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Subject: ENGLISH Class: B.A. Part 11 Honours, Paper-111[DRAMA] Topic: Character Sketch of OLIVIA By: Prof. Sunita Sinha Head, Department of English Women’s College Samastipur L.N.M.U., Darbhanga
CHARACTER SKETCH OF OLIVIA
OLIVIA IN MOURNING
Nothing is so significant in Shakespeare’s work of art than his growing skill in the portraiture of women. The women in Shakespeare’s plays are vivid creations, each different from others. It is characteristic of nearly all Shakespeare’s comedies that his heroines continue to enthrall us with their qualities of wit, humour generosity, initiative and courage. It seems therefore, that it was Shakespeare’s portrayal of heroines in his 2 comedies that prompted Ruskin to say – “Shakespeare has no heroes; he has only heroines.” Olivia is one of the main characters in William Shakespeare's popular comedy 'Twelfth Night'. 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. Most complex comic heroine A beautiful noblewoman from Illyria, the character of Olivia in Shakespeare’s classic comedy, Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, presents her as one of his more complex comic heroines. 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 to receive any man, or to go outside, for seven years. However, when she meets Cesario (Viola in her male costume) she falls in love and forgets these oaths. Olivia seems to have no difficulty transferring her affections from one love interest to the next, however, suggesting that her romantic feelings do not run deep. The comedy opens with music being played to remind the duke of Olivia; the first scene discusses Olivia’s charms; and she is mentioned in the second scene as having lost a brother. In the third scene, Olivia's house is the setting, and in the fourth scene, Olivia is again the central subject of discussion. Thus, we hear a great deal about this important lady before we actually meet her. Intelligent Woman Olivia is presented as being essentially an intelligent woman with a number of good qualities. Her intelligence is constantly seen in the many household matters that she has to attend to. She has to contend with her drunken uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and when Malvolio presents himself in his mad garb, she feels compassion for her foolish steward. Yet, earlier 3 when Feste made fun of Malvolio, the over-serious steward, Olivia was fully capable of appreciating the clown's wit. Comparison with Viola
As Kenneth McLeish and Stephen Unwin have noted, the character of Olivia is both like and the opposite of Viola. They are both women who are liberated and restricted by the action of the play: Olivia is liberated by her realization that she loves Cesario (really Viola dressed as a boy), and confesses her excited love for Cesario. However, she feels restricted to break out from the role she adopts at the beginning of the play – that of dignified mourner for both her father and brother. The dramatic irony is that the audience knows the youth she has fallen in love with, Cesario, is really a young woman, someone she can never have, but Olivia doesn’t know at that point.
Comparison with Orsino
Olivia's mourning for her brother therefore resembles Orsino's love- melancholy: it seems more like a performance than a real, deeply felt emotion. Like Orsino, she seems to enjoy indulging in misery, and also has no problem shifting the object of love from one person to the next. She is the perfect example of the theme of Appearance versus Reality. She pretends to be mourning but in reality, falls in love with Cesario the moment she sees him/her. It is 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 in disguise).
Comparison with Malvolio Olivia most closely resembles the character of 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 4 exterior is threatened by her more playful, foolish side when she falls in love with Cesario. Similarly, Malvolio is transformed from a stern steward into a smiling, yellow-stockinged and cross-gartered would-be suitor to Olivia when he is gulled by the other characters into believing he has a chance with Olivia. Both are deceived: Cesario doesn’t really exist, and Olivia doesn’t really fancy Malvolio.The difference is that Olivia will, thanks to her chance meeting with Sebastian, get her Cesario, while Malvolio is destined to be thwarted in his desires. Impulsive lover The single quality that characterizes Olivia best is perhaps her impulsive love and her assertion of it. She is much more aggressive in the pursuit of her love than is Duke Orsino in his pursuit of Olivia. While she recognizes the duke's good qualities and acknowledges them, she is adamant in her refusals, and, thus, it is part of the comedy that the lady who has no sympathy for the duke falls so irrationally in love with a young girl disguised as a young boy. When she discovers that she has actually married young Sebastian, Viola's twin, she quickly transfers her love to him, just as Duke Orsino is able to transfer his love to Viola. Thus, we see that Olivia is one of the pivotal woman characters of the play, “Twelfth Night” who breaks out of the stereotypical role of an Elizabethan woman and emerges as one of the contemporary woman with whom the woman today can relate very easily. *** By: Prof Sunita Sinha Head, Department of English Women’s College, Samastipur L.N.M.U. Darbhanga Mob: 9934917117 E mail: [email protected] Website:www.sunitasinha.com