Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

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In the comedy Twelfth Night written by William Shakespeare many of the characters experience emotional pain. The pain that a character name Olivia experiences is the death of her brother, causing her to mourn. Malvolio who is Olivia's steward is involved with emotional pain caused by humiliation, which occurs more than once in this play. Lastly, a great deal of characters battle with the feeling of unrequited love. Even though Shakespeare wrote this as a comedy, there was still a mass amount of emotional pain throughout.

Early on in this play Shakespeare introduces us to a character named Olivia. Olivia is an extremely rich countess, who is still heartbroken from losing her brother over the plague.
Sir Toby: “What a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus? I am sure cares an enemy of life”. (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 1-2)
From this line Shakespeare lets the reader/audience know that Sir Toby is her uncle, because he refers to Olivia has his niece. The reader/audience will also gather that Olivia’s brother died from the plague.
Feste: “Good madonna, why mourn’st thou?”
Olivia: “Good fool, for my brothers death”. (Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 59-60)
Feste is a jester her serves Olivia and is brought into this scene to cheer her up, but from this quotes it shows proof she is mourning her brother.
Valentine: “The element of itself, till seven years heat,
Shall not not behold her face at ample view,
But like a cloistress, she will veiled walk,
And water once a day her chamber round
With eye-offending brine: all this to season
A brother’s dead love, which she would keep fresh
And lasting, in her sad remembrance”. (Act 1, Scene 1, 26-32)
Valentine was not aloud to see Olivia, but she was told that Olivia was going to m...

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...ino. Viola is Orsino’s messenger, and has to spend time telling Olivia how much Orsino love her; but in reality she is heartbroken because the man she loves, loves someone else. On many occasions Viola cleverly hints to Orsino she loves him, but he never really understands.
Viola: “Too well what love women to men may owe. In faith, they are as true of heart as we. My father had a daughter loved a man, As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,I should your lordship” (Act 2, Scene 4, Lines 102-107).
Viola is really saying that she knows the way women can love men. She also says “My father had a daughter who loved a man”, since she is known as Cesario who is a boy Orsino does not realize that the daughter is really her, and the man is Orsino.
Just imagine how much pain these characters are going through. They each love someone and can not be loved back.

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