“But if you were the devil, you are fair.”
Por qué es buena
It grants beauty and suspicion in one breath, so the compliment cannot be taken at face value.
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literary
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If you were a stranger, you would still be rude.
00:00 / 03:34
00:00 / 03:34
Olivia Refuses the Duke's Suit, Explained
Twelfth Night · 2012
Capítulo 6 de 25 · 3'34"
Cesario brings Orsino's love and finds Olivia unmoved. She turns the praise back on the messenger with a joke: "I see you what you are. You are too proud." Her answer is flat and final — "I cannot love him" — yet she cannot stop listening, and asks the young man to come again.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:49–1:29
❝ Monólogo · 5 frases Olivia Turns Down the Duke's Suit
40s
Olivia Refuses the Duke's Suit, explained
What happens
Cesario delivers Duke Orsino's compliments to Olivia, calling her cruel for hiding her beauty from the world. Olivia refuses the suit firmly: 'I cannot love him.' Undeterred, Cesario describes what he would do if he loved her — build a willow cabin at her gate, sing all night, and call her name to the hills. Olivia is moved but still sends him back to his lord.
What's really going on
The scene turns a formal courtship into something more interesting: a refusal that isn't quite a refusal. Olivia lists Orsino's virtues at length — noble, wealthy, young, brave — and then cancels them all with one line: "But yet, I cannot love him." She is not playing hard to get; she means it. What changes the temperature is Cesario's speech about the willow cabin, where love becomes singing all night and calling a name to the hills. It is poetic, a little theatrical, and clearly not about Orsino at all — Cesario is imagining devotion itself. Olivia hears it and immediately softens, inventing a reason to see the messenger again. The comedy and the romance both sit in the gap between the polished embassy and the real feelings underneath it.
Key lines & what they mean
- “But if you were the devil, you are fair.”
- Cesario admits Olivia is beautiful even if she is proud: her looks win even when her character is suspect.
- “'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white nature's own sweet and cunning high and laid on.”
- A courtly compliment: her beauty looks mixed by nature itself, not painted on, which is the highest praise in this play.
- “Oh, you should not rest between the elements of air and Earth, but you should pity me.”
- Cesario's dramatic plea: he swears she will find no peace until she takes pity on him.
- “Oh, such love could be but recompense though you were crowned the nonpareil of beauty.”
- He says even if she were crowned the most beautiful woman alive, Orsino's love would be only what she deserves.
- “Lady, you are the cruellest she alive”
- A flirtatious accusation: by refusing to love and marry, she wastes her beauty on the grave instead of passing it on.
Theme
- Romance — Cesario's willow-cabin speech is more passionate than the message he was sent to deliver, and Olivia responds to it.
- Identity — Viola speaks of love for a woman while dressed as a man, so every line means two things at once.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel1/8
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white nature's own sweet and cunning high and laid on.”
Por qué es buena
It paints beauty as something nature mixed and laid on, which beats any plain compliment.
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literary
Úsala tú
It is a glaze whose shine nature herself seems to have laid on.
“Oh, you should not rest between the elements of air and Earth, but you should pity me.”
Por qué es buena
It builds a romantic plea by denying the listener any resting place until pity arrives.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
You should not rest until you hear my plan.
“Oh, such love could be but recompense though you were crowned the nonpareil of beauty.”
Por qué es buena
Praise raised to nonpareil, then love still called mere repayment: flattery with a limit.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
Such praise could be but recompense though you were crowned the best in the room.
“Lady, you are the cruellest she alive”
Por qué es buena
The cruellest she alive: an accusation so exaggerated it doubles as flirtation.
Registro
literary
Úsala tú
You are the cruellest friend alive to make me wait.
Monólogo
Un personaje sostiene la escena: practícalo entero❝ Olivia's refusal
Your lord does know my mind. I cannot love him. Yet I suppose him virtuous, know him noble, of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth, in voices well divulged, free, learned, and valiant, and in dimension and the shape of nature, a gracious person. But yet, I cannot love him.
She lists every virtue, then closes the door with one quiet sentence.
Siguiente · 07could not butLa escena: Sebastian's Story and Olivia's RingIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- A flat refusal can still sound graceful.
- 'Two lips' quietly doubles as 'tulips'.
- Concession first, verdict second: a persuasive arc.
- Dead of night and willow cabin: Elizabethan texture.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy does Olivia refuse Orsino?
She simply does not love him, no matter how noble or wealthy he is. She lists his good qualities and then says plainly, 'But yet, I cannot love him.'
What is the willow cabin speech about?
Cesario imagines how he would woo Olivia if he were the suitor: a willow cabin at her gate, songs all night, and her name shouted to the hills.
What does "the dead of night" mean?
It means the deepest, quietest part of the night. Cesario says he would sing 'even in the dead of night,' meaning he would not stop or hide his devotion.
Why does Olivia change her mind about the messenger?
Cesario's passionate speech moves her. She invents an excuse to see him again, asking him to return and tell her how Orsino takes the refusal.
Why does Olivia offer Cesario money?
She tries to reward him for his trouble, but he refuses, saying his master, not he, is the one who deserves reward.