If the duke continue these favours towards you, Cesario, you are like
to be much advanced; he hath known you but three days, and already you
are no stranger.
If the Duke keeps favoring you, Cesario, you're going to rise high in his service. He's known you for only three days, and yet you're already like one of his trusted companions.
If the Duke keeps liking you, you're going to go far. He's only known you for three days and already you're basically an insider.
dukes gonna promote u soon. only known u 3 days nd already trusts u
You either fear his humour or my negligence, that you call in question
the continuance of his love. Is he inconstant, sir, in his favours?
Either you're worried about the Duke's mood or you think I'm doing something wrong, since you're questioning whether his kindness toward me will last. Is he the type to change his mind easily about whom he favors?
You think the Duke's just going to get bored with me, or maybe you think I'm messing up somehow. Is he the kind of guy who drops people, or what?
you don't trust his vibes or think i'm messing up is he actually a flake with his favorites?
No, believe me.
No, I'm certain of it.
No, he's loyal.
nah hes loyal
Valentine tells us Viola has been in Orsino's service only three days. In that time, the Duke has opened 'the book of his secret soul' to her and is now sending her on his most personal errand. The speed is deliberate. Illyria runs on desire and passion; time moves differently here than in the real world. This is consistent with the play's broader theme: things happen in Twelfth Night with the velocity of infatuation. Olivia will fall for Cesario in one meeting. Sebastian will agree to marry a stranger the same day he meets her. Orsino will pivot his love from Olivia to Viola in the course of a single final scene. The play understands that desire doesn't wait — and Illyria honors that.
I thank you. Here comes the Count.
I thank you for that. Here comes the Duke.
Thanks. Here comes the Duke.
thanks here he comes
Who saw Cesario, ho?
Has anyone seen Cesario?
Where's Cesario?
cesario? anyone seen him?
On your attendance, my lord, here.
I'm at your service, my lord; I'm right here.
I'm here and ready to help, my lord.
i'm here for you, my lord
Orsino describes Cesario as having a 'maiden's organ' and looking like 'a woman's part' — and uses this as the reason Viola will be a good ambassador of love. He's right, but entirely wrong about why. She'll be effective with Olivia not because she looks young and unthreatening, but because she genuinely is a woman, genuinely understands romantic longing, and will accidentally be charming in a way no male messenger could be. Orsino's blindness here is the play's central joke taken to its peak: he sends a woman to woo a woman, thinking he's sending a boy. Every advantage he identifies is an advantage Viola has for a reason he doesn't know. The play will spend three acts making him gradually realize what he almost sees right here.
Stand you awhile aloof.—Cesario,
Thou know’st no less but all; I have unclasp’d
To thee the book even of my secret soul.
Therefore, good youth, address thy gait unto her,
Be not denied access, stand at her doors,
And tell them, there thy fixed foot shall grow
Till thou have audience.
You stand aside for a moment, Cesario. You know all my secrets; I've revealed my innermost heart to you. So, good youth, go to her house. Don't accept being turned away; stand at her doors and tell them you won't move from that spot until you get to see her.
Hang back a second, Cesario. You know everything about me—I've completely opened up to you about who I really am. So here's what I need: go to her house and don't take no for an answer. Camp out at her door if you have to. Tell them you're not leaving until you get a chance to talk to her.
step back cesario you know all my secrets go to her house don't leave till she sees you
Sure, my noble lord,
If she be so abandon’d to her sorrow
As it is spoke, she never will admit me.
Yes, my lord, but if Olivia is as devoted to her grief as people say, she'll never agree to see me.
I hear you, my lord, but from what people say, Olivia's so wrapped up in her sadness that she's not going to let me in.
but she's so deep in grief she won't even let me see her
Be clamorous and leap all civil bounds,
Rather than make unprofited return.
Be loud and clamorous; leap over all limits of civility and proper behavior, rather than come back having accomplished nothing.
Make noise, push boundaries, do whatever it takes—just don't come back here with nothing to show for it.
be loud, break the rules anything but fail
Say I do speak with her, my lord, what then?
If I do manage to speak with her, my lord, what should I do then?
Okay, but what do I do if I actually get to talk to her?
if i get to talk to her, what do i say?
When Viola speaks her aside — 'yet, a barful strife! Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife' — she steps out of the fictional scene and into the audience's confidence. This is one of theatre's most powerful tools: the character who tells us what they can't tell anyone else. In Shakespeare's theatre, this was especially potent because there was no fourth wall — the groundlings were two feet from the stage, and an actor speaking a whispered aside was genuinely confiding in them. The aside creates complicity. We now know something no one else in the play knows: Viola is in love with Orsino. That knowledge will make every subsequent scene with the two of them almost unbearable, because we know what's at stake while he doesn't.
O then unfold the passion of my love,
Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith;
It shall become thee well to act my woes;
She will attend it better in thy youth,
Than in a nuncio’s of more grave aspect.
Then tell her about my passionate love and astound her with stories of my genuine devotion. You're well-suited to express my suffering; she'll listen better to a young person like you than to an official messenger with a more serious bearing.
Then tell her how much I'm in love with her and hit her with all these stories about how genuine my feelings are. You're perfect for this—she'll actually listen to a young guy like you way more than she would to some stiff old diplomat.
tell her i love her make her believe it your youth will work better than any official would
I think not so, my lord.
I don't think that's true, my lord.
I don't think that's right, my lord.
i don't think so
Dear lad, believe it;
For they shall yet belie thy happy years,
That say thou art a man: Diana’s lip
Is not more smooth and rubious; thy small pipe
Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a woman’s part.
I know thy constellation is right apt
For this affair. Some four or five attend him:
All, if you will; for I myself am best
When least in company. Prosper well in this,
And thou shalt live as freely as thy lord,
To call his fortunes thine.
Dear boy, believe me. People will later deny that you're a man—Diana's lips aren't smoother or redder; your voice is like a young woman's, high and clear, and everything about you resembles a woman's appearance. I know you're naturally suited for this task. Bring a few attendants if you like, or as many as you want; I myself prefer being alone most of the time. Do well in this, and you'll live as freely as I do, able to claim my fortunes as your own.
Come on, believe me, kid. Nobody's going to believe you're a man—even Diana's lips aren't softer or more red than yours. Your voice sounds exactly like a girl's, clear and sweet, and honestly, you look like a girl in every way. You're literally made for this job. Take a few people with you if you want, or bring whoever—I don't care. I like being by myself anyway. Do this right, and you're going to live great, having everything I have as your own.
believe me you look like a girl your voice is perfect you're made for this do good and share my fortune
I’ll do my best
To woo your lady. [_Aside._] Yet, a barful strife!
Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.
I'll do my best to win your lady for you. Yet what a difficult struggle this will be! Whoever I'm trying to win for him, I'd rather be married to him myself.
I'll do everything I can to win her over for you. Man, this is going to be torture though. Because honestly? Whoever I'm supposed to be getting for him, I'd rather marry him.
i'll try to get her for you but i actually want you
The Reckoning
This is the scene where the trap closes on Viola. She has been in the Duke's service just three days and already he trusts her with his deepest secrets and his most important errand. The dramatic irony is almost unbearable: Orsino sends the woman who loves him to woo the woman who will never love him. Viola agrees, because she has no choice. The aside at the end — 'yet, a barful strife! / Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife' — lands with quiet devastation. She's going to do her job perfectly, which will only make her situation worse.
If this happened today…
You've been at a new job three days and your boss — who is brilliant, charismatic, and exactly your type — already trusts you more than anyone on his team. He pulls you aside and says: 'I need you to personally reach out to this person I'm in love with and convince her to date me. You're perfect for this because you're young and charming.' You smile and say yes, because what else do you do? Then you sit in your car for a minute before you start the engine.