Orsino, the Duke of Illyria (what is now Yugoslavia), is talking with his servants. He wants to hear music, because he believes it will cure him of his lovesickness. A moment later, however, he no longer wants to hear the music, and he is amazed at how changeable love makes him.
He is in love with the countess Olivia: "O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first, methought she purg'd the air of pestilence...And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds, E'er since pursue me." Act 1, Scene 1, line 20 His servant Valentine comes back from visiting Olivia, and Orsino eagerly asks him what Olivia said to him. Valentine says that Olivia would not see him, but she sent her servant to tell Valentine that she will mourn for her dead brother for seven years, and see no one. The Duke hopes that she will transfer her devotion and love from her brother to himself. In the meantime, his love for her seems even stronger.
