Source: "Shakespeare's Female Twins in Twelfth

Night: In Defense of Olivia" in English Studies in Canada, Vol. XIII, No.1, March, 1987, pp. 23-34.

[Parker outlines the parallels between Olivia and Viola in Twelfth Night, regarding them as non-genetic twins. He begins by describing the similarities between the characters: their loss of fathers and brothers, their respective disguises, and their pursuit of unrequited love. Viola relates to Olivia's inability to love Orsino because of her own inability to love Olivia. In her frustration with the situation, she communicates to them both the consequences of refusing to accept love. The Critic demonstrates how Olivia and Viola are intellectual equals and that Olivia falls in love with Viola because of the qualities in herself that she sees Viola mirror back. The women also recognize that the are both intellectually bested by Feste, accept it with good humor, and are the only...