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Orsino
A beautiful noblewoman in Illyria. At the beginning of the play, she has rejected both Orsino and her ridiculous suitor, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. In mourning for her recently deceased brother, she has vowed not to receive any man, or to go outside, for seven years. However, when she meets Cesario (Viola in her male costume) she falls in love and forgets these oaths. Olivia's mourning for her brother therefore resembles Orsino's love-melancholy: it seems more like a performance than a real, deeply felt emotion. Like Orsino, she seems to enjoy indulging in misery, and also has no problem shifting the object of love from one person to the next.
Olivia Quotes in Twelfth Night
The Twelfth Night quotes below are all either spoken by Olivia or refer to Olivia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, scene 5
Quotes
Lady, you are the cruell'st she alive
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.
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Make me a willow cabin at your gate
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out 'Olivia!' O, You should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out 'Olivia!' O, You should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.
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Act 2, scene 5
Quotes
Be not afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
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Act 3, scene 1
Quotes
O world! how apt the poor are to be proud.
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Act 3, scene 4
Quotes
Why, this is very midsummer madness.
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Act 5, scene 1
Quotes
Why have you suffered me to be imprisoned,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention played on? Tell me why.
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention played on? Tell me why.
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Get the entire Twelfth Night LitChart as a printable PDF.
Olivia Quotes in Twelfth Night
The Twelfth Night quotes below are all either spoken by Olivia or refer to Olivia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1, scene 5
Quotes
Lady, you are the cruell'st she alive
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.
If you will lead these graces to the grave
And leave the world no copy.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Make me a willow cabin at your gate
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out 'Olivia!' O, You should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out 'Olivia!' O, You should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, scene 5
Quotes
Be not afraid of greatness: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, scene 1
Quotes
O world! how apt the poor are to be proud.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, scene 4
Quotes
Why, this is very midsummer madness.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 5, scene 1
Quotes
Why have you suffered me to be imprisoned,
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention played on? Tell me why.
Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest,
And made the most notorious geck and gull
That e'er invention played on? Tell me why.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
