Types of love in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
             In the Play Twelfth Night one of the most obvious themes of the play to be explored is the theme of love.Each of the major characters finds love or is searching for it. Shakespeare use the characters to demonstrate and explore different types of love, along with the trouble love can cause.
             In the opening scene of the play the Duke expresses his feelings of love
             " If music be the food of love play on, give me excess of it, that , surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die ......"
             It appears form this quote that Orsino is in love with the idea of being in love. His speech is full of melodramatic words which show that he is over indulgent of love. His feelings of love for Olivia are so intense that he seems overwhelmed by his thoughts of her. As Orsino feels so fanatical about pursuing Olivia, you could claim that he is obsessed with her. The Duke is drawn to an emotion which he believes is love. In doing so he has created a false image of her and so really is in love with an illusion that he puts Olivia's name to. Orsino does not seem to know Olivia's personality. The Duke is drawn to Olivia because of what she can offer her status wealth and beauty " O when mine eyes did see Olivia first , Me thought she purged the air of pestilence ". He feels that marrying Olivia would bring him ultimate happiness.
             The Duke finds it hard to differentiate between feelings of love and physical attraction. This is shown when he is talking to Cesario about his thoughts on women in Act 2 scene 4 .
             " For women are as roses whos fair flower, Being once displayed doth fall that very hours".
             His philosophy is that womens beauty fades with time. The Duke adores Olivia for what she can offer him as he is very status conscious. He also finds her beautiful but apart from the physical attraction he has no other basis for falling in love with her.
             "But tis that miracle and quee...