Also: Duke Orsino, also known as the Count
Orsino is the duke of Illyria. It is to Duke Orsino that Shakespeare assigns the highest poetical lines of Twelfth Night, the ruler of Illyria being given to philosophical statements in lyrical terms. There is, in this, a certain self-consciousness. Nevertheless, the Duke is basically a good fellow who bonds with the lost Cesario and pardons Antonio. Like Olivia, the Duke is fickle, for he quickly embraces the revealed Viola and forgets about Olivia as soon as the mechanical confusion of the play is resolved.
Although...
Source: Shakespeare for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 721 words.)
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