Event Analysis

Twelfth Night or, What You Will, by William Shakespeare, is play about misunderstandings and confusion. In this play the Duke of Illyria, Orsino, is in love with Olivia but instead of professing his love for her himself he sends messengers to do his work for him. In the play he shows how much he loves Olivia, but he doesn’t take his own feelings into his own hands and actually do something about it. If Orsino loves Olivia as much as he says he does then he should be outside her door every day professing his love for her. He should be straightforward and clear to her about what the wants. Orsino should take the initiative to fight for what he loves and make it clear to Olivia that he loves her and this is very important for the Acts4Youth students to learn. Communication and taking initiative is something very critical for the boys to learn because having good communication skills can help them overcome many obstacles they will face.

On Monday we talked to the Acts4Youth students about why it is important to have good communications skills and how those skills can help them.  Many of the conflicts the students have start from having poor communications skills. Similar to the messages Olivia receives from Orsino, the boys hear that other students are talking about them, but unfortunately for the boys these aren’t messages of love and usually lead to conflicts between students. To help lower the risk of fighting and argument between the students, communication skills are taught to help the students understand how to solve problems before they escalate into larger issues. Orsino could benefit from speaking to these students and learning why good communications is so essential in life.

The students are also taught to take initiative for their responsibilities and what they want.  Orsino is not able to take initiative and that could be a reason for why Olivia does not think twice about him. If the students really desire something they are taught to work for what they want and take it into their own hands. They should not expect to accomplish anything by sending other people to do the work for them.

Though “Twelfth Night or, What You Will” is about love and has a softer tone to it, it is something the boys from Act4Youth can use as an example as to why it is important to be able to communicate well and make sure you work for what you want.