Theme of Love in Twelfth Night Essay Sample

In the play Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, love causes people to be unaware and oblivious to what is happening.  

Throughout the entire play, Olivia, an Illyrian countess, is and wants to be oblivious to the fact that Viola, the protagonist, is not in love with her and she wants to forget that Orsino is in love with her. For example, Olivia says, ““What is your parentage?” “Above my fortunes, yet my state is well. I am a gentleman.” I’ll be sworn thou art. Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit Do give thee fivefold blazon” (Shakespeare I.v.294-98). In this part of scene five, Olivia is talking to herself about the conversion that she and Viola had just had and how she thinks that some of the things she said were stupid. Throughout the conversation, Olivia is being very flirtatious towards Viola but based on Viola’s responses she does not feel attracted to Olivia in the same way that Olivia does but she doesn’t notice. This shows that Olivia is blind to the fact that Viola is not reciprocating the feelings that Olivia is feeling. Additionally, Viola says, “I pity you,” to which Olivia responds, “That’s a degree to love” (Shakespeare III.i.129-30). At this point in the play, Olivia sent Malvolio, her servant to give a ring to Viola saying that she left it there even when she didn't so that Viola would have a reason to come back and talk to her. Olivia then asks Viola how she thinks about her after the ring incident. This quote shows that Olivia wants to believe that Viola does love her so she reaches out as far as she can with any little thing to make it seem like Viola/Cesario loves her and be oblivious to the fact that she doesn’t. Finally, Olivia says to Viola, “I have said too much unto a heart of stone And laid mine honor too unchary on ’t. There’s something in me that reproves my fault, But such a headstrong potent fault it is That it but mocks reproof” (Shakespeare III.iv.209-14). This quote is from a part of the play when Olivia is apologizing to Viola after Viola reveals that she doesn’t feel the same way about Oliva. Olivia is apologizing for not knowing that feelings were not reciprocated and coming on strong. This shows that Oliva did make herself oblivious to a fact, being that Viola doesn’t like her, even after many clear signs. Conclusively, although love was not a bad thing for Olivia to feel it did cause her to become blind to reality. 

Malvolio, Olivia’s head servant, is constantly oblivious to the clear fact that Olivia doesn’t love him, despite the act of love that was meant to be seen as being from Oliva but in reality, it isn't her. An example of this is when Malvolio says, “By my life, this is my lady’s hand! These be her very c’s, her u’s, and her t’s, and thus she makes her great P’s. It is in contempt of question her hand” (Shakespeare II.v.88-91). This quote is from a part in the play when Malvolio found a letter that was for him and it was signed off as if it was from Olivia, but it was Maria who wrote it. This shows that Malvolio has lost his ability to think intelligently about whether the letter is actually from Olivia because he desperately wants to see that it is from her. Furthermore, Malvolio says “I do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me; for every reason excites to this, that my lady loves me. She did commend my yellow stockings of late, she did praise my leg being cross-gartered, and in this she manifests herself to my love” (Shakespeare II.v.167-172). At this point in the scene, Malvolio had just read the letter from Olivia. In this letter, Olivia demands Malvolio to wear yellow stockings with cross garters over top, and he decides to do it. This shows that Malvolio is willing to give up his dignity to impress Olivia, even though it is not intelligent to think that someone would make you give up everything you’re known for just for love. Another example is when Malvolio says, ““Remember who commended thy yellow stockings—” to which Olivia interrupts him and says, “Thy yellow stockings?” (Shakespeare III.iv.52-54). In this part of the scene, Malvolio is restating the letter he was given that was supposedly from Olivia. Olivia has no clue what he’s talking about but Malvolio keeps reading. This shows that Malvolio refuses to listen to Olivia even though she has no idea what he is talking about because he still wants to believe that she loves him. In conclusion, Malvolio is so in love with Olivia that he was unable to see or oblivious to the vivid warning signs that would’ve kept him from embarrassing himself. 

During most scenes that Orsino is in, it is clear that he is unaware of many things around him because he is distracted by his undying love for Olivia. For example, Orsino asks Viola, “What kind of woman is ’t?” To which Viola responds with, “Of your complexion,” then Orsino asks, “She is not worth thee, then. What years, i’ faith?” and Viola responds with, “About your years, my lord” (Shakespeare II.iv.30-33). This quote is from a scene in the play when Orsino thinks that Cesario/Viola has fallen in love with someone and he is asking about the person. As he is asking, Viola keeps answering with traits about him, like how old he is and the way he looks, but Orsino is unaware that she is talking about him. This shows that he either isn’t able to see the signs and is oblivious to everything but Olivia, who of which he loves, or he could be distracted because he is thinking about her. Additionally, Curio, one of Orsino’s attendants asks him, “Will you go hunt, my lord?” to which Orsino asks, “What, Curio?” “The hart.” Curio responds. To which Orsino responds by saying, “Why, so I do, the noblest that I have. O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purged the air of pestilence. That instant was I turned into a hart, And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E’er since pursue me” (Shakespeare 1.2.21-24). This quote is from a part in the story when Orsino is listening to music and it gets him thinking about Olivia. Curio, an attendant, then asks him if he is going to go hunting for a hart, a male deer, but Orsino thinks that he means hunting for Olivia’s heart. This shows that he is so obsessed with this love that he overlooks something like hunting for food to eat, a necessity for life. Lastly, Orsino says to Viola, “O, then unfold the passion of my love. Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith. It shall become thee well to act my woes. She will attend it better in thy youth Than in a nuncio’s of more grave aspect” (Shakespeare 1.5.26-30). In this part of the play, Orsino is asking Viola to confess his love for Olivia for him even though, at this point, they are strangers and have never met. This proves that he is naive to think that Olivia would trust her feelings in a stranger's hands, but he does it anyway because he loves her so much. To conclude, Orsino demonstrates a significant amount of immaturity and oblivion due to his desire to be loved by Olivia.

Malvolio, Olivia, and Orsino are just a few of the many characters in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that demonstrate the fact that being deeply in love causes blindness to the world around you and the real meaning of things.