I believe that Shakespeare meant to show that love can make people both crazy and blind. Shakespeare shows how far some people will go to get love, for instance how far Olivia will go to get Cesario or how far Orsino will go to get Olivia. Malvolio really shows how far he will go for Olivia’s love when he dresses up in yellow stockings and acts crazy just to follow her instructions in a letter. Love makes people do crazy things and go to crazy lengths. Shakespeare shows this well in many cases in this story, but especially through Malvolio’s pursuit of Olivia.
The second thing that Shakespeare portrays throughout this play is that love is blind. He shows this through the flirting that happens between Viola (as Cesario) and Orsino. They flirt and show affection for each other but they cannot be together because they are both men. Also, how Olivia falls for Cesario without even knowing him. She just falls in love instantly without taking the time to see who he really was. Sebastian does this too when he marries Olivia without even getting to know her. He sees a beautiful woman and just marries her because he falls in love right then and there. This play is also about love at first sight. Sebastian falls in love at first sight, just as Orsino does at the end of the play when he falls in love with Viola.
This play conflicts with my views on love in many ways. For instance, I do not believe that love is something that can happen easily. I think that you should get to know someone before you fall in love with them; you cannot just be in love without knowing the person first. Looks are the only thing that most of these characters have to base their significant others off of. Very few actually spend the time to get to know the people they plan to marry before doing so. I also think that it is crazy that these characters work so hard for people that they do not even know. Malvolio worked so incredibly hard to win over Olivia when he was not even sure of her feelings for him. He destroyed his pride and his life by doing the crazy things that he did to win her over, and in the end he is alone. Viola also almost gives up her disguise on multiple occasions because everything is overshadowed by how much she loves Orsino in her mind.
These characters fail to look at love logically before they commit themselves to their lovers for life. It might seem romantic, but at the same time it is complete ludicrous. Although the play is adorable, it gives the illusion that once someone finds love, that’s it and there will be no issues to follow. I do not believe this is true. I think that even though Shakespeare shows how difficult it can be to find love, he fails to show that it isn’t always easy after that initial feat. As cute as the play was, it was indeed misleading and unrealistic. (521)
