Notes

n the play, Twelfth Night, we can see that Orsino’s romantic infatuation for Olivia leads to sentimental his own self-absorption. We can see this by the quote, “ If music be the food of love, play on, /Give me excess of it, that surfeiting, /he appetite may sicken and so die.”. Here Orsino is relating music to love. Too much or excess music, meaning over-indulgence in music is actually being compared with overeating food. Just like how overeating makes one feel sick, over-indulgence in music in this case, over-indulgence in love for Olivia makes one lovesick and desperate. From another quote, “ Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers” tells us that he needs his surroundings to be very romantic to be able to love. Orsino seems to love Olivia only in such conditions and he feels that his so strong for her that even in a short period of time, his love is so full of fancies. This clearly shows us that his love is actually infatuation for Olivia, as none’s love gets strong within just a short period of time. “O sprit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,” tells us that Orsino is saying that lovers are so hungry that for their lovers that that other good things in life seem to lose their value. The lover is completely wrapped up in his own fertile and intense imagination. This tells us that his love for Olivia is a self-absorbed love.