Question

Which description is the best interpretation of Viola’s lines from act II, scene IV, of Twelfth Night?

Answer 1

Viola is stating that she is the only surviving child of her parents.

Answer 2

Viola, at this point in the plot, is still under the belief that her only brother Sebastian has died of drowning during their shipwreck. She is still in disguise as a young man and her reply is a figurative and adorned way to say that he/she is the only surviving scion of his/her family.