Twelfth Night

In the play Twelfth Night Shakespeare shows how anyone can be blinded by love and act so impulsively to satisfy their appetite for love, that often they fall in love with a fade rather then the person behind the disguise. Also Shakespeare also shows how people are apt to ignore the evidence that disproves the disguise they have fallen in love with. Almost all of the characters in Twelfth Night fell in love with a disguise; I will detail the confusing relationships and disguises used in the play to show the blindness of love. Olivia is easily the largest victim to love and disguise. Olivia quickly falls in love with Viola, who is disguised as Cesario. Olivia realizes how far from manly Cesario is, he has very effeminate features and lack of any facial hair. Olivia disregards these features and believes that he maybe just a eunuch. Olivia is obviously blinded by love in this case for a number of reasons; she ignores the evidence that points to Cesario as actually being a female. Second she justifies his features as him just being a eunuch, but never really addresses the issue that she is in love with a eunuch who of course would never be able to sexually please her or give her children. Whether Cesario is really a woman or if he is a eunuch, the love that Olivia has is futile and unrealistic. When Sebastian, Viola's brother, encounters Olivia for the first time, she believes that this is Cesario and gains the courage to ask for his hand in marriage. Once again this is evidence of how blinded by love Olivia is, she believes that Sebastian is the person she is in love with when really he is a stranger and she disregards his comments about not knowing her. Later in the play, when Viola reveals herself, Olivia's reaction to this is very calm for she has married the disguise that she has fallen in love with. Antonio, the friend of Sebastian, falls deeply in love with Sebastian after caring for him for so long after the shipwreck. Antonio never considers the thought that Sebastian may not love him back because Antonio is so focused on his love. Antonio is unrelenting with his love towards Sebastian to the point that he risks his life by accompanying him to Illyria, where he is a wanted man. The disguise that Sebastion wears is not one he deliberately puts on, but one that Antonio places on him to disguise any signs that his love may be one sided. Finally the disguise is violently torn away when Antonio learns that Sebastian has married Olivia so abruptly. Malvolio is deeply in love with Olivia, whom he is a servant to. He has often received negative signals from her, but he does not pay attention to them. Malvolio receives a note that Maria left for him as a trick and Malvolio quickly believes that it is from Olivia to him. Malvolio is so content with the idea of Olivia finally showing her affection for him that he doesn't question why, in the note, she asks him to act so oddly or hear the snickering of the pranksters watching him. There is also the