The Portrayal Of Love In Orsino And Olivia's Love

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Orsino believes that he is entitled to Olivia’s love because of how much he loves her, instead of something that should be shared between the both of them. Orsino believes he’s entitled to marrying Olivia because of the amount of love he has for Olivia. He justifies this by saying “no woman’s heart so big, to hold so much” (PG 73) implying love can be quantified, and that Orsino holds enough love for both Olivia and himself. This shows how self centered Orsino is in his approach to love, and that a woman's love is not important in marriage because “no woman’s sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion As love doth give my heart”. (PG 73) By saying this, I believe Orsino communicates his belief that it’s not important whether a woman …show more content…

When Viola talks about her “sister” who fell in love with a man but “let concealment, like a worm I’ th’ bud, feed on her damask cheek” (PG 75). In this quote, I believe Olivia describes how she has fallen for Orsino akin to the way Orsino has fallen for Olivia. However she knows that she must mask this feeling of love because Orsino has fallen for Olivia, thus a relationship between Viola and Orsino wouldn’t work out due to their love not being mutual. She tries to communicate this notion to Orsino by saying “Hath for your love as great a pang of heart as you have for Olivia. You cannot love her; You tell her so. Must she not be answered?” (PG 73). By putting Orsino in the power position in this scenario, Viola resonate with Orsino by showing him that love is a two way street, while giving the audience a glimpse into how Viola approches love. She believes that true love is only possible when both people share the same feeling of love. Due to this belief, Viola waits for Orsino to profess his love to her before she insists on marrying him because she needs to know that Orsino “Hath for your love as great a pang of heart” for her, as she has for Orsino. This approach on love works out for Viola at the end of the play as Orsino declares his desire to marry her. This makes

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