How is romantic love depicted in the play?

What points does Shakespeare seem to be making

about romance?

Romantic love was a topic in which William Shakespeare focused on in the writing of his
numerous plays, one of these being the comedy, “Twelfth Night.” This romantic love could be
described as a more emotional love than that of just mere sexual attraction. In the play, some
characters who desire this love so much that it consumes them. Shakespeare writes about Duke
Orsino’s love for Lady Olivia, Viola’s love for Duke Orsino and Lady Olivia’s love for Cesario,
Olivia. These simultaneous loves lead to the formation of a love triangle involving the three priorly
mentioned characters. Shakespeare, when writing this play, depicts romantic love to be, what can be
described as a confusing mess, cluttered with the irrational decisions of characters blinded by their
own emotions, and uses it for comedic purposes.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare introduces numerous loves between character. The most
important of these is the love triangle shared between Viola, Orsino and Olivia. Shakespeare shows
these characters going to extreme lengths for romantic love. Viola sacrifices her identity as a woman
to become a man, in hopes that this may allow her to get close to the Duke Orsino. Her plan works but
Viola is then turned into a messenger of Orsino, to his love Olivia. The triangle is then completed
with the introduction of Olivia’s love for Viola’s masculine form, Cesario. In act 2 scene 2, we
witness Viola’s realization of this situation which is hysterical as she slowly unravels the hidden
messages of the ring from Olivia.
Shakespeare’s comedic representation of romantic love is used to show the disadvantages of
love. In his time, the Elizabethan Era, people were pragmatic and saw marriages to be simply an
economic transaction between different families. Romantic love was seen to be redundant as it’s
complications could possibly hinder the financial gains of the marriages at that time. The process of
romantic love includes the long lengths of time spent on courtship. This is not say that he doesn’t also
show the benefits, with the play ending with the previous conflict resolving with all characters finding
relatively happy endings to each of their respective stories.
In the play, “Twelfth Night”, romantic love is used for comedic purposes. Furthermore,
Shakespeare pokes holes in the idea of romantic love. He shows the ridiculous conflicts it may cause,
which is further amplified with the use of comedy. Shakespeare also shows the great endings it may
lead with the love triangle being resolved and everyone ending with a significant other.