SOURCE: A review of Twelfth Night in The New York Tribune, February 22, 1893, pp. 6-7.

"I'll serve this Duke." In those simple words the bereaved and shipwrecked Viola, who must begin life anew, reveals something more than her intention, because she also reveals the steadfast quality—blending patient endurance with buoyant self-control—of her lovely character. Concerning the Duke Orsino she knows only that he is reputed noble; that he is a bachelor, and that he loves the Lady Olivia, who is mourning the death of her father and brothers, and will admit no one to her presence. Viola is not impelled by passion, or by sentiment, or even by curiosity. She must find a new home, and she must obtain subsistence. Her first impulse is to serve the Lady Olivia; but that plan is rejected as impracticable. She will seek service in the household of the Duke—for...