Twelfth Night Essay

In William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan comedy, Twelfth Night, the plot “The Love Triangle” consists of three characters who are involved with each other romantically, causing misunderstandings amongst them. The plot “The Love Triangle” starts off with a shipwreck occurring near the coast of Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night. Viola and Sebastian, who are twins, are separated during a storm that demolished their ship. Viola finds herself with the Captain after this wreck, and with his help she decides to conceal her identity by disguising herself as a man in order to get the opportunity to work for the governor of Illyria, Duke Orsino. Prior to even stepping into the foreign land, the Captain provides Viola with some backstory about the Duke, as he tells her “For but a

I. ii. 29-31). The Captain explained to Viola how Duke Orsino fell in love for the most beautiful woman of the land, Olivia. Sadly for the Duke, Olivia swore off men as she was the daughter of a count who died a year ago, leaving her in the care of her brother who in turn also recently died. Soon enough, Viola is posing as a eunuch called Cesario and works for the Duke. He takes a sudden liking to ‘Cesario,’ and reveals his love for Olivia to him. The Duke then sends Cesario off with the task of persuading Olivia to talk to him, and at this point, Cesario, who is Viola in disguise, states, “I’ll do my best/to woo your lady- (aside)/Yet, a barful strife-/whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife” (Shakespeare. I. iv. 42-44). Viola, posing as Cesario, wishes that she were able to marry the Duke as she has fell for him. Reluctantly, she goes to lure out Olivia in his name, doing all possible in order to convince her to accept the Duke’s hand. Cesario follows his master’s orders, and while talking to Olivia even compliments her by saying “‘Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white/Nature’s own sweet and