One of the important themes that Shakespeare shares with the reader in Twelfth Night is that unrequited love makes one ache. In a way, it is prevalent to the point that it connects each of the characters in the play. On example is that Duke Orsino starts the play by stating: If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it, that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die (I.1.1-3)
Duke Orsino is lovesick over Olivia. He is desperate of Olivia’s love but she does not reciprocate the same feelings because she grieves her brother’s death. He finds it cruel that Olivia continuously rejects his passes, even though he cannot take “no” for an answer. It shows how desperate love makes him. Another example is after the scene