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him attractive. She states, they tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit. Do give thee five-fold blazon.
‘What is your parentage?’ ‘above my fortunes, yet my state is well:
I am a gentleman’. I’ll be sworn thou art: Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and spirit,
Do give thee five-fold blazon. Not too fast: soft, soft Unless the master were the man. – How now?
Even so quickly may one catch the plague? Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections
With an invisible and subtle stealth To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.
What, ho, Malvolio Act 1, Scene 5
Olivia is also determined to get what she wants. Instead of waiting for Cesario to pursue her, Olivia pursues him. She proposes to the man she believes
is Cesario despite traditional Elizabethan custom, which states that women are to be silent and to be pursued by a man.
Olivia obsesses over her love for Cesario until she learns Cesario is
really a woman and then she falls in love with a man named Sebastian, who is
Violas twin brother. Once Olivia gets over her grief and stops being obsessive about her emotions, she is able to fall in love.
3.3 Viola
Viola is one of the most delightful and beloved figure from the play. Surrounded by characters who express the extremes of emotionalism and
melancholy because she is caught between Orsinos extreme melancholy and Olivias aggressive emotionalism, yet she represents the norm of behavior in this
strange world of Illyria.
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As a shipwrecked who has no one to protect her, she must resort to some means whereby her safety is assured. She knows that a single woman unattended
in a foreign land would be in an extremely dangerous position. Consequently, she evaluates the sea captains character, finds it suitable, and wisely places her trust
in him, then she disguises herself as a boy so that she will be safe and have a mans freedom to move about without protection. Consequently, Viola is
immediately seen to be quick-witted enough to evaluate and to recognize the captains integrity, resourceful enough to conceive of the disguise, and practical
enough to carry out this design. Viola also has a native intelligence, an engaging wit, and an immense
amount of charm. These qualities will help her obtain her position with Duke Orsino, and they are also the same qualities which cause Lady Olivia to
immediately fall in love with her. It was her charming personality, we should remember, which won her the sea captains loyalty, without whose help her
disguise would have never succeeded. And within a short three days time, her wit, charm, loyalty, and her skill in music and conversation won for her the complete
trust of Duke Orsino. Although she is in love with the duke, she is loyal in her missions when she tries to win Lady Olivias love for him.
Violas charm lies in her simple, straightforward, good-humored personality. She could have used her disguise for all sorts of conniving, yet she is
forthright and honest in all of her dealings with Lady Olivia and with Duke Orsino. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Viola is that a young lady in
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possession of so many attributes falls in love with someone who is as moody and changeable as Orsino.
3.4 Sebastian
