An excerpt taken from Act 2 scene 4 of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". A conversation between Viola who is dressed as a man to serve the Duke, and the Duke whom she is secretly in love with..

Viola: My father had a daughter loved a man, As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman, I should your Lordship.

Duke: And what's her history?

Viola: A blank, my lord; she never told her love, But let concealemnt like a worm i'th' bud Feed on her damask cheek: she pined in thought, And with a green and yellow melancholy She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed? We man may say more, swear more, but indeed Our shows are more than will: for still we prove Much in our vows, but little in our love.

Beautiful verses aren't they? There seems to be a hint of allusion to William Blake's "The sick rose" here.

The Sick Rose

O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

Viola is disguised as a male to serve the Duke. Here, she indirectly professes her love to the Duke. The word "invisible" seems to suggest that it cannot be seen, and it's hidden. There is some sort of repression here. Why is the rose sick? Cuz of its repression? Cuz of the unexpressed love? Was Viola talking about herself? Or what is Shakespeare suggesting? Do you know?

I've been wanting to write an entry on Psychoanalysis and what I feels it reveals about me. But till I gather more 'ideas' and examples, this entry will have to wait. I wrote about it for my exam when I attempted the question on Psychoanalysis. Perhaps with some fine-tuning, and more indepth study of this topic, I'll be able to pass Approaches to Text the next round???????

Staring into the Abyss,