Paper Topic on Twelfth Night.

“If music be the food of love, play on, / Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken, and so die” (1.1.1-3).

Duke Orsino utters these lines to open the play, and despite being about love (the central concern of TN), they are constructed to make love sound as if it is something he wants to get over (“die”), which seems rather strange for a lover. Likewise, near the end of Act 1, Olivia utters metaphorical lines about love as bubonic plague, which also seems strange. Are these upper-class characters attuned to feelings of genuine love, or does the strangeness of their expressions sound similar to infatuation? Do you wonder if either has actually been in love?

In how many different ways does Shakespeare treat the theme of love in TN? There is the obviously confused love triangle of Duke, Olivia, and Viola/Cesario, but also note that Antonio may love Sebastian romantically, and even the sub-plot world is connected to the theme. Sir Andrew is there to woo Olivia, but Toby draws him into constant drinking. Malvolio “loves” Olivia, but it’s hard to determine if his sour personality is even capable of romantic love. When Maria sets up Malvolio in 2.5, Toby comments in the aftermath, “I could marry this wench for this device” (183). In fact, the only main character personally untouched by the love bug is Feste, yet even he sings about love, and Andrew says he sent him “sixpence for thy leman” (meaning lover, sweetheart, or mistress). Choose as many different aspects of the love theme as you like and write an essay in which you determine Shakespeare’s attitude(s) to love.