Twelfth Night Treachery

People often dream of the one day they find their true love, but the constant treachery and adultery that haunts the modern world are causing them to increasingly ponder the existence of this elusive creature and whether something so pure can truly exist. Shakespeare, a masterful playwright, geniusly demonstrates his doubts under the guise of a light-hearted play. Shakespeare wrote a comedic play Twelfth Night that initially focuses on the Duke Orsino’s love for an Illyrian countess Olivia. However, Olivia falls in love with Viola, disguised as a male named Cesario, while Viola falls in love with Orsino. Moreover, the love triangle becomes a love rectangle when Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, comes to town, meeting and falling in love with

For instance, before Orsino discovers Viola’s true identity, he declares that his “love [for Olivia] can give no place [and] bide no denay” (2.4.137). Although he claims that he could love none other than Olivia and would never give up on her, he unexpectedly falls in love with Viola the moment he realizes she is a girl. The scant amount of time that it takes for him to shift his affections from one woman to the next establishes the ease at which one falls in love. Consequently, the short amount of time that it takes for them to fall in love suggests that his desire for both Olivia and Viola is based on their looks alone. The abrupt shift in feelings exemplifies Shakespeare’s criticizing assessment regarding how easily people fall in love as a result of the feeling’s already shallow beginnings. Furthermore, during the time that Orsino remains ignorant of Viola’s femininity, he occasionally behaves in a hostile and impolite manner. In fact, when he discovers that Olivia has been wedded to who she thinks is Cesario, Orsino angrily commands Cesario to “direct [his] feet/ Where [they] henceforth may never meet” (5.1.177-78). Despite the reality that Orsino is not the most understanding person, Viola continues to harbor feelings for this boorish man, as displayed when she accepts his marriage proposal. The

For most of the play, Olivia loves Cesario, but when she discovers that she had not married Cesario but his brother instead, she does not object in any way. In fact, when she first discovers that there are two people who look like Cesario, she does not feel anger or confusion, she just exclaims, “Most wonderful!”(1.5.236). Even though she claims to love Cesario, when she finds out that she had wedded his twin brother instead, she only feels happiness. The way she is able to suddenly switch from loving Cesario to loving Sebastian illustrates how one can fall in love effortlessly. In addition, Olivia’s happiness towards the event in which there are two Cesarios demonstrates that her love is only based on outer appearances and other superficial reasons. This signifies Shakespeare’s forlorn conviction that one becomes infatuated too easily and that love is dependent on one’s physical nature along with many other surface factors. Shakespeare’s ideas are also presented in the way Sebastian falls in love with Olivia. When he arrives in Illyria and is being doted on by Olivia, having mistaken him for Cesario, he does not correct her, only saying that “if it be [a] dream, still let [him] sleep”(4.2.66). Sebastian does not question this strange woman’s affection towards him, only deciding that he somehow got lucky.