ORSINO

duke of Illyria in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Orsino is a conventional, self-indulgent nobleman who is often overcome by emotion and romantic feeling, as is evident in the opening lines of the play: If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken and so die. That strain again! It had a dying fall; O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odor. Although Orsino is inclined to extravagant declarations of love for an unattainable object, his deep friendship for Cesario (the disguised Viola) allows him to appreciate Viola's personality and, when her true identity is revealed, to take a more natural approach to love.