Twelfth Night Essay

In Scene Four of the Second Act of Twelfth Night Orsino and Viola, dressed as Cesario, listen to music and have a conversation about love and more specifically about which kind of women Viola allegedly fancies. Furthermore, Orsino gives Viola advice on what sort of woman would suit her best. In this discussion, the relationship between love and time or more accurately, the changing nature of love in the passing of time seems to play a central role. This close relationship between love and time is illustrated by the language used in the lines 13 to 40 in Act I, Scene iv. The first noticeable aspect of the language used in this conversation between Orsino and Viola, which indicates the important role of time for romantic affections, is the
Right after Curio exits the scene and Orsino and Viola listen to the music playing, Orsino informs Viola about his emotional state: ‘For such as I am, all true lovers are, unstaid and skittish in all motions else save in the constant image of the creature that is beloved.’ (II.iv.16-17) This use of unstaid, which translates to unstable in modern words, indicates that romantic feelings are not constant and can break from one moment to the next and build up again the moment after that. Later on in the conversation, Orsino’s use of language further reinforces this image of unstable and constantly changing feelings of love: ‘Our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, more longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn, than women’s are.’ (II.iv.32-35) In this sentence a cluster of adjectives is used, illustrating the instability and the changing of love, not only in nature, but also in degree and duration. Therefore, the language used in this scene underlines the thesis of love and its close connection with time playing a crucial role for Orsino’s understanding of the nature of romantic