Twelfth Night

 

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a play about love, gender, and identity. It was first performed in 1602 and published in 1623 after Shakespeare’s death. The title Twelfth Night comes from the twelfth night of Christmas, a festive holiday full of celebrations. The subtitle What You Will suggests freedom and choice.

Twelfth Night: Summary

Act 1

Scene 1: The play opens in the court of Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. He is languishing in his love for the beautiful countess Olivia. He listens to music, famously declaring, “If music be the food of love, play on,” but his mood is restless and melancholic. His mood is explained when his servant, Valentine, returns from Olivia’s house with news: Olivia is deep in mourning for her recently deceased brother and has vowed to veil her face and avoid all company, including the Duke’s, for seven years. Rather than discourage him, this display of devoted grief makes Orsino adore her more, imagining how intensely she will love when she finally turns her affections to a suitor.

Scene 2: On the seacoast of Illyria, a young woman, Viola, washes ashore after a shipwreck. The ship’s Captain tells her they are in Illyria and that he saw her twin brother, Sebastian, tie himself to a mast during the storm, giving her hope he may also have survived. Hearing of the Duke Orsino and his unrequited love for Olivia, Viola decides to disguise herself as a young man, to be called “Cesario,” and enter Orsino’s service. The Captain agrees to help her conceal her identity.

Scene 3: In Olivia’s house, we meet her unruly uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and her quick-witted gentlewoman, Maria. Sir Toby is chastised for his late nights, drunkenness, and his choice of companion, the foolish Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a wealthy knight Sir Toby is encouraging to woo Olivia (likely to keep funding his revels). Sir Andrew is dim-witted, vain about his dancing and hair, and easily manipulated. Maria cleverly mocks them both before exiting. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew decide to continue their carousing.

Scene 4: Some time has passed. Viola, now perfectly disguised as Cesario, has become a great favorite of Duke Orsino. He praises Cesario’s youth and smooth looks, comparing him to a woman. Trusting him completely, Orsino tasks Cesario with a crucial mission: to go to Olivia and passionately plead his love. Viola, who has herself fallen in love with Orsino, reluctantly agrees, lamenting in a soliloquy the difficult position she is in: “I’ll do my best / To woo your lady. Yet a barful strife! / Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife.”

Scene 5: In Olivia’s household, the clown, Feste, engages in a battle of wits with Maria and then with Olivia herself. Olivia’s stern steward, Malvolio, disapproves of Feste’s nonsense. Their conversation is interrupted by news of a young messenger (Cesario) from Orsino at the gate. Sir Toby is sent to deal with him but returns saying the messenger is stubborn and insists on speaking to Olivia. Intrigued, Olivia veils her face and agrees to see him.
Viola (as Cesario) enters and delivers a eloquent, prepared speech extolling Orsino’s love. Olivia is unmoved by the message but is instantly captivated by the messenger. She unveils, and through witty repartee, it becomes clear she is fascinated by Cesario. After Cesario leaves, Olivia invents a pretext to send Malvolio after him with a ring, claiming Cesario left it behind as a token from Orsino. Once alone, she confesses her sudden, powerful attraction: “Even so quickly may one catch the plague?” She is in love with Cesario.

Act 2

Scene 1: Elsewhere in Illyria, we meet Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, who is alive and has been rescued by a sea captain, Antonio. Sebastian is grieving for his sister, believing her drowned. Antonio, who has developed a deep and protective affection for Sebastian, offers to accompany him, but Sebastian, wishing to be alone with his sorrow, declines. He reveals his name and destination: Orsino’s court. Antonio, revealing he has many enemies in Orsino’s court, decides to follow Sebastian secretly despite the danger.

Scene 2: Malvolio catches up to Viola and rudely throws the ring on the ground, delivering Olivia’s false message that she wants nothing to do with Orsino. Viola picks up the ring and, in a soliloquy, realizes the truth: Olivia has fallen in love with her male disguise. She pities Olivia and understands the hopelessness of the entire situation: her love for Orsino, his for Olivia, and Olivia’s for her. She concludes that only time can untangle this “knot.”

Scene 3: Late at night, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Feste are drinking, singing raucous songs, and disturbing the household. Maria comes to quiet them but is drawn into the merriment. The noise summons the puritanical Malvolio, who scolds them arrogantly and threatens to tell Olivia. After he leaves, the offended revelers, led by Maria, plot their revenge. She devises a scheme to forge a love letter in Olivia’s handwriting that will make Malvolio believe Olivia is in love with him. The letter will instruct him to behave in ways Olivia despises (smiling constantly, wearing yellow stockings, and being cross-gartered). They anticipate that his absurd behavior will make a complete fool of him.

Scene 4: Back at Orsino’s palace, the Duke calls for a melancholic song about love. He then talks to Cesario about love, insisting that men’s love is deeper and more constant than women’s. Viola, speaking from her concealed perspective, gently contradicts him, telling a story about her “father’s daughter” who pined away from a concealed love, just as she is doing. Orsino, missing the point, sends Cesario back to Olivia one more time.

Scene 5: Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and their friend Fabian hide in the garden to watch Malvolio. As they spy, Malvolio enters, daydreaming aloud about marrying Olivia and becoming “Count Malvolio,” lording it over Sir Toby. He finds the letter Maria has planted. Recognizing what he believes to be Olivia’s handwriting, he reads it. The letter, full of cryptic phrases like “M.O.A.I.” (which he twists to fit his name), instructs him to be bold, proud, and to wear yellow stockings and cross-garters. He instantly resolves to follow every command, convinced of his imminent rise to greatness.

Act 3

Scene 1: Viola (as Cesario) returns to Olivia’s estate and encounters Feste. They exchange witty wordplay before Cesario meets with Olivia. Olivia immediately dismisses her attendants and openly declares her love for Cesario. Viola tries to deflect, insisting her heart belongs to no woman, but Olivia persists, pleading for some hope. Viola can only respond with pity before departing.

Scene 2: Sir Andrew Aguecheek is furious, having witnessed Olivia’s clear favoritism toward Cesario. He decides to leave, but Sir Toby and Fabian convince him that Olivia was only flirting with the messenger to make him jealous and provoke him to a display of valor. They persuade the cowardly Sir Andrew to challenge Cesario to a duel. Sir Andrew writes a ridiculous challenge, which Sir Toby has no intention of delivering, planning instead to frighten both the “young men” (Cesario and Andrew) with exaggerated tales of the other’s ferocity.

Scene 3: Sebastian, in Illyria, is welcomed by Antonio. The devoted Antonio gives Sebastian his purse for safekeeping and arranges to meet him at an inn called the Elephant, though he must hide due to his past conflicts with Orsino.

Scene 4: Olivia, longing for Cesario, sends for Malvolio, who has followed the letter’s instructions to the letter. He enters, smiling grotesquely and dressed in yellow, cross-gartered stockings. He speaks in pompous, cryptic riddles, quoting the forged letter. Olivia is convinced he has gone mad and orders her servants to look after him. Sir Toby, Maria, and Fabian take this as an opportunity to intensify the trick, treating him as a violent lunatic and eventually locking him in a dark room.
Olivia then meets with Viola/Cesario, but their conversation is interrupted by Sir Toby and Fabian, who tell Cesario that the furious Sir Andrew Aguecheek is waiting to fight him. Viola, who is no fighter, is terrified. Sir Toby then tells Sir Andrew that Cesario is a formidable duelist, terrifying him. They maneuver the two terrified “combatants” toward each other.
Just as they are about to duel, Antonio arrives. Mistaking Viola for Sebastian, he intervenes to protect his friend. Officers arrive and arrest Antonio for his past crimes against Orsino. Antonio, believing he is asking Sebastian, begs for his purse back. Viola, of course, does not know him and offers him half her money but denies him. Antonio is shocked by this apparent betrayal as he is dragged away, cursing Sebastian’s ingratitude. This confuses everyone but gives Viola a spark of hope that her brother may be alive. Sir Toby, however, is now convinced Cesario is a dishonorable coward.

Act 4

Scene 1: Feste encounters Sebastian and mistakes him for Cesario. Sebastian is confused by the Fool’s addressed nonsense. Sir Andrew arrives and, also mistaking him for Cesario, strikes him. Sebastian, a capable fighter, decisively beats Sir Andrew. Sir Toby intervenes, and he and Sebastian draw their swords. Olivia enters, breaks up the fight, and, mistaking Sebastian for Cesario, apologizes profusely for her kinsman’s behavior. She invites the bewildered Sebastian into her house. Intrigued by this beautiful woman’s passionate attention, Sebastian agrees, thinking he must be in a dream.

Scene 2: Feste, disguised as the curate “Sir Topas,” visits the imprisoned Malvolio in the dark room. He pretends to examine him, insisting the room is full of light and windows, and that Malvolio is truly mad. Sir Toby, worried the joke has gone too far, allows Feste to return in his own voice. Malvolio pleads with the Fool for light, paper, and ink so he can write to Olivia to clear his name. Feste agrees to help.

Scene 3: Sebastian, in Olivia’s garden, is baffled but delighted by his good fortune. He cannot believe that Olivia, a powerful and beautiful noblewoman, is showering him with affection and gifts (like a precious pearl). He reasons that it must be some error, but it is a fortunate one. Olivia arrives with a priest. Worried she might lose him, she proposes an immediate secret marriage. Sebastian, though he barely knows her, joyfully agrees, and they go to the chapel to be married.

Act 5

Scene 1: Outside Olivia’s house, the threads of the plot converge. Feste and Fabian bicker over Malvolio’s letter. Orsino arrives with Viola/Cesario. They meet Antonio, who is being led by officers. He accuses Cesario of betrayal, which further confuses Orsino. Olivia enters and treats Cesario as her beloved, further angering Orsino. The chaos peaks when Olivia calls Cesario her “husband,” shocking Orsino, who feels doubly betrayed.
At this moment, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby enter, wounded from their fight with Sebastian, and they accuse Cesario of injuring them. Viola denies everything. The ultimate resolution arrives with the entrance of Sebastian. The twins stand face to face, creating amazement and clarity. Sebastian and Viola recognize each other with joy and confirm their identities. Sebastian confirms he has just married Olivia. Orsino, realizing the truth, understands that his faithful Cesario is actually the woman Viola. He immediately transfers his love to her, asking to see her in “woman’s weeds” and calling her his “mistress.”
Finally, Malvolio’s letter is brought and read aloud, revealing his unjust treatment. Fabian explains the entire trick, revealing that Maria wrote the letter and has since married Sir Toby as her reward. Malvolio is freed, but he is humiliated and furious, vowing revenge on the whole pack of them before storming off. Olivia promises to pursue a reconciliation.
Orsino proclaims that Viola shall be his wife once she is dressed as a woman again. He invites everyone inside to celebrate the twin reunions and the forthcoming marriages: himself to Viola, and Sebastian to Olivia. The play ends with Feste singing a melancholic yet resilient song about the stages of life and the constant presence of hardship (“the rain it raineth every day”), bringing the comedy to a thoughtful close.

Character Analysis

Twelfth Night, or What You Will, is a complex comedy that explores themes of love, identity, grief, folly, and the subversion of social order. The characters are not merely comedic types but are often layered with depth and contradiction, driving these central themes.

The characters can be broadly grouped into three overlapping circles: the Romantic and Noble Characters, the Comic (or Subplot) Characters, and the Serving Classes.

1. The Romantic & Noble Characters

Viola (Cesario)

Viola is the protagonist of the play and the engine of its plot. Her character is defined by resourcefulness, intelligence, and profound emotional depth.

• Identity and Disguise: After being shipwrecked, she consciously decides to disguise herself as a young man, "Cesario." This central act of disguise creates the play's primary confusion and explores the fluidity of gender and identity. As Cesario, she is able to move freely in society and engage with Duke Orsino and Olivia in ways she could not as a woman.
• Constancy and Love: Unlike the other characters, Viola's love for Orsino is immediate, deep, and constant. Her plight is deeply poignant—she is forced to eloquently plead another man's love for a woman while secretly longing for him herself. Her famous speech about patience and "a heart that truly loves" (Act II, Scene 4) reveals her emotional maturity and steadfastness.
• Mediator: In her role as Cesario, she becomes a confidant to both Orsino and Olivia, offering them wise counsel. She is often the voice of reason and genuine emotion in a world of self-indulgent melancholy and performative grief.

Orsino, The Duke of Illyria

Orsino is a study in the excesses and self-indulgence of romantic love.

• Love as an Idea: He is less in love with Olivia than he is in love with the idea of being in love. His opening speech ("If music be the food of love, play on...") establishes him as a man luxuriating in his own melancholy. His love is theatrical and based on a fantasy of Olivia, whom he barely knows.
• Narcissism and Inconstancy: His affections shift with remarkable speed at the end of the play. Once the disguise is revealed and Olivia is lost to him, he immediately transfers his love to Viola, suggesting his love was more about possessing an idealised object than a specific person. His relationship with Cesario also hints at a latent homoerotic attraction, complicated by the gender disguise.
• Performance of Power: As a Duke, he is used to getting what he wants. Olivia's rejection is a blow not just to his heart but to his ego and social position.

Olivia, A Countess

Like Orsino, Olivia is initially trapped in a performance of emotion, though hers is grief rather than love.

• From Grief to Love: She begins the play vowing to mourn her brother's death for seven years, veiled and withdrawn from society. However, she quickly abandons this extreme grief the moment a new object of affection (Cesario) appears. This shows her grief to be perhaps as self-indulgent as Orsino's love.
• The Pursuer: In a subversion of gender roles, she becomes the active pursuer in her relationship with Cesario. She is bold, direct, and uses her social power to orchestrate the ring plot and the marriage with Sebastian. Her desire cuts through the class barrier (she is a countess in love with a "servant") and the perceived gender barrier.
• Practicality: Despite her emotional swings, she is a capable and sharp-minded ruler of her household, as seen in her dealings with Malvolio and Sir Toby.

Sebastian

Sebastian acts as a literal deus ex machina—the mechanism that resolves the play's chaos.

• The Double: He primarily exists as Viola's twin, a mirror image that makes the case of mistaken identity plausible. His function is more plot-driven than character-driven.
• Contrast to Viola: Where Viola is thoughtful and cautious, Sebastian is more impulsive. He is bewildered by the strange events in Illyria but readily accepts the good fortune of Olivia's love and marriage, famously wondering, "What relish is in this? How runs the stream? Or I am mad, or else this is a dream."

Antonio

The sea captain who rescues Sebastian, Antonio adds a note of sincere, selfless, and potentially tragic love.

• Devotion: His love for Sebastian is intense and protective. He risks his life by following Sebastian to Orsino's court, despite being a wanted man there for past piracy.
• Unrequited Love: His poignant confusion and hurt when "Sebastian" (Viola as Cesario) denies knowing him introduces a moment of genuine pathos and betrayal into the comedy, highlighting the real-world consequences of the play's deceptions.

2. The Comic (Subplot) Characters

Sir Toby Belch

Olivia's uncle is the embodiment of misrule and carnivalesque energy.

• Carnival Spirit: He represents the opposite of Malvolio's puritanical order. His world revolves around feasting, drinking, singing, and mocking authority. He lives off his niece but shows her no real respect.
• Cunning and Cruelty: While often seen as a jovial comic figure, his treatment of Sir Andrew is exploitative (he fleeces him of his money), and his orchestration of Malvolio's humiliation is exceptionally cruel. He is a catalyst for chaos.

Maria

Olivia's gentlewoman is intelligent, quick-witted, and ambitious.

• The Architect: She is the mastermind behind the plot against Malvolio. She devises the entire scheme, forges the letter perfectly, and understands Malvolio's vanity and ambition better than anyone.
• Social Climber: Her marriage to Sir Toby at the end of the play is a form of social elevation. She uses her wit to move beyond her station, achieving what Malvolio only fantastised about.

Sir Andrew Aguecheek

A comic foil, Sir Andrew is a gullible and foolish knight who is Sir Toby's puppet.

• The "Foolish Knight": He is described as having "three thousand ducats a year," making him rich but utterly devoid of sense, courage, or talent. He is convinced by Toby that he has a chance with Olivia and is manipulated into challenging the timid Cesario to a duel.
• Pathos: While ridiculous, he also evokes a degree of pity. He is a lonely figure desperate for acceptance, and his final, plaintive line—"I was adored once too"—suggests a flicker of self-awareness and sadness beneath the folly.

Malvolio

The steward of Olivia's household is the most complex and controversial character in the play, often tipping into tragedy.

• Puritanism and Pride: He is a killjoy—proud, pompous, self-righteous, and scornful of fun. His name literally means "ill-will." He represents a rising Puritan middle class that threatened the traditional feudal and carnivalesque order that characters like Sir Toby represent.
• Unconscious Ambition: His tragic flaw is his immense, hidden ambition and vanity. Maria's forged letter works because it preys on his secret desire to rise above his station and marry Olivia. His fantasy reveals a man utterly different from his stern public persona.
• Victim of Cruelty: While he is an unsympathetic character, his imprisonment as a "madman" is a brutal and disturbing punishment that goes too far. His vow of revenge—"I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you!"—strikes a dark, unresolved note at the end of the comedy, questioning the nature of the humour we've just witnessed.

3. The Serving Classes / Fools

Feste, The Fool

Feste is far more than a simple jester; he is the wisest character in the play.

• Licensed Truth-Teller: As a fool, he holds a unique position. He is permitted to speak sharp truths to his social superiors under the guise of humour. He points out the folly of both Orsino ("the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta...") and Olivia regarding their affected moods.
• Melancholy Wisdom: His songs often carry a melancholic, philosophical weight about the fleeting nature of life and love ("What is love? 'Tis not hereafter..."). He is an observer who comments on the action while participating in it.
• Instrument of both Joy and Pain: He entertains but also actively participates in the cruelty towards Malvolio, singing to him while he is imprisoned. This shows his ambiguous role—he is not purely a moral compass but a complex participant in the world's folly.

Conclusion: Thematic Functions

The characters in Twelfth Night work in pairs and groups to explore the play's central conflicts:

• Appearance vs. Reality: Viola/Cesario, Malvolio's transformed behaviour, the forged letter.
• The Folly of Self-Love: Orsino's narcissism, Olivia's performative grief, and most notably, Malvolio's devastating vanity.
• The Fluidity of Love and Identity: The play constantly questions what love is and who we are when we love. The resolution, with the heterosexual pairings (Viola/Orsino, Olivia/Sebastian) and the social-climbing marriage (Maria/Toby), restores a traditional order, but only after thoroughly destabilizing it and exploring its alternatives.

Ultimately, the characters make Twelfth Night more than a simple farce. It is a thoughtful, often bittersweet exploration of human desire and the masks we all wear.

Themes Analysis

1. Love as a Form of Madness and Suffering

Shakespeare presents love not as a purely beautiful emotion but as an irrational, obsessive, and often painful force.

• Unrequited Love and Melancholy: The love triangle (Orsino loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario, Cesario loves Orsino) is a chain of unfulfilled desire. Orsino wallows in a self-indulgent melancholy, describing his love as an "appetite" that must be satisfied. Olivia, who initially grieves excessively for her brother, quickly transfers that intense emotion to an impossible love for a woman disguised as a man.
• The Pain of Love: Characters frequently describe love in terms of suffering. Orsino calls love a "plague," and Viola, who suffers in silence, speaks of concealing her love like a "worm i' the bud," feeding on her damask cheek. Even the festive song, "Come away, death," is a lament for unrequited love.
• Love's Irrationality: The play argues that love is not based on reason or merit. Olivia falls for Cesario based on a few minutes of conversation and his "beautiful" appearance. Sebastian is instantly accepted by Olivia simply because he looks like Cesario. Love is portrayed as a sudden, overwhelming, and illogical madness.

2. The Fluidity of Gender and Identity

The central plot device of Viola's disguise allows Shakespeare to deeply explore the construction of identity.

• Performance of Gender: As Cesario, Viola performs masculinity. She adopts the dress, mannerisms, and social role of a young man. This performance is so convincing that it fools everyone, raising questions about how much gender is innate versus a social performance.
• Desire and Disguise: The disguise creates a complex web of desire that challenges simple categories. Olivia, a woman, falls passionately in love with Cesario, who she believes is a man. Orsino develops a deep affection and intimacy with his young male servant, Cesario, which is easily transferred to Viola once her true identity is revealed. This blurring of lines suggests that love transcends gender and is attracted to the essence of a person, not just their external trappings.
• Identity is Unstable: The constant cases of mistaken identity (Viola for Sebastian, Sebastian for Cesario) show that the self is not a fixed, stable entity. Who we are is often determined by how others perceive us.

3. Appearance vs. Reality

This is one of Shakespeare's most enduring themes, and in Twelfth Night, it is woven into the very fabric of the plot.

• Disguise and Deception: Viola's cross-dressing is the primary deception, but it is far from the only one. Maria forges a letter (appearance) that preys on Malvolio's reality (his hidden ambitions). Malvolio's smiling, cross-gartered appearance is a false reality he believes will win Olivia's love. Feste disguises himself as Sir Topas to deceive Malvolio.
• Folly vs. Wisdom: The character who is literally called a "fool" (Feste) is often the wisest and most clear-sighted person in the play. Conversely, the serious and puritanical Malvolio is the greatest fool of all, easily tricked by his own vanity. The line between wisdom and folly is blurred.

4. The Carnivalesque and the Subversion of Social Order

The play embodies the spirit of the Twelfth Night holiday, where traditional social hierarchies were temporarily overturned through celebration and misrule.

• The Toppling of Authority: Sir Toby, a drunken knight, leads a rebellion against the stern authority of Malvolio, a mere steward. Servants (Maria) trick their superior. A woman (Viola) takes on a man's role and advises a Duke. The foolish Sir Andrew is a knight, while the wise Feste is a lowly servant.
• Malvolio as the Antifun Figure: Malvolio represents the killjoy who wants to enforce order, sobriety, and puritanical strictness. His famous line, "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?" is a direct attack on festivity. The play's comic subplot is essentially the forces of carnival (Toby, Maria, Feste) humiliating and expelling the forces of oppressive order.
• Restoration (with a Twist): While order is restored at the end with the marriages, it is a new, slightly subverted order. The noble characters are paired off, but the clever Maria has married above her station (Sir Toby), and the oppressive Malvolio is excluded, his threat of revenge lingering as a dark cloud over the happy ending.

5. Melancholy and Joy

The play is a beautiful balance between genuine pain and ecstatic joy, often existing side-by-side.

• The Opening Mood: The play begins with Orsino's melancholy and Olivia's vow of grief. This establishes a world of sadness.
• The Comic Spirit: This sadness is immediately countered by the riotous comedy of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Feste. Their world is one of singing, drinking, and wordplay.
• Bittersweet Resolution: Even the joyful ending has its notes of melancholy. Antonio is left without a partner, his love for Sebastian unacknowledged. Malvolio's exit is deeply painful and vengeful. Feste's final song, about the journey from childhood folly to the rain and wind of adulthood, reminds the audience that life is a mix of joy and hardship. True to its title, the play encapsulates the entire experience of a festival: the exuberant fun, the hangover, and the return to everyday life.

Twelfth Night uses its comic framework to explore profound and sometimes dark truths about human nature. It suggests that love is a beautiful madness, identity is a performance, and the line between wisdom and folly, joy and sorrow, is often much thinner than it appears.