Twelfth Night
Main Characters
Viola (Cesario) — a young woman
Duke Orsino — a powerful nobleman in the coastal country of Illyria
Olivia — a wealthy countess
Sebastian — Viola's lost twin brother
Malvolio — Lady Olivia's straitlaced steward
Feste — a clown; in the service of Olivia
Sir Toby Belch — Olivia's uncle
Sir Andrew Aguecheek — a friend of Sir Toby
Maria — Olivia's witty, clever, serving woman
Antonio — a gentleman who rescues young Sebastian
Introduction
Twelfth Night was written in 1601 around the middle of Shakespeare's career. Many critics consider it one of his great comedies, along with As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
What does “twelfth night” refer to?
Twelfth night refers to the last night of Christmas celebrations that were popular in Elizabethan times — usually January 6 — which is also known in the church calendar as Epiphany, the Feast of the Magi (the “Wise Men” who visited the newly born Jesus). That holy day, however, covers over a Pagan mid-winter holiday, Saturnalia, which became the medieval “Feast of Fools,” a day given to madcap fun, disguises, and pranks.
Twelfth Night is about illusion, deception, disguises, madness, and perhaps same-sex love. It is certainly concerned with the extraordinary things we'll do in the name of love. It's a fun, entertaining play. One of the most accessible of the several movie adaptations is, arguably, Trevor Nunn's 1996 version starring Helena Bonham Carter. Music has been written for and about the play, including an opera composed by Smetana, and works by Brahms, Schubert, and Sibelius.
The Play
Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are shipwrecked in a violent storm off the coast of Illyria and lose contact, with each thinking the other is dead. Viola disguises herself as a boy named Cesario and becomes a page in the service of Duke Orsino.
Olivia is in mourning for her father and brother and not interested in being courted. Orsino, however, is determined to woo her. He sends Cesario to Olivia with love letters. Cesario insists on being allowed to see Olivia. Olivia finally agrees, and on meeting the boy messenger takes a fancy to Cesario.
She sends her steward, Malvolio, after Cesario with a ring she purports Cesario left behind by mistake. Viola finds herself in a bind: She realizes to her dismay that Olivia has fallen for Cesario — and Viola herself has a stirring of affection for Orsino, who is still besotted with Olivia.
Sebastian (Viola's twin) is rescued by Antonio and they become fast friends. At some risk to himself, because he ran afoul of Duke Orsino, Antonio helps Sebastian.
Back in Olivia's house, Sir Toby Belch (her uncle, who has shades of Falstaff about him) has hoodwinked a foppish wealthy friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, into supporting him by convincing him that Olivia might be interested in marrying him. Malvolio is a pompous and bossy steward who has a running feud with Sir Toby. With the help of Maria, Olivia's maid, and Feste, a clown, Sir Toby plots to bring Malvolio down a peg or two.
Maria writes a love letter to Malvolio that makes him think Olivia has fallen for him. Malvolio's self-importance makes him fall for the trick, which eventually leads to his being locked up as a madman.
Meanwhile, Sir Toby is egging Sir Andrew into a duel with Cesario. Olivia is now in love with Cesario, even though Cesario continues to press Orsino's cause. As Cesario and Sir Andrew prepare for a duel that neither wants, Antonio happens upon the scene. Believing Viola to be Sebastian, he intervenes and is arrested. Viola, of course, does not recognize Antonio, who now thinks his newfound friend has abandoned and betrayed him.
Sir Andrew encounters Sebastian, thinking he is Cesario. This time Cesario doesn't back down when Aguecheek challenges him, and resoundingly beats him. Olivia intervenes just in time, and mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and continues to press her suit for him. A bemused Sebastian agrees to marry her.
Antonio is brought before Orsino for questioning, and Viola relates the events of the duel. Pointing to Cesario, Antonio tells everyone how he dragged “this man” from the surf, saving his life. Olivia now enters, searching for her new husband whom she mistakes for Cesario. Adding to this confusion, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew enter, claiming that Cesario has violently assaulted them.
In the middle of Viola's denials, Sebastian appears. The brother and sister recognize one another and are reunited. Sebastian helps to clear the confusion as to who fought and married whom. At the end, Orsino and Viola pledge their love, Olivia and Sebastian remain happily married, and Olivia rebukes Sir Toby and Maria for their abuse of Malvolio, who vows his revenge upon the whole lot. Sir Toby agrees to marry Maria to make up for getting her in trouble, and all, except the disgruntled Malvolio, live happily ever after.
Commentary
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's “transvestite comedies,” a category that also includes As You Like It and, to a lesser degree, The Merchant of Venice. These plays feature female protagonists who, for one reason or another, have to disguise themselves as young men.
It's worth remembering that in Shakespeare's day, all the parts were played by men, so Viola would actually have been a boy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a boy. Some contemporary critics have also found a great deal of interest in the homoerotic implications of these comedies,
Many scholars think the play was first performed on January 6, 1601, at the Whitehall for an Italian nobleman, Duke Orsino of Bracciano. Others think it was first performed on February 2, 1602.
Twelfth Night is only one of two Shakespearean plays to have an “alternative” title: Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, although critics are not quite sure what the play's two titles mean. (King Henry VIII is also All is True.) Twelfth Night itself serves as a double reference to the twelfth night of the Christmas celebration and the underlying “Feast of Fools,” a holiday celebrated as a festival in which everything was turned upside down — much like the topsy-turvy world of Illyria.
Famous Lines
“If music be the food of love, play on;
“We will draw the curtain and show you the picture” (Act I, Scene V).
“He does it with a better grace, but I do it more natural” (Act II, Scene III).
“Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you?” (Act II, Scene III).
“My purpose is, indeed, a horse of that color” (Act II, Scene III).
“She never told her love,
“I am all the daughters of my father's house,
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em” (Act II, Scene V).
“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better” (Act III, Scene I).
“Still you keep o' the windy side of the law” (Act III, Scene IV).
“Out of the jaws of death” (Act III, Scene IV).
“For the rain it raineth every day” (Act V, Scene I).
