Shakespeare plays are mostly known for having a huge
conflict and towards the end it works toward a “tidy” ending where social order
is restored and couples are paired off to have a happy ever after. But for the
Shakespeare play Twelfth Night it’s
quite interesting how at one point we are rooting for Oliva for going after her
man ‘Cesario’ because instead of just sitting around and waiting for him to
come to her like a typical situation that was expected from a woman during that
time by being silent. She is the one taking control by proposing to him and
also breaking away from the idea that she should marry a man of the same age
and social status. Granted “he” was really Viola it was still awesome to see a
woman character taking control of the situation and acting rebellious.
But all of that was lost towards the end of the play
because even after Viola reveals the big secret that she isn’t ‘Cesario’ but
instead a girl, one would expect to see Oliva be one to hold a grudge and
become infuriated for being the most deceived. But instead she disappoints us all
with just quickly moving on to loving, Viola’s look-alike brother Sebastian.
Who she knows nothing about because it was Viola who was the one who caught
Oliva’s eye, not Sebastian. Oliva easily was able to transfer all of her passion
for ‘Cesario’ into a relationship with Sebastian when she marries Viola's look-alike
brother.
Yet somehow her marriage to Sebastian helps to reestablish
the play's sense of social order because it leads back to how Shakespeare’s
play almost always ends with marriage and that would pretty much lead to reestablishing
the order in the world. Oliva’s character was a huge disappointment and the
ending was quite awful because it portrayed her as pretty much willing to
settle down for anyone. Which leads to the conclusion that she couldn’t become
independent but rather have a male figure in her life in order to feel a sense
of belonging.
