What are Orsino's first lines in Twelfth Night?
it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour!
The play's opening speech includes one of its most famous lines, as the unhappy, lovesick Orsino tells his servants and musicians, “If music be the food of love, play on.” In the speech that follows, Orsino asks for the musicians to give him so much musical love-food that he will overdose (“surfeit”) and cease to ...
in "Twelfth Night" Total: 59.
Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, is sitting in his palace and enjoying himself by listening to music. He is in love and is in a whimsical, romantic mood, luxuriating in the various emotions which the music evokes.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
In Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, the play opens with Duke Orsino seated gloomily in his chair listening to the sad strains of music played for him. He is unhappy because he cannot get what he wants.
The opening scene of the play introduces Orsino, Duke of Illyria, listening to music and talking about his love for Olivia.
| ACT II SCENE IV | DUKE ORSINO'S palace. |
|---|---|
| Than women's are. | |
| VIOLA | I think it well, my lord. |
| DUKE ORSINO | Then let thy love be younger than thyself, |
| Or thy affection cannot hold the bent; |
In this scene, Duke Orsino is moping around his court as usual, brooding about his unrequited love for Olivia. As in the first scene of the play, he plans to relieve his feelings by listening to sad songs. Notably, he calls for Feste, who is a member of Olivia's household, to sing it.
While his love is constant, he insists, a woman's love suffers “surfeit, cloyment, and revolt.” This speech shows the extent of Orsino's self-involvement by demonstrating that he cares only about his own emotions and assumes that whatever Olivia feels, it cannot “compare” to his own feelings for her.
Does Orsino speak in verse?
The noble-born Orsino and Viola speak in verse (which end in rhyming couplets) while Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew speak in prose. However, once Viola has disguised herself as Cesario, she speaks both verse and prose.
Orsino insists that women cannot love as strongly as men. Viola/Cesario again argues, telling him the story of her 'father's daughter' who loved a man with a great passion but 'never told her love'.
He is handsome, brave, courtly, virtuous, noble, wealthy, gracious, loyal and devoted — in short, he is everything a young lady could wish for in a husband. This is ultimately what makes it believeable that Viola does fall in love with him immediately.
Another answer to this question is that Viola falls for Orsino because he's passionate and poetic. (He may be a bad poet, but he's a poet nonetheless.) Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: Viola's love, unlike the passions of other characters in the play, is constant and true.
Orsino is impressed by Viola's courage and intelligence, especially once he learns she's a woman of nobility.
A jury consisting of 1,500 film artists, critics, and historians selected "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", spoken by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in the 1939 American Civil War epic Gone with the Wind, as the most memorable American movie quotation of all time.
- Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about. - ...
- Life is a long lesson in humility. - ...
- In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. - ...
- Love the life you live. ...
- Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. -
Stanley Uris: When you're a kid, you think that you'll always be... protected, and cared for. Then, one day, you realize that's not true.
Orsino wants to make very clear that he loves Olivia for herself and not for her wealth. Orsino comes across as dramatic, suggesting he will hurt Cesario because Olivia loves him.
Orsino is a lovesick melancholic who seems to relish in Oliva's constant, painful rejection of him.
Is Orsino a man or woman?
Orsino is the Duke of Illyria. He is a powerful nobleman who is trustworthy and kind to everyone he meets. A bachelor, Orsino is in love with the beautiful Lady Olivia, and he constantly compares his love for her with music. Duke Orsino is a man with high romantic imagination and is a melancholy lover.
Synopsis: On the Adriatic seacoast, Viola, who has been saved from a shipwreck in which her brother may have drowned, hears about Orsino and Olivia. She wishes to join Olivia's household, but is told that Olivia will admit no one into her presence.
He is more concerned with himself as lover than with the object of his love, suggesting he is narcissistic. In the opening scene he imagines that he will eventually be king (I. 1.39) of Olivia's affections, suggesting a marital hierarchy rather than mutuality.
In the first scene of Twelfth Night, we hear that Orsino, a duke, is head over heels in love with a woman named Olivia, whom he has not actually met. Valentine comes and tells him that her maid said Olivia is too sad over her brother's death to see anyone, let alone enter into a relationship with someone.
Orsino begins: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Orsino admits that he himself is very fond of Cesario, but it is more important that he have his revenge against Olivia. He accuses Olivia of being cruel and spiteful despite her beautiful appearance, comparing her to a raven hidden inside the appearance of a dove.
Viola, separated from her twin Sebastian, dresses as a boy and works for the Duke Orsino, whom she falls in love with.
Character Analysis of Duke Orsino: Lovesick
He has seen Olivia, and the very sight of her has fascinated him to such an extent that his romantic imagination convinces him that he will die if she does not agree to be his wife.
Part of the comic situation here involves the dramatic irony that Viola (in disguise) is forced to try to win Olivia for Duke Orsino when in reality, she would like to shed her disguise and be his wife herself.
Changes in character
He starts the play by asking Cesario (Viola) to woo Olivia on his behalf. Despite his proclaimed love for Olivia, he is willing to be spiteful to her when he discovers that she has married Cesario. Orsino switches his love easily from Olivia to Viola.
How would you describe Orsino in Twelfth Night?
He is handsome, brave, courtly, virtuous, noble, wealthy, gracious, loyal and devoted — in short, he is everything a young lady could wish for in a husband. This is ultimately what makes it believeable that Viola does fall in love with him immediately.
Orsino insists that women cannot love as strongly as men. Viola/Cesario again argues, telling him the story of her 'father's daughter' who loved a man with a great passion but 'never told her love'.
Orsino is impressed by Viola's courage and intelligence, especially once he learns she's a woman of nobility.
Orsino is the Duke of Illyria. He is a powerful nobleman who is trustworthy and kind to everyone he meets. A bachelor, Orsino is in love with the beautiful Lady Olivia, and he constantly compares his love for her with music. Duke Orsino is a man with high romantic imagination and is a melancholy lover.
My desires, like fell and cruel hounds / E'er since pursue me (1.1.) Orsino describes how he fell in love with Olivia. He compares himself to a deer being hunted by hounds to describe how painful and stressful he finds it to love a woman who does not seem to reciprocate his feelings.
The most number of lines is spoken by Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, who has 343 lines. A close second is Viola who has a total of 335 lines.
Orsino is in love with the Countess Olivia, and sends Viola to court her for him, but Olivia falls for Viola instead. Sebastian arrives, causing a flood of mistaken identity, and marries Olivia. Viola then reveals she is a girl and marries Orsino.