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Get everything you need to know about Olivia in Twelfth Night. Analysis, related quotes, timeline.
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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.
- Extended Character Analysis
- Olivia’s Hypocrisy
- Olivia’s Love
Lady Olivia is an upper-class, wealthy, and beautiful countess in Illyria.Olivia is judgmental and overindulgent. Much like Duke Orsino, Olivia is alsoquick to fall in love and makes rash decisions. She also claims to be in aseven-year, loveless period of mourning for her recently deceased brother.However, Lady Olivia’s mourning period appears to e...
Lady Olivia claims at the beginning of Twelfth Nightto be mourningher brother’s death. She says she will mourn for seven years and will refuse tofall in love during that time. Lady Olivia shows that she is hypocritical inthat she uses her brother’s mourning period to avoid Orsino’s romantic advancesbut ignores her promise to mourn once she falls in...
Olivia’s abrupt change of heart and mind shows a distinct lack ofrationality. She tries to woo Cesario but is unsuccessful given that Cesario isViola in disguise. Olivia claims that she cannot love Orsino, despite hiswealth, stature, and genuine personality. Olivia’s love for Cesario highlightsthe illogical side of love. Orsino is the more logical,...
- 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.
- Viola (Cesario) The protagonist of Twelfth Night. An aristocratic woman, she is tossed up on the coast of Illyria by a shipwreck at the beginning of the play and disguises herself as the pageboy, Cesario… read analysis of Viola (Cesario)
- Orsino. The Duke and ruler of Illyria. At the beginning of the play Orsino is obsessed by his unrequited love for Olivia . However, in the final scene, when Orsino discovers that Cesario is in fact… read analysis of Orsino.
- Olivia. A beautiful noblewoman in Illyria. At the beginning of the play, she has rejected both Orsino and her ridiculous suitor, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. In mourning for her recently deceased brother, she has vowed not… read analysis of Olivia.
- Sebastian. Viola's twin brother, whom she believes is lost at sea, and who likewise thinks she's dead. Sebastian is noble and capable of strong, deeply felt emotion, just like his sister.
The character of Olivia in Shakespeare’s classic comedy Twelfth Night; or, What You Will is one of his more complex comic heroines, because of the inner conflict raging within the character after she falls in love with what she thinks is a young servant named Cesario (but is in fact a young woman named Viola….
Olivia, mistaking Sebastian for Cesario, is anxious to get married. She explains that she knows things are moving quickly, but that she will not feel at ease with their relationship until the two of them are wed.
