Beginning of Essay
Viola is one of Shakespeare's most charming and admirable heroines, and certainly the most sympathetic of the major "serious" characters (Orsino, Olivia, and herself) in Twelfth Night. Though she's forced to disguise herself as a page, for safety's sake, she's app ....

Middle of Essay
.... she spends little time bemoaning the harshness of her fate, but immediately sets to work with characteristic practical energy to figure out a way to improve her situation. When she enters Orsino's service, her talent, wit, and good looks quickly captivate him, just as, soon after, when she's sent to "woo" Olivia, these qualities also entrance the Countess. Indeed, in almost every scene in which she appears - whether she's jesting with Feste, quietly philosophizing with Orsino, or gracefully flattering Olivia-Viola's courtly skill and down-to-earth charm are clearly evident. Most of all, when she herself falls deeply, and apparently hopelessly, in lov ....