Twelfth Night- Viola
Comments(2) Twelfth Night ended with a wedding, and the absurdity of the love triangle…square… pentagon is one that finally gets a resolution. I for whatever reason have some unresolved feelings. I cannot help but question the motives of Viola. It’s a line she says to Olivia in Act 3 Scene 4, “Nothing but this: your true love for my master.” At this point we already know Viola, is hopelessly in love with Duke, so why does she still play along? Why does she insist that Olivia give her hand to the Duke? Is it that she could be so in love with the Duke, that she only wants to see his happiness come to fruition? Or is it something more sinister? Does she say this to Olivia, only because she knows Olivia will never do such a thing? I am also a little skeptical of the ending, in which Viola does end up with Duke. She oddly has little to no lines after the Duke claims her as his mistress/queen. For someone who has been the driving force behind the entire plot of this play, to suddenly be silenced seems odd.
I understand your point. I felt in a similar way with you about the ending. As we know, Shakespeare loves happy endings and most of his works which have happy endings end with a happy marriage and a big wedding scene. I felt it was an expression of love for Viola to continue her arguments with Olivia and the Duke. As you mentioned, I felt that it was because she was so in love with the Duke, there was nothing else for her to pray for his happiness, even she cannot be there with him.
Shakespeare’s endings are very interesting. I think its important for a playwright to keep his audience on their toes. By ending the play this way, he injects the truth of reality into the minds of his viewers. Sometimes we simply cannot get the ending we want and we have to figure out why Shakespeare ended it this way.