Shallow Love in Twelfth Night

In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, there are many different characters who claim to be madly in love with another character. The love displayed in this play is very manipulated by shallow physical attractions. There are three people who change their affections quickly due to physical motives; Olivia, Orsino and Sebastian. This fast change of love proves that love in this play is shallow.

Olivia’s love is superficial because she claims to love Cesario, but when she finds Sebastian, her feelings change.  She shifts her love from Cesario to Sebastian within a matter of minutes. Even though she believes that Sebastian is Cesario, someone who is truly in love should be able to tell who they love.     

Orsino’s love for Olivia is also shallow. His love switches quickly to Viola when he figures out that she is a woman. This is comical and hypocritical of him because at the beginning of the play he claims that his love comes from within and women are incapable of loving that way.  His switch of love is awkward because he thought that she was a boy for so long and now he is going to marry her. This proves that Orsino’s love for Olivia is shallow because he goes back on his word to love her and switches to Viola. Sebastian’s love for Olivia is also shallow. He marries her simply because she is wealthy and beautiful.

                The love displayed in Twelfth Night, is not true love but rather shallow love. Olivia, Orsino and Sebastian all exhibit this superficial theme by either falling in love quickly or changing their affections quickly. This shallow love makes one question the realistic quality of this play. If love is so quickly shifted, how can it be true?