What Is Olivia's Transformation In Twelfth Night

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“ Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em” (Malvolio 2.5.130-132). In the well known play — Twelfth Night, written by William Shakespeare, a man named Orsino longs for the love of a young woman named Olivia. Olivia swore she wouldn’t make contact with any man for seven years due to her brother’s death. Viola, a young woman, arrives in Illyria with a group of sailors. Viola mourns the loss of her brother, but later decides to dress as a man and work for Orsino as a page. By utilizing her self-possessed dialogue, Shakespeare transforms Viola from a woman of mourning into a woman of determination and prosperity. The ultimate tone Shakespeare conveys towards the transformative power of love is bitter-sweet to display how naive one can be when yearning. …show more content…

When their ship washed up on the shore of Illyria after a storm, Viola, a young woman who arrived with a group of sailors, decides to take her own route in the world. As soon as she arrived she wanted to find a job, “Oh, that I served that lady / And might not be delivered to the world, / Till I had made mine own occasion mellow, / What my estate is” (Viola 1.2.38-41). She later disguises herself as a young man named “Cesario,” and becomes a page for Duke Orsino. The figurative language that Shakespeare uses within Twelfth Night creates a sympathetic mood for the readers as many of the characters are dejected including Viola who believes she has lost her brother at sea. Her determination immediately begins after she was given the hope that her brother might have survived the wreckage. “I prithee—and I’ll pay thee bounteously— / Conceal me what I am, and be my aid / For such disguise as haply shall become / The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke” (Viola 1.2.49-52), Viola pleads the sailor to help her on her transformation into the young man, Cesario, by offering him

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