Twelfth Night Monologue

In Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, many soliloquies and monologues are spoken in order give important depth and details about the characters and the upcoming plot. In 1.5, a young man goes to deliver a very important message from the Duke Orsino, to a young woman Olivia, professing his undying love. Unbeknownst to the Duke, this young man Cesario is actually a woman dressing up as a man. He goes along living life depicting a man; portraying himself as very youthful, as an explanation for his feminine features . With the Duke’s message in mind, Cesario parleys the confession to the unimpressed Olivia and sets off on his way; only to be stopped by a “churlish messenger,” who proclaims that he has forgotten a ring (2.2.22). Confused and questioning, Cesario takes the ring, but “[he] left her with no ring, what means this lady?” (2.2.16). He contemplates why would this woman give him a ring, perhaps “she loves me sure/,” but she could not; unless “fortune forbid [his] outside have not charm’d her!” (2.2.17-21). These statements are showing that maybe his outside appearance is what attracted her to him, “she made good view of me, indeed, so much;” …show more content…
He then goes on to say how “our frailty is the cause, not we…,” that women cannot help who they fall in love with, especially a deceptive man in a disguise, using dramatic irony as he is referring to himself (2.2.30). Soon Cesario has a rush of guilt, “[his] master loves her dearly, and [he], poor monster, fond as much on him” (2.2.32-33). He speaks the unfortunate truth that the Duke loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario who actually loves the Duke. He leaves the soliloquy saying “O time, thou must untangle this, not I;” only time can solve this mess (2.2.39). These conclusions and statements has foreshadowed later events occurring in the