Viola and Orsino in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
In William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" there are several
relationships that develop throughout the play. Among the many
characters whose interaction and misunderstanding become the core of
the plot, Viola and Orsino have the most significant relationship. The
way they interact with one another causes the complex conflict of the
play, and as the conflict comes to be more complex the two characters
turn from strangers to friends and then to lovers.
In the first Act Viola and Orsino's interaction is on the level of two
complete strangers. From the beginning Viola is not honest with Orsino
because she disguises herself as a male page named Cesario in order to
get close to him. Orsino trusts Viola very quickly and sends Cesario
to declare his love for Olivia, the object of his affection. This
quick bond and trust for Cesario is the first example of their soon to
develop relationship. The mere fact that Orsino trusts Cesario with
his message of love is a transition from a stranger to a friend.
In act two the complexity of the relationship is taken to an all-new
level. Olivia falls in love with the page Cesario; meaning Viola has
landed herself in a tight spot between Orsino and Olivia. The newly
developed love triangle is now apart of the relationship between
Orsino and Viola despite the fact that Orsino knows nothing but the
façade Viola has conveniently blinded him with. In scene four of act
two there is a very important interaction between Viola and Orsino.
She tells him a love story about Cesario's sister the stories purpose
however is to pull his attention from Olivia. ...
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..., is Viola's love for
Orsino. Instead of leaving the country she was brought to and go back
home like any other person, she disguises as an eunuch, so she can
work for him. She would do anything to make him happy, even help him
get Olivia's love, just for him to notice her.
Shakespeare used many examples of excess in his writing, from the very
start of the first scene. His method of complications through the
excessiveness of the characters with each other, and adds excitement
and plot to the play. Shakespeare possibly had his own form of excess
in his life, of one thing or another, which is why he chose to use
this as a theme. In conclusion, I enjoy the use of excess in this
play, as it makes in more interesting to read, and I look forward to
reading the rest of the acts to find out what more complications
arise.
his work, and also from the time he longs for his brother who is similarly
The play Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a 1601 comedy that has proven to be the source of experimentation in gender casting in the early twenty-first century due to its portrayal of gender in love and identity. The play centrally revolves around the love triangle between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola. However, Olivia and Orsino both believe Viola is a boy named Cesario. Ironically, only male actors were on the stage in Shakespeare’s time. This means that Olivia, Viola, and other female characters were played by young boys who still had voices at higher pitches than older males.
Examining the relationship between speech, public space and authority for Viola's Character in Twelfth Night
Othello in William Shakespeare's Play Most of the characters in "Othello" perceive Othello as unclean and
The play twelfth night, though largely a comedy, has it's fair share of challenges and obstacles which it's characters face throughout the plot. These revolve around love, honour and the death and loss of loved ones. However one character stands out to me as having faced the most difficult and trying of challenges, yet emerged with her pride and dignity intact. She coped well with all the problems that were thrown at her with a quiet resilience far beyond her years, and is worthy of our admiration.
weapons. He has to use race as an excuse as he knows that Othello is
and moody he hides himself so know one can find him, as he would like
Viola and Beatrice both take on men's roles, Viola that of a manservant and Beatrice that of the perpetual bachelor and the clown: "I was born to speak all mirth and no matter," she says to Don Pedro [II.i.343-4]. They appear to be actors and manipulators, much more so than their female predecessors, who are mostly reactive and manipulated, such as Hermia, Helena, Titania, and Gertrude. None of these women seemed in charge of her own destiny, but tricked by the schemes of men and later scorned or humiliated as a result of male machinations. Viola and Beatrice, although they both seem fiercely independent and comfortable in a man's world, reveal themselves to have only the trappings of manhood, and not its full capacity for action. They are undone by unrequited love, made desperately unhappy by their inability to woo the man of their choosing. In the end, it is only coincidence and the plotting of other characters that bring the true nature of their affections into the open and thus force the plays to their respective matrimonial conclusions.
At 12:31 P.M. Central Standard Time, on Friday, November 22nd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, something was stolen from the American people and in fact the world. The one thing that was carved from the collective souls and hearts of this great country was its innocence. The bullet from the rifle of an assassin and who fired it and from where is just smoke and mirrors, background scenery for the real unresolved questions. What did the death of JFK mean for the Country? People around the country and around the world were shocked and deeply saddened, for they knew at that moment that the beauty and glory of “Camelot” was over. Theodore Sorensen is quoted as saying, “Countless individuals have noted that the President’s death affected them even more deeply than the death of their own parents. The reason they believe, is that the latter situation most often represented a loss of the past – while the assassination of President Kennedy represented an incalculable loss of the future.”
it related to his own life and the events going on around him at the
In everyones life there is always the one person who you think you can trust, and later come to find that they have been playing you all along. This is the exact case for Othello. Iago, whom Othello thought was a person he could trust, betrayed him in many horrific ways.As you read the famous Shakespearian play, Othello, the Moor of VeniceI, you come to realise pretty quickly that Iago is the evil charecter in this play. The readers do not actually get to see a good side of Iago, if there is any, because he is constantly using and playing people. Readers will also come to learn that no matter how evil Iago may be perceived as that he is very much a coward, using other people to do most of his dirty work for him.
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
As in most comedies, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night extensively. uses disguises, masks and mistaken identities to add to the comical nature of. the play. Viola's disguise as Orsino's page, Cesario, becomes crucial to the action in the play. Without this important element, the action in the play would slow down dramatically, making the story much less intriguing.
After Olivia has her very first conversation with Cesario (Viola), where he tries to woo her for Duke Orsino, she immediately falls in love with him. After Cesario leaves her palace, Olivia says to herself ‘Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast; soft, soft. Unless the master were the man. How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?’ Here Olivia states that Cesario’s external features are what attract her to him. Her metaphor contains a s...
Critics call Twelfth Night one of William Shakespeare’s most poetic and musical plays. Shakespeare writes poetic lines for the major characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, and gives the Fool, and other minor characters, songs to sing throughout the play. The particularly romantic lines of the play make it seem as if the characters are professional poets themselves. Shakespeare also uses the music and poetry in Twelfth Night to foreshadow what is going to happen for the rest of the performance and to reveal major themes in the play. Music and poetry become major characters in the play themselves.