Shakes

I'm working on a paper for my Shakespeare class. I've decided to write about the idea of intentionally suspended desire, why we do it, and why it's wrong all in relation to Orsino and Olivia's relationship in 12th Night. These are my newest thoughts on the subject, many thanks to the Oracle:

Peace is something that we all (should) seek. I would argue that everyone wants it, but that some people have such a wrong idea about how to bring it about that it appears as though they love chaos. Peace seems to be something that's also easier to achieve the fewer variables you have in the mix, like other people. It's reasonable to assume that Orsino had had previous relationships with other women that apparently hadn't worked out, since here he is courting Olivia. He's aware of the difficulty that comes with entanglements with others in bringing about peace. I'm supposing that after his first rejection from Olivia, he felt a kind of comfort that he hadn't thought about before: Here, I can constantly profess my love for this person, but they'll never give in. I'm safe. Orsino is staying in this state as a means of protection, of keeping himself comfortable in a state of suspended desire.

Olivia isn't blameless in this either, but her method of self-protection is a little more obvious I think. She has vowed to love no one for the next seven years in grieving her dead brother. She's taken a similar view as Augustine, when he said in his Confessions that all things of this world pass away, and to give your heart to anything here is to invite misery. Olivia seems to have loved her brother very much, and now wracked with the misery of losing him has vowed to keep herself from attachment again. Basically, I've been hurt before, so no intimacy for me thank you very much.