Character Sketch of Duke Orsino

 

Duke Orsino is one of the main characters in Shakespeare's play.  Of all the characters in the play, his social rank is the highest. He begins the play with a declaration that if music is the food of love, play on. 

The play is set in Illyria, where Duke Orsino is the ruler. Orsino is helplessly in love with a noblewoman by the name of Olivia. She is mourning the loss of her brother. In Elizabethan society, women had to obey their fathers in choosing their future husbands, but we have to realize that Olivia is free to choose her man because he has no father and no brother.

Orsino, however, is undeterred. Orsino hires a page to deliver his messages of love to Olivia. Unbeknownst to the duke, Cesario's real name is Viola, and she is only posing as a man. Viola is the main protagonist in Twelfth Night and much of the story is told through her perspective. Shortly after being hired by Orsino, Viola falls in love with the duke. She is unsure how to pursue her feelings, however, because Orsino believes her to be a man. 

Throughout the play Orsino complains about his unrequited love, causing him to fall into a state of melancholy. All the while, he has no idea that he has an admirer of his own. Duke Orsino is moody. He represents the tradition of courtly love of the Elizabethan age perfectly. He is a good ruler because a sea captain describes him as “a noble duke, in nature as in name.” His language is literary whenever he speaks on elevated matters such as love. It tells us about his knowledge. At the same time, it also tells us of his self-love because it seems like he enjoys listening to himself.

To complicate matters further, while Viola, under the guise of Cesario, is delivering Orsino's messages, she catches the eye of Olivia. Olivia falls in love with whom she believes to be the young and dashing Cesario, thus completing the love triangle. Orsino loves Olivia, Viola loves Orsino, and Olivia loves Viola.

Despite his often-professed love for Olivia, Orsino becomes quite fond of his newly hired page. The romantic entanglement comes to a head when Orsino travels with Cesario (Viola) to visit Olivia himself. Upon arrival, Olivia greets Cesario as her husband. Orsino is outraged, but all is resolved when Viola's twin brother, Sebastian, enters the scene. Olivia had in fact married Sebastian, thinking he was Cesario. Viola then reveals her true identity, and Orsino realizes that he has been in love with Viola the whole time. The play ends happily with Orsino and Viola becoming a couple. 

Orsino’s mind is immature. The clown in the play describes it as “for thy mind is very opal.” He is very moody while dealing with things in day-to-day life. His aggressive manliness has been turned upside down to reveal how comic it actually is. He shows maturity when he describes his bravery of Antonio even though he used to be his enemy. He corrects his pretention when he accepts his affected declaration of love for Olivia, takes Viola as his wife, and accepts her love. 

The duke is, however, according to Olivia and others, a perfect gentleman. He is handsome, brave, courtly, virtuous, noble, wealthy, gracious, loyal and devoted —he is everything a young lady could wish for in a husband. This ultimately makes it believable that Viola falls in love with him immediately.