In the beginning of the play, we are introduced to Orsino and it is obvious that he is in love with someone that doesn't love him. It also seems like he is drunk by the way he responds to Curio. When Valentine enters, she brings Orsino the news that the woman he loves will not be ready to love him for at least 7 years, because of her brother's recent death.

In scene two, Viola is introduced to the audience and it is shown that she has been shipwrecked in Illyria with the rest of the crew. Viola then asks who governs Illyria, which is Orsino, who she falls in love with while pretending to be his young messenger boy, but Orsino loves Olivia not her.