How is love depicted in Act One Scene One of Twelfth Night?
Twelfth Night is known as one of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, as love plays a cardinal portion in the secret plan. Act 1 scene 1 covers the thought of being in love with the thought of love alternatively of really being in love with person. This is shown through the manner the character of Orsino speaks about love and he response to rejection. Shakespeare uses imagination to portray a visible radiation hearted atmosphere even though elements of injury and hurting are discussed through more base type of imagination. This scene the inquiry of whether romantic love is to make with the world of the individual who is loved or the lovers ain imaginativeness.
The gap scene is commenced by the voice of Duke Orsino speaking about love, ‘If music be the nutrient of love, drama on’ . This is saying that if music was able to carry through his desire for love so allow it go on as he wants to feed his love. Shakespeare is utilizing the symbolism of nutrient, and music portrays Orsino’s desire for love as Orsino is inquiring for more music because he is frustrated in his chase of a relationship with Countess Olivia. He ponders that an excess of music might bring around his compulsion with love in the same manner as over feeding ruins your appetency. ‘Give me excess of it, that cloying, the appetency may disgust, and so die’ . The Dukes thought to bring around his love is to stuff himself ill with his ain indulgent passions. He is narcisstic as he feels that being lovesick is some kind of expletive, hence stating that if the music continues playing he would o.d. which would kill his love for Olivia as he feels like the victim of unanswered love.
Shakespeare so continues to farther heighten the feeling of love and love affair through utilizing flowers and the sense of odor. ‘That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour’ . Orsino is depicting that the sound of the music’s sounds like a sweet zephyr blowing over a bank of flowers and with it stealing its aroma. This gives off a romantic feel as flowers do symbolize love and love affair, nevertheless, it is associating with the symbolism of nutrient as he wants to utilize the music to take away his feeling of love like the music is blowing over and taking away the aroma of love. It’s as though the love he has for Olivia is doing him hurting and even though Shakespeare makes his words seem peaceable and give of a twenty-four hours moony type vibration when in fact the words themselves are painful. This is once more turn outing to us that if Orsino’s feeling of love continues to be unanswered, he no-longer wants experience it.
‘Of what cogency and pitch soe’er? ’ this is deducing that The Duke is chew overing over the thought of love and how devouring it can be. It is about as though Orsino is the victim of love and he can’t make anything approximately. This is really self-indulgent as he is the ground for wretchedness nevertheless he is non faulting himself for it, he is merely sat feeling sorry for himself trusting the feeling will travel off without moving upon it. ‘So full of forms is fancy, that entirely if extremely fantastical’ , which is stating that love is so graphic and antic that nil compares to it which gives an unrealistic position of love. This introduces the thought that the character of Orsino is in love with the thought of love instead than true love of loving person.
Associating to the thought of Orsino being the victim of love, Shakespeare continues utilizing the symbolism of hunting and carnal imagination. The character of Curio is introduced into the Scene with his opening line of ‘will you go hunt, my Godhead? ’ , utilizing carnal symbolism as it is deducing that Orsino is a marauder looking to run down his pray. We know that Orsino wants nil more than the return of his love from Olivia so it is saying that Olivia is his pray. This suggests that Orsino is about in love with the thought of being in love and that all this is a game to him that he seems to be losing. Orsino comes across somewhat delusional as he is conceive ofing this love as he is fighting with the rejection of Olivia’s love even though she has antecedently said no to him and he accepted and admired her grounds, she doesn’t seem content. Shakespeare adds to this thought of carnal imagination as he describes the character of Orsino as being a ‘hart’ which refers to a stag/ cervid. This suggests that Orsino has become the victim of a marauding species as stags/ deer’s are vulnerable quarry. Shakespeare compares the character of Orsino with a huntsman who is chased and killed by his ain custodies, deducing that he is being killed by his ain desires of love, ‘and my desires, like fell and barbarous hounds, e’er since pursue me’ .
All this has been said in the gap of the scene and it is merely until line 19 when Orsino references Olivia. This merely shows that Orsino is believing more of the thought of love than who he is really in love with. Olivia merely seems to be the image of his imaginativeness non his existent love. ‘O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first’ , this infers that Orsino’s love for Olivia is really ocular as he is talking of her expressions non her existent ego and personality. Orsino farther provinces that Olivia cleared the air of pestilence as she was so clean and pure, ‘methought she purg’d the air of pestilence’ . This is really overdone and fabulous as the sight of her took away the badness of something every bit utmost as a pestilence.
Another manner love is depicted in this scene is through mythology and mention to the Gods. The mention to runing imagination is linked to the Goddess Diana doing the thought of love other worldly. This is developed when the character of Orsino provinces, ‘how will she love, when the rich aureate shaft has killed the flock of all fondnesss else that live in her’ , this is mentioning to the God of love which once more points to his infatuation with love alternatively of being in love as the thought of it is non physically touchable.
Orsino comes across every bit delusional as he does non accept the rejection of Olivia’s love, in fact, this fresh rejection seems to fire his passion for her even more, ‘O, she that hath a bosom of that all right frame to pay this debt of love but to a brother’ . This dismissal of his fondnesss appears to direct him back to his universe of romantic dreaming and farther fantasizing about love. ‘Away before to sweet beds of flowers! Love ideas lie rich when canopied with bowers’ . Shakespeare ends the Scene with pair which reinforces a relaxed atmosphere and temper go oning the thought of ‘love’ and ‘being in love’ which is a cardinal subject of the drama. Here Shakespeare is mentioning back to the imagination of flowers which once more links to woo and the thought of love which shows Orsino still hasn’t given up on the thought of deriving Olivia’s love.
It is apparent Shakespeare uses the construction of the character Orsinos emotions to state a narrative in itself. Shakespeare begins the scene with the Orsino agony from rejection which leads him to travel into a twenty-four hours moony fabulous province. Following the intelligence of farther rejection brought by Valentine, ‘the component itself, till seven years’ heat, shall non lay eyes on her face at ample view’ , Orsino slips back into a languid province where he can indulge his twenty-four hours dreams of love. Throughout the scene Shakespeare has used imagination and senses to out ballad Orsinos province of head and vision of love.
