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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.
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.
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...
- 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 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 ...
