Viola, Orsino and Olivia in First Two Scenes of The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Viola, Orsino and Olivia in First Two Scenes of The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Viola, Orsino and Olivia are involved in a love triangle by the end of

scene 5, as a result of the themes of love and time.

Orsino is an apparently impatient man over the prospect of love; when

Valentine returns from Olivia's house, he questions him about the

meeting, "How now? What news from her?", are the first words he says

to him, asking for information about the situation with Olivia. His

pursuit of Olivia, which he turns around and claims that he is the

"hart, / And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, / E'er since

pursue me", where he compares himself to the hunter Achaean who was

turned into a stag by Diana, and set upon by his own hounds when he

looked at her, which is against the world picture. His slip between

"hart" and "heart" help to show the dream world in which Orsino lives

in. The romanticism of the words he uses shows how besotted, and

almost obsessed with Olivia; the synesthesia used by Orsino over the

"sweet sound / That breathes upon a bank of violets", which can't

really be heard, shows how his "love" affects all his senses, and

makes him lose control of them. The comparison of love with food and

music is also a kind of synesthesia; "If music be the food of

love…Give me excess", Orsino wishes for music to feed his desires, and

to gorge on it, so he won't feel them anymore; an excessive approach

to explaining his love. "Methought she purg'd the air of pestilence",

a comparison made by Orsino with Olivia and a goddess, showing how

high he feels of her.

Rather than waiting for his turn to come, Orsino imposes on her dur...

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...er discontinuing her grief when the time is

right.

All three are acting roles; Orsino talks of his love for Olivia,

although somewhat acting a part, for he is more in love with the idea

of love; Olivia plays a role in her grief for her dead brother, her

tears aren't heartfelt, but are instead acted out; whilst Viola plays

a more physical role, for she acts as Cesario for survival and to take

employment under Orsino, where she then falls in love with him, and

has to act as if she feels nothing.

The themes of love and time interlink throughout these scenes, and are

in part explained by the use of the sea, and salt water, to show

certain aspects of love, while time is used in conjunction with the

Elizabethan World Picture to show how its in a constant change, and

how they conflict between the differing characters.