Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy in which Viola, shipwrecked in Illyria and disguised as a young man, falls in love with Duke Orsino while the Countess Olivia falls in love with her.

Main characters

• Viola, a shipwrecked young woman, disguised as Cesario
• Sebastian, her twin brother
• Orsino, Duke of Illyria
• Olivia, a countess in mourning
• Malvolio, Olivia's steward
• Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle
• Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a foolish knight
• Maria, Olivia's gentlewoman
• Feste, Olivia's fool
• Antonio, a sea captain devoted to Sebastian

Plot summary

This summary gives away the ending.

Viola survives a shipwreck on the coast of Illyria, believing her twin brother Sebastian drowned. She disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who is lovesick for the Countess Olivia. Orsino sends Cesario to woo Olivia on his behalf. Olivia, who has sworn to mourn her brother for seven years, falls for Cesario instead, while Viola has fallen for Orsino.

Below stairs, Olivia's riotous uncle Sir Toby, his gullible friend Sir Andrew and the gentlewoman Maria take revenge on the puritanical steward Malvolio, who has spoiled their late-night drinking. Maria forges a love letter in Olivia's handwriting that convinces Malvolio his mistress loves him and wants him to smile constantly and wear yellow stockings, cross-gartered. His bizarre behaviour gets him locked in a dark room as a madman.

Sebastian, rescued by the devoted Antonio, arrives in Illyria. Olivia mistakes him for Cesario and marries him on the spot. Confusion multiplies until the twins finally stand face to face. Viola is revealed as a woman and Orsino turns his affection to her. Malvolio is released, discovers the trick and storms off vowing revenge 'on the whole pack of you', and Feste ends the play with a rueful song about the wind and the rain.

Themes

• Love as a kind of madness
• Gender, disguise and desire
• Festivity and its limits
• Grief and recovery

Famous lines

If music be the food of love, play on.

Orsino, Act 1 Scene 1

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

Malvolio, reading the forged letter, Act 2 Scene 5

Journeys end in lovers meeting.

Feste's song, Act 2 Scene 3

More in our collection of famous Shakespeare quotes.

Sources

The twin plot draws on the Italian comedy Gl'Ingannati (The Deceived, 1531) and on Barnabe Riche's story 'Of Apolonius and Silla' (1581). The title refers to the twelfth night of Christmas, a time of festive misrule.

On stage and screen

The earliest recorded performance was at Middle Temple Hall in London on 2 February 1602, noted in the diary of the law student John Manningham, who particularly enjoyed the trick played on Malvolio.

See where Twelfth Night, or What You Will sits in Shakespeare's career on the timeline, or read about the playhouses it was written for.