At the end of Twelfth Night Viola-Cesario ends up with Duke Orsino and Olivia ends up with Sebastian. Maria and Sir Toby also get married. I think it is possible that Maria wanted to marry Sir Toby to climb a social ladder because he is a knight after all. It is hinted that Toby has feelings for Maria in act 2.5.188-189 in which Toby says that he’d marry Maria in a heartbeat if she could think up another prank like the one she pulled on Malvolio.
Orsino is outraged when he finds out that Olivia has married Sebastian whom he thinks is Cesario. But when he finds out that Cesario isn’t Sebastian he doesn’t really care all that much anymore. This suggests that he was more upset that Cesario got married than that Olivia got married which would suggest that Orsino had fallen in love with Cesario who he believed to be a man. But, when it is revealed that Cesario is a woman (Viola) Olivia who fell in love with Cesario because of how nicely he talked to and treated her doesn’t care that she is now marrying Sebastian instead of Cesario.
Orsino describes the Sebastian and Viola as
One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons--
A natural perspective, that is and is not. (TN 5.1 206-7)
Viola and Sebastian look alike, sound alike, and act the same. Olivia and Orsino are both full of it and it makes a little bit of sense that they wouldn’t care whom they married as long as they looked like the person they fell in love with. What if Sebastian is a terrible guy? Olivia doesn’t care. Love is blind but looks are still important because presumably the twins are good looking to both sexes.
No comments:
Post a Comment