Love is More
Complicated then it Seems
By: Amanda Vasquez
Would you be able to love someone when he/she doesn’t love you back at
all? Duke Orsino was over the heels in love with Lady Olivia but she has no
feelings for him what so ever. Meanwhile as this play goes on there is this
crazy love triangle between Olivia, Duke and Viola. Little did they know Viola
was right in the middle of them playing a male figure when she really is a Woman.
By Viola disguising her identity it creates many complications and problems
throughout Acts 1 and 2.
Love plays a major role in the Twelfth
Night by William Shakespeare, but it also shows that love can cause a lot
of pain inside as well. Duke is in love Olivia, Olivia is in love with Cesario
who is really Viola and Viola loves Duke but she is in disguise as a man with
him. This shows that by not being your true self is not easier then being who
you really are. It complicates your relationships with other people greatly
because they do not know who you really are. Viola is in love with Duke but
since she is a man around him they cannot be together. She even ends up trying
to help him get Olivia to love him back. Viola is very selfless because even
though she is in love with Duke all she wants is for Duke to be happy so she
tries to get him and Olivia together. As a result Olivia obtains feelings for
Cesario who is Viola. The Twelfth Night
shows how easily you can fall in love and get hurt at the same time. Duke even
tries to diminish his love in the opening scene with music because he has too
much love for her. He says “If music be the food of love, play on; Give me
excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.” This is a
negative part of love because if the person doesn’t love you back then you will
be heartbroken. Also Olivia is supposed to be in mourning and not marry anyone
for seven years but once she meets Cesario her feelings completely change. With
this love triangle I predict that in the second half of this play it will
create even more problems with Viola’s disguise is revealed and everyone’s
feelings come out in the open.
Another major theme is the ability to change your self as a person for
someone else. Throughout the first two acts this comes up often with most of
the characters in the play. In order for Viola to serve Duke she disguises
herself as a man to get the job. This I can actually understand more on why she
did that because she needed a job. After she was rescued on the cost of Illyria
she thought she was the only one left in her family and she needed to support
herself. In order to do that Viola changes her appearance to get a job but this
ends up complicating things greatly when she has feelings for duke. This shows
how it’s not always easy to be someone other than your self. There is always a
catch when you take the easy way out. Another character that changes him self
is Malvolio when he receives a letter that he thinks is from Olivia. In the
beginning Malvolio was viewed as a servant to Olivia who always had her back, but
when he tried to stick up to Sir Toby and Maria it got him into trouble. Sir
Toby and Maria decide to get him back with a fake letter, which causes him to
change his appearance and behavior in order to show his love for Olivia. This
also brings out his greedy side because he starts to think of all the
possibilities of becoming Olivia’s husband. Little does he know that those
things he will change is the opposite of Olivia’s liking and that she is in
love with Cesario.
This play so far is very interesting and nothing like I have ever read
before. It has so much going on and makes love look so complicated. The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare has
showed me that you should always be yourself and not change for someone else.
If it is meant to be, love will happen without you having to change something
about yourself. Always stay true to whom you are and it will be far less
complicated then when you try to be someone that you are not.
This class this semester has been really interesting and fun. I was so
surprised how well each class discussion went. Each class I learned a great
deal about the works we were reading and it really helped me to understand the
readings. Before this class I was not really confident with my ability to read
and comprehend and even my writing skills. As this semester went on I realized
that it became easier to comprehend the readings and be able to understand them
beyond just the plot. I was able to analyze more and more as time went on. I
also enjoyed when we would relate the readings to real life. When we shared
personal stories with one another it would give us a chance to get to know one
another. In the end I was very happy that I took this class because I learned a
lot about myself and the atmosphere of the class was great.
No comments:
Post a Comment