The Pursuit of Love in “Twelfth Night” and “Enduring Love” Kareem Belfon 12th Grade

In both “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare and “Enduring Love” by Ian McEwan, the pursuit of love is presented within the main characters. Their attempts to pursue a relationship could be seen as romantic and passionate; however, it could also be argued that the pursuits verge on being obsessive. In the case of “Twelfth Night”, it could be argued that obsession is simply a continuation of infatuation; something that expresses deep love and true emotion. However, in “Enduring Love”, the reader is introduced to obsessive love extremely early on, with the idea of romantic love being disregarded by the reader due to the unreliable narrator. There are arguments to suggest that pursuing romantic love and obsession are both similar and separate concepts.

In “Twelfth Night”, Orsino’s pursuit for Olivia is arguably more romantic than obsessive. His pursuit for romantic love is seen to be innocent and harmless, indicating that there is a clear divide between pursuit and obsession. When Curio asks ‘Will you go hunt my lord? The hart.” Orsino replies by saying “Why, so I do, the noblest I have.” The image of Orsino hunting deer juxtaposed with the...