Happily Ever After?

After the run through we had on Tuesday night, I had a lot of questions in my mind about the ending of Twelfth Night. Of coarse, we have talked about how it is not the happiest of endings and how some of the events that take place, (namely Olivia's marriage to Sebastian) are not even valid. This brought me to think of what happens after Viola and Orsino skip off into the sunset and why he cannot acknowledge her as a woman.

First of all, it is interesting to me how quickly Orsino makes the transition from being willing to kill Cesario in order to get back at Olivia, to suggesting their marriage. Then, when all is revealed in the end, he makes it a point not to call Viola by her name or even really acknowlege that she is a woman until after he sees her in her maiden garments. Why should that have to do with anything? Orsino's last line is "But when in other habits you are seene,/ Orsino's Mistris, and his fancies Queene." It sounds to me like what Orsino really wants is another fantasy to grab onto now that Olivia is out of the picture. Orsino knows that he loves Cesario, but Viola is, in his mind, completely different territory. What if her beauty does not compare with that of Olivia's? What then will he fantasize about? He mentions marriage, but never Viola as his wife, but only his "fancies Queene." Perhaps the insistence on seeing Viola in her women's clothing is merely a test to see if she !
is worthy of his daydreams. Whatever the reasoning, I don't think Viola should start picking out new curtain and stemware for the house just yet. It gives an echo to Viola's line "Poore Lady, she were better love a dreame:" only in this scenerio, Orsino only knows how and wants to love a dream.

RANDOM FUN FACT: On Twelfth Night (January 6) 1601 - around the same time Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night - Queen Elizabeth's guest of honor was the 28 year-old Italian Duke of Bracciano named Don Virginio Orsino. Lord Chamberlain's Men performed for the Queen and the Duke that night with "a mingled comedy, with pieces of music and dances" (according to the letter the Duke Orsino wrote to his wife). Maybe an early version of Twelfth Night and some character inspiration?