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Molly Sevcik

Professor Strain

Chief English Writers

November 1, 2010

Gone off the Shallow End:

Theme, Plot, and Character in Twelfth Night

In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Orsino enlists Viola, disguised as Cesario, in a scheme to

win Lady Olivia’s affection on his behalf; this plot works to expose the self-indulgence of both

Orsino and Olivia in their dealings with emotions. It is due to this self-indulgence that Orsino and

Olivia, while both pining away because of their “love” (Orsino’s for Olivia and Olivia’s for Cesario)

have no problem shifting their feelings to different characters at the play’s close—this is in direct

contrast to Viola, who expresses deep emotional pain in having to court in the name of the man she

loves. This contrast demonstrates one major theme of Twelfth Night: love as a cause of suffering.

As each character involved in Orsino’s scheme experiences a form of love, in looking at the

theme of love as a cause of suffering through the plot Orsino devises, one must examine the honesty

of the characters’ affections. Lady Olivia is in mourning after the death of her older brother, and she

has sworn off all visitors: “But like a cloistress she will veilèd walk… A brother’s dead love, which

she would keep fresh / And lasting in her sad remembrance” (I.i.27-31). That includes the Duke of

Orsino, who is so lovesick that he believes her mere presence would “[purge] the air of pestilence”

(I.i.19). This “love” is incredibly strong, even though at this point the Duke has never spoken to

Olivia. In fact, the two characters have no direct interaction throughout the play until the very last

scene. Orsino relies on those in his service to deliver his pleas of love to Olivia. Cesario is the

perfect candidate to embark on such a mission, winning Olivia’s heart for Orsino. However,
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Orsino’s quick transfer of emotion from Olivia to Viola suggests that his profession of love for

Olivia to Cesario [“O, then unfold the passion of my love / Surprise her with discourse of my dear

faith” (I.iv.24-25)] is nothing more than decadent prattling.

Olivia, too, after meeting Cesario is so intrigued with him, she immediately falls into a

schoolgirl crush:

I do I know not what and fear to find

Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind.

Fate, show thy force. Ourselves we do not owe.

What is decreed must be, and be this so (I.v.296-299).

She calls herself out on how she is most enamored of Cesario’s good looks (“Mine eye too great a

flatterer for my mind”), and in doing so acknowledges her shallowness. In addition to superficiality

in affection for Cesario, the ease with which she falls for Cesario points out her false dedication to

mourning. It is almost as if she has forgotten about her dead brother for whom she had just devoted

seven years of remembrance and solitude the moment she laid eyes on Cesario. Also, Olivia shifts

her love for Cesario to Sebastian as easily as Orsino shifts his affection for her to Viola. Her

frivolous emotions and her lackadaisical commitment and subsequent abandonment of mourning

paint Olivia as an immature character, incapable of feeling deep emotion.

While Orsino and Olivia display nearly humorous bouts of despair on account of their

unrequited loves, Viola is a class of her own, succeeding in being the only character involved in

Orsino’s plot who has deep emotional feelings. It seems almost ironical that in a plan designed to

end in true love, it is Viola who gets hurt. After Orsino conscripts her into his plot to win the heart of

Olivia, Viola is torn and devastated, saying “Yet a barful strife / Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his

wife” (I.iv.41-42). She pledges her service to Orsino, promising to woo for him, while all the time
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wishing it was she who was being wooed. The audience pities Viola here, as she has become

entangled in a situation that, for her in her present circumstances, can have no happy ending. The

pain Viola feels is clearly demonstrated through her many interactions with Olivia throughout the

“courtship.” When Olivia voices her disinterest in Orsino, Viola is vocal in her jealousy and anger:

My master, not myself, lacks recompense.

Love make his heart of flint that you shall love,

And let your fervor, like my master’s, be

Placed in contempt. Farewell, fair cruelty (I.v.259-262).

Viola tells Olivia that her master is not getting the love he deserves, and as such, she wishes that any

man Olivia should fall in love with would not love her in return. She admits that Olivia is beautiful,

but still recognizes her faults; “But if you were the devil, you are fair” (I.v.239). Her knowledge of

Olivia’s less than beautiful interior and her speech regarding her hopes for Olivia having an unlucky

future in love imply that Viola, though begrudgingly following Orsino’s orders in courting her, does

not believe Olivia is worthy of Orsino’s affection. She would much rather be the object of Orsino’s

love than be its pageboy.

In Orsino’s plot to use Cesario/Viola to win the affection of Olivia, the only character that

ends up hurt is Viola who, ironically, is the only character who experiences true love. This relates

directly to the theme of love as a cause of suffering, as the characters whose emotions are fickle at

best remain unscathed throughout the entire process. Only Viola is subjected to great sorrow, and it

is a direct result of the love she feels for Orsino. Without this plot, Orsino and Olivia’s erratic

affections might not have been so clearly displayed. This matters, since it is only through the

audience’s ability to recognize the frivolity of Orsino and Olivia’s “love,” that they can understand

the play’s key theme of suffering as a result of love.