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Get everything you need to know about Olivia in Twelfth Night. Analysis, related quotes, timeline.
Olivia is a fictional character from William Shakespeare 's play Twelfth Night, believed to have been written around 1600 or 1601. She is at the centre of the various plots, both the comedic and the romantic. She has various suitors. Background. Olivia is a beautiful lady of noble birth who lives in Illyria.
- Viola. A young woman of aristocratic birth, and the play’s protagonist. Washed up on the shore of Illyria when her ship is wrecked in a storm, Viola decides to make her own way in the world.
- Orsino. A powerful nobleman in the country of Illyria. Orsino is lovesick for the beautiful Lady Olivia, but becomes more and more fond of his handsome new page boy, Cesario, who is actually a woman—Viola.
- Olivia. A wealthy, beautiful, and noble Illyrian lady, Olivia is courted by Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, but to each of them she insists that she is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died, and will not marry for seven years.
- Sebastian. Viola’s lost twin brother. When he arrives in Illyria, traveling with Antonio, his close friend and protector, Sebastian discovers that many people think that they know him.
Lady Olivia is an upper-class, wealthy, and beautiful countess in Illyria. Olivia is judgmental and overindulgent. Much like Duke Orsino, Olivia is also quick to fall in love and makes rash...
The two characters Olivia most closely mirrors are Orsino and, perhaps surprisingly, Malvolio. Orsino begins Twelfth Night pining away for Olivia; Olivia begins the play in mourning for her brother and father. But like Malvolio, Olivia’s cool, placid exterior is threatened by her more playful, foolish side when she falls in love with Cesario.
At first, Olivia seems to be the emotional counterpart for the duke; he is a melancholy parallel for Olivia, and Olivia has sworn to abjure the world for seven years to mourn for her dead brother, an act of extreme sentimental melancholy. Olivia is also the opposite of Viola in many ways. While Olivia is attracted to her opposite (Viola in the ...
