Twelfth Night: Theme Of Love Essay, Research Paper

Twelfth Night: Theme of Love

In the play “Twelfth Night,” Shakespeare explores and illustrates the

emotion of love with precise detail. According to “Webster’s New World

Dictionary,” love is defined as “a strong affection or liking for someone.”

Throughout the play Shakespeare examines three different types of love: true

love, self love and friendship.

“Twelfth Night” consists of many love triangles, however many of the

characters who are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their

emotions and feelings toward other characters are untrue. They are being

deceived by themselves and/or the others around them. There are certain

instances in the play where the emotion of love is true, and the two people

involved feel very strongly toward one another. Viola’s love for Orsino is a

great example of true love. Although she is pretending to be a man and is

virtually unknown in Illyria, she hopes to win the Duke’s heart. In act 1,

scene 4, Viola let’s out her true feelings for Cesario, “yet a barful strife!

Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife (1).” That statement becomes true when

Viola reveals her true identity. Viola and Orsino had a very good friendship,

and making the switch to husband and wife was easy. Viola was caught up in

another true love scenario, only this time she was on the receiving end, and

things didn’t work out so smoothly. During her attempts to court Olivia for

Orsino, Olivia grew to love Cesario. Viola was now caught in a terrible

situation and there was only one way out, but that would jeopardize her chances

with Orsino. It’s amazing that Olivia could fall for a woman dressed as a man,

but because Viola knew what women like to hear, her words won Olivia’s heart.

The next case of true love is on a less intimate and romantic scale, and more

family oriented. Viola and Sebastian’s love for one another is a bond felt by

all siblings. Through their times of sorrow and mourning for each of their

apparent deaths they still loved each other. They believed deep down that maybe

someway or by some miracle that each of them was still alive and well.

Many people, even in today’s society, love themselves more then anything

else. “Twelfth Night” addresses the issue of self love and how it affects

peoples lives. Malvolio is the easiest to identify with the problem of self

love. He sees himself as a handsome and noble man. Malvolio believes many

women would love to be with him. He likes to see things one way only, and he

deceives himself just to suit his outlook on the situation. For example, in the

play he twists Olivia’s words around to make it sound like she admires his

yellow cross-gartered stockings, when she really despises them. Both Sir Toby

and Olivia show signs of self love but it is not as big an issue. Sir Toby only

cares about himself and no one else, not even his friends. He ignores Maria’s

warnings about drinking into the night, and he continues to push Sir Andrew to

court Olivia. Although he believes Sir Andrew doesn’t have a chance. Olivia

cares about the people around her, but she also believes that no man is worthy

of her beauty. She thinks she is “all that,” and that no one can match her.

Friendship is the third type of love expressed in “Twelfth Night.” The

biggest and closest friendship would have to be between Orsino and Cesario.

They barely knew each other at first, and before long Orsino was telling Cesario

his inner love for Olivia. He even had Cesario running his love messages to

Olivia. The second friendship between Viola and the Sea Captain was not

mentioned a lot, but they had a very deep bond between one another. They

survived the shipwreck together and the Sea Captain promised to keep Viola’s

idea about pretending to be a man a secret. If he had opened his mouth the

entire play would have changed. The third friendship, and definitely the

strangest, is between Sir Toby and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. They are close friends

but sometimes Sir Toby doesn’t show it. He sets Sir Andrew up, and likes to get

him into trouble. An example is persuading Sir Andrew to challenge Cesario to a

dual, even though he is not a great swordsman and is unaware of Cesario’s

ability. On the other hand, Sir Andrew appreciates Sir Toby’s company because

he always lifts his spirits and makes him feel like a true knight.

Love plays a major role in “Twelfth Night,” and Shakespeare addresses

true love, self love and friendship in a very compelling and interesting way.

Love is great to read about because everyone deserves a little love. “Twelfth

Night” is the true definition of love, and Shakespeare does a great job of

explaining a somewhat difficult topic.