Twelfth Night

Olivia is a countess of Illyria and, according to popular opinion, the most beautiful woman in existence. That’s a big call, but their opinions may have been coloured by the fact that she is also the most eligible bachelorette in the country. The deaths of her father and brother have left her with a unique level of empowerment, in charge of the family money and with no man to tell her what to do. In a strongly patriarchal society, most guys seem think this is an issue, and suitors like Orsino, Sir Andrew, and even Malvolio try to take back that power.

But Olivia is more than just beautiful and uniquely rich (for a woman) – we see in her initial interaction with ‘Cesario’ that she’s smart, sassy, and independent. She doesn’t want to marry someone of a higher social status, because she wants to maintain power within her relationship when she does decide to marry.

From a feminist perspective, Olivia’s values and empowerment are admirable. However, Olivia is so preoccupied with her self-imposed seven years of mourning that she cannot use her unique position to engage with and enjoy the world around her. In her own way, Olivia begins the play just as self-absorbed as Orsino. That’s not to say that she shouldn’t grieve her brother’s death, but shutting herself away from the world for seven years? She herself admits to being bored when Feste shows up (“for want of other idleness”), and seems happy enough for him to point out that her reaction is a bit excessive. Thus Shakespeare demonstrates that love which cannot be reciprocated by another person is detrimental.

But Viola comes along to steal Olivia’s heart and drag her out of her slump. Olivia’s feelings for ‘Cesario’ demonstrates a few important principles about love. Her explanation of what exactly she has fallen for – “thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit” – show that she is infatuated with Cesario as a full person, not merely for his appearance. However appearance is a part of it, and thus it is suggested that androgyny can be attractive. Furthermore, Olivia declares that these qualities “give [Cesario] fivefold blazon,” implying that his traits make him as worthy as someone from a noble family. Thus Shakespeare presents through Olivia the concept that true love (as opposed to purely physical or opportunistic attraction) may disregard, gender, class, and also age (she describes him as a “youth”, implying he is younger than her).

As though her independence, smarts, and attraction to Cesario weren’t socially transgressive enough, Olivia takes it a step further. Rather than moping about, merely daydreaming about him, she proactively pursues and proposes to him. At this point, Olivia couldn’t be farther from the traditional Elizabethan notions of the "ideal" woman who is silent, chaste, and obedient. All of this makes Olivia just as unruly and rebellious in her own way as characters like Sir Toby and Maria, adding to all of the ‘misrule’ of the play.

In portraying strong, intelligent, independent female characters like Olivia Shakespeare helped abolish one-dimensional stereotypes about women. However, they do all still end up married off. For Olivia this means giving up her independence and wealth to essentially a stranger, as she marries Viola’s twin brother Sebastian by mistake. This ultimately results in the restoration of societal norms of heterosexuality, patriarchy, and class.