Viola Quotes

1.2, Illyria, drowned - Pure love, her first thought once she has been rescued is of her brother.

1.2, Illyria, drowned - Pure love, her first thought once she has been rescued is of her brother.

And what should I do in Illyria? My brother he is in Elysium. Perchance he is not drown’d:

1.2, conceal, aid - disguise and deception, Viola says that she should be presented as a castrated man. This shows her intelligence and resourcefulness. As well, she recognises that her energy is not well spent on flowery grieving for Sebastian, instead deciding to move on to survive.

Conceal me what I am, and be my aid \n

1.4, woo, barful – Selfless love, whilst herself is in love with Orsino, she still agrees to try and court Orsino and Olivia to the best of her ability. Putting aside her own desires to help him.

I'll do my best \n To woo your lady. [Aside] Yet, a barful strife! \n Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.

1.5, radiant, equisite – Love and desire, Viola jumps into a flowery speech pertaining to Orsino’s love, yet she almost immediately abandons it. Perhaps, through Viola, Shakespeare posits that pure love is not that of flowery prose, but pure devotion and emotion.

Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable beauty

1.5, willow cabin – Love and desire, shows how Viola has a much better understanding of what true love is than Orsino. He tells what he would do to win over Olivia’s love. In a beautiful speech he tells her that he would write endless poems of his love, sing them through the night and scream her name so loudly that the air would echo the sound of "Olivia." In her speech, Viola-As-Cesario does something Orsino cannot; she says the right thing to make Olivia fall in love. Juxtaposed against Orsino's cliche speeches on love and lust, Viola's are much more creative and subtle. She uses natural imagery, suggesting that her love is simple and truthful.

Make me a willow cabin at your gate \n And call upon my soul within the house; \n Write loyal cantons of contemned love \n And sing them loud even in the dead of night; (1.5)

2.4, daughters, house – Love and desire, disguise and deception, Viola reveals here that she is the sister, and is also dressed as a boy to keep the memory of her brother Sebastian alive.

I am all the daughters of my father’s house, \n And all the brothers too – and yet I know not. (2.4)

2.2, poor monster - Love and desire, disguise and deception, gender, Olivia has fallen in love with who she appears to be – a ‘dream’ – but the reality is unattainable. She calls herself a ‘monster’, a women dressed as a man, stuck in the void between the two genders.

My master loves her dearly; \n And I, poor monster, fond as much on him; \n And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me. \n \n (2.2, 32-35, 39-40)

2.4, green, melancholy – Melancholy, love and desire, gender and sexuality, Viola reveals her love for Orsino, and even details how this ‘sister’ never told her love.

And with a green and yellow melancholy \n She sat like Patience on a monument, \n Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? (2.4)

3.4, god, lack – Gender, disguise and deception, Viola fears that her lack of fighting ability will expose who she truly is - perhaps this is a comment on many people’s so-called fragile masculinity. That is, people fear that if they do not conform to certain standards, that they are less of a man. Especially in today’s society where people fear that their male-ness will be stripped from them as soon as they step out of these guidelines, this quote asks readers a question: what makes someone a man?

(Aside, before the duel): Pray God defend me! A little thing would make me tell them how much I lack of a man. (3.4. 276-277)

3.1 - disguise and deception, gender, In a line full of revelation and concealment, Viola reveals her true predicament, which Olivia doesn’t realise.

I am not what I am. (3.1.137)

3.1, innocence, one heart - Love and desire, disguise and deception, Viola tells Olivia that no woman will be the mistress of her heart, and doesn’t come clean.

By innocence I swear, and by my youth, I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, And that no woman has; nor never none Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.

5.1, jocund - Selfless love, Viola, although she has done no wrong, willingly puts herself up for punishment.

And I, most jocund, apt, and willingly, \n To do you rest, a thousand deaths would die. (5.1, 135-136)

Apostrophe, tangles connotes struggle

O time, thou must untangle this, not I: \n It is too hard a knot for me t’untie.