“Twelfth Night is a plea for acceptance of the inevitable and for finding
whatever temporary happiness we can grasp”
Although a comedy, Twelfth Night also speaks to the inevitability of duty, in particular
marriage, through the romantic relationships of its characters. Through the use of comedic
methods, Shakespeare highlights the need for the characters to escape these duties by
grasping to whatever happiness they can find - resulting in tenuous connections being
made. One could argue however that true happiness and love is found by Orsino and Viola –
with Viola being the only character to have experienced true love during the play.
Using mistaken identity, Shakespeare exposes to the audience Olivia’s need to break from
the inevitable by latching onto whatever she deems as true love. With the death of her
brother, Olivia is faced with the duty of marriage to a suitor, Orsino, who she has no
affection for. Upon meeting Cesario Olivia is quick to ditch her mourning facade, asking to
“give us the place alone” and unveil herself to him. Later she professes her love claiming
“how much the better to fall before the lion than the wolf” confirming her unwillingness to
marry Orsino, and her supposed deep love for Cesario. Unbeknownst to her Cesario is really
Viola and this dramatic irony shows the audience how fraudulent her love is. This is later
reiterated when she mistakes Sebastian for Cesario – however does not seem to notice and
proposes to him. In mentioning the need to “conceal” the marriage due to “her birth” also
confirms the idea of her using Cesario and Sebastian to escape the duty of marriage. Overall
Shakespeare, in having Olivia supposedly fall for Cesario and marry Sebastian, shows her
attempt to escape the inevitable duty of marriage by marrying someone who she can claim
to be in love with.
Similarly, Orsino’s marriage to Viola at the end of the play could be seen as an attempt to be
happy for superficial reasons. Throughout, Orsino is presented as the typical courtly lover,
beginning the play with a melancholy soliloquy about his love for Olivia, comparing himself
to a captured “hart”. He makes it clear to Cesario that rejection from Olivia is not an option
instructing Cesario to “bide no denial” illustrating the supposed intensity of his love.
However his overall melodramatic manner makes it obvious to the audience that his love is
not sincere, reiterated by the fact that he focuses heavily on her physical appearance calling
her “queen of the gems”. In the end when presented with the idea of marrying Viola he is
quick to accept the offer, again focussing on Viola’s “soft and tender” features. Within the
offer Olivia also mentions their “alliance” again bringing up the idea of duty in marriage.
Through Orsino’s superficiality, Shakespeare could be commenting on the superficial aspects
of a marriage, proving it to be an act of duty and not love – Orsino is accepting of his fate as
he still obtains a beautiful wife and royal alliance.
However one could argue that throughout the play there is an unspoken connection
between Viola and Orsino, showing that they achieve their happiness having found true
love. Viola, having been instructed to woo Olivia, makes her romantic feelings for Orsino
