Sebastian cares for him. This is the example of ‘true love’ as well as friendship and Sebastian has now decided to become Olivia's servant.
Act 3, scene 4 is full of Malvolio's self love as he shows himself to Olivia thinking that Olivia is in love with him. Malvolio thinks Olivia is being sexual with him when she uses the word ‘bed’, which she really means to say is that he is crazy. There are plenty of exclamation marks to show his excitement and a lot of question marks to show Olivia's confusion. Another example of Malvolio's self love is used to show how much he thinks of himself:
‘Go hang yourselves all! You are idle, shallow thing; I am not of your element”.
This quote shows how full of himself Malvolio is, as he thinks that he is now above his ranks. The ‘simile’ used in this scene to describe Sir Andrew, as ‘bloody as the hunter’ show how tough sir Andrew is. This is said to scare Viola and the metaphor sir Toby uses, ‘he is a devil in a private brawl’. This quote is comparing sir Andrew to a devil, as he is a devil when it comes to a fight. True love is displayed again when Antonio saves Viola’s life thinking that is Sebastian, ‘ for his love dares yet do more’. This is a quote showing how much Antonio loves Sebastian as a friend and will do anything to save his life, but when Cesario denies to know Antonio his heart is broken after all that he’s done for him. We can tell this by the use of question marks used in this scene and explanation marks to show how upset he really is. Mistaking Cesario for Sebastian Viola believes that Antonio must have been talking about Sebastian and that they have met. Viola is confused and yet believes that Sebastian is alive and misses him with all her love. This is also known as ‘filial love’. She always loved Sebastian and loves him even more believing that he is still alive. With all this confusion between Viola and Antonio this scene highlights the wickedness of disguise. Act 4, scene 1 mirrors the previous scene because this time Sebastian is mistaken for Viola by sir Andrew and sir Toby who think that it’s still Cesario that they’re dueling. Sebastian has no idea what’s going on just like Viola when she had no idea who Antonio is. A lot of confusion is also highlighted in this scene, as Sebastian has no idea what’s going on especially when Olivia confronts him thinking that it’s Cesario that she’s talking to and tells him how much love she still has to him. Sebastian unsurprisingly accepts her love because he wanted to be her servant and go on from there. Sebastian is still confused because he addresses Olivia as ‘lady’ and ‘madam’, not knowing her real name, as this is the first time they have ever met, but not to Olivia, she still thinks she’s talking to Cesario.
In scene 3 Sebastian actually misses Antonio after all that he had done for him but has no idea what happened to him. It’s also full of confusion and dramatic irony is also highlighted in this scene. Olivia finally gets the chance to expose her love to Cesario (she still thinks that its Viola/Cesario) and Sebastian has no idea what she’s talking about. Olivia is so jealous of Cesario because he might find someone else to love, which is why Olivia proposes to him while she has the chance. Sebastian accepts to marry her with no regrets still not knowing why Olivia is all over her and is full of amazement. This is called dramatic irony, as Olivia is exposing her love to someone who does not even know her.
The last Act and scene, Act 5, scene 1, is the solution scene. All the problems and confusions are sorted out. Orsino is informed that Antonio has been caught due to what happened in the past but Viola sticks up for him telling Orsino that Antonio had once helped him. In lines 69-72 Antonio still confirms his true friendship love to Sebastian. Olivia and Orsino finally meet face to face and she tells him how much she hates him, which is why she did not give any love back. This is another example of unrequited love:
‘It is as fat and fulsome to mine ear as howling after music’.
In this quote Olivia uses a number of devices about what she thinks of Orsino. The simile, ‘as fat and fulsome’, was just the words to break Orsino’s heart, as he is shocked to hear that especially from the countess, Olivia, and the words ‘fat and fulsome’ are alliterations. He feels double-crossed and heart broken. With all that love he sent her Orsino does not sound like his usual self, as his mood changes greatly at this point of the play:
‘Like to th’ Egyptian thief at point of death
Kill what I love’
Olivia love to him has made him so angry that he feels it’s right to kill what he loves that does not love him. A simile is highlighted as he is showing that he has the courage to kill what he loves. The metaphor used her, ‘marble breasted’, is being compared to how hard- hearted Olivia actually is. Orsino is also mad because his good servant Cesario had also betrayed him when he found out that Olivia and Cesario are one not knowing that Olivia really got married to Sebastian. A lot of confusion is displayed in this last scene, as nothing seems to make any sense. Even though Viola protest against Olivia’s words, Olivia comments that he (viola-Cesario) is only protesting because of what Orsino will do to him. Finally Sebastian arrives and his appearance surprises everyone. At this point of the play everything gets sorted out step by step. Questions are asked by both Viola and Sebastian to confirm that they are the brother and sister that had lost each other after shipwreck. This is another example of filial love. All is at last revealed! Sebastian and Viola are reunited. Viola tells of her disguise. All those sayings to Orsino from Viola have made Orsino realize that she had loved him from the very start. In lines 253-6 highlight love between Orsino and Viola. The love highlighted is ‘Romantic love’. Olivia proposes a joint wedding celebration for the two couples at her house now that everything has been sorted. Orsino is a very strong character that he tells Viola that she can be with him, rather than Viola herself taking Orsino’s hand as a proposal he tells Viola to take his. This is the quote that describes Orsino’s strength:
‘Here is my hand; you shall from this time be your master’s mistress’.
He does this because he knows that Viola will accept to marry him, which is why he told her than asking her. Meanwhile Malvolio's self-love problem is being sorted out by Olivia and she reveals that the letter that tricked Malvolio into all this was not written by her hand, it was Maria’s hand writing and Fabian admits that it was them who plot this from the beginning. So everything has been solved and Orsino is looking forward to his marriage to Viola. Feste finishes it off and sings about a horrible life. The song is all in rhymes, and is back to his true self.
In this essay I have examined the different types of love portrayed in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. My analysis has shown me the level of the theme of love in the play and that several characters find themselves involved in many varying types of love. The theme of love, as highlighted is complex and has many different differences (variations). Love, as I have shown is a central theme in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
