Olivia's Feelings For Cesario example essay topic

The idea of unrequited love is something that has spanned the ages. From Shakespeare's Olivia and Cesario / Viola to the modern day love affair between Buffy and Angel, love un reciprocated or even worse, forbidden, is a tragic theme that has befallen many hearts. In William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", the author sets in motion a series of relationships that seemed doomed from the very start. Shipwrecked Viola pines for Duke Orsino who longs for Olivia who completes this messy triangle by setting her sights on Cesario. Duke Orsino's love is apparent from the beginning of the play.

He enjoys the feeling of being in love and craves more of it proclaiming "give me excess of it" (2). Almost immediately after stating his love for Olivia, the duke is told by his servant Valentine that Olivia doesn't have time for love because she is mourning her dead brother. Orsino's love is shot down, yet he refuses to give up. The duke refuses to believe that his love will not be returned by Olivia by going on to say that if Olivia is showing undying love and devotion to a dead sibling, just imagine the kind of love she would be capable of when Cupid "hath killed the flock of all affections else" (35).

He really believes Olivia will not refuse him. Refuse his love is exactly what Olivia does. She tells Cesario "I cannot love him" (244). Olivia tells Cesario to go let Orsino know that she won't love him and tells Cesario not to come back unless it is with word of how Orsino reacts to Olivia's message. Olivia subtly hints that she'd like to see Cesario again, her newfound amorous feelings further rejecting Orsino's affections. Viola's love for the duke may be the ultimate example of unrequited love in "Twelfth Night".

Viola knows right from the start that the object of her desire is in love with someone else. It's almost as if she's determined to set herself up for the fall, the disappointment. At least Orsino and Olivia believe they have somewhat of a chance with the person they " re in love with, but Viola knows, is fully aware that the duke has feelings for Olivia. Viola goes on to tell Olivia that if she loved Olivia with the same passion as Orsino, she wouldn't understand why Olivia would reject her or that type of love.

"Make me a willow at your cabin gate" (255) Viola says, a willow cabin being a symbol of rejected love. She would write and then sing songs of rejected love to Olivia and her sorrowful voice would be heard throughout the hills crying Olivia's name. But it isn't Olivia that Viola is in love with. It's Orsino.

Maybe this diatribe about a willow cabin is in fact meant to be spoken to Orsino and only said to Olivia because Viola is a messenger. Viola really wants to say all this stuff to Orsino. She wants to tell him that SHE will be the one to wallow in misery "in the dead of night" (258). Olivia's feelings for Cesario prove unrequited as well. She isn't aware that Cesario is in fact a woman, so she doesn't seem as pitiful as Orsino or Viola. At least Olivia is in love with the correct sex (in appearance anyway) and Cesario doesn't come right out and reject Olivia's feelings.

Even though Olivia's love is unrequited, she doesn't realize it. She marries the person she believes is Cesario. As far as she can tell, her rightful husband is Cesario, not Sebastian. Love is an ancient emotion felt since the beginning of man and woman.

Love can brim unmeasurable joy and unspeakable pain. That pain is often the end result when one person expresses feelings for another and finds their feelings have fallen on deaf ears. Unrequited love may be the product of disguise as in Viola / Cesario's case. Whether talking about the comedic antics of Shakespeare's Olivia and Cesario, or the sappy story of the WB's Dawson and Joey, unrequited love is a theme that runs it's course from the very beginning of time and may in fact survive as long as the heart can break.