PLUS

Twelfth Night

The tale of a young woman who disguises herself as a man and becomes entangled in the courtship of two local aristocrats upends conventions of romance and gender roles. First staged in 1602, Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays. Read Twelfth Night here, with side-by-side No Fear translations into modern English.

Act 1

Scene 1
Duke Orsino pines for Olivia, who is in mourning for her brother and vows to wear a veil and not marry for seven years.

Scene 2
Viola is rescued from a shipwreck, but her twin brother Sebastian remains missing. The captain tells her that Orsino is a bachelor but in love with Olivia, and Viola decides to disguise herself as a man to seek service with Orsino.

Scene 3
Sir Toby Belch brings his friend Sir Andrew to court Olivia, but he makes a fool of himself by getting her name wrong.

Scene 4
Disguised and renamed Cesario, Viola becomes Orsino's favorite servant and falls in love with him. He asks Cesario to deliver his love messages to Olivia and pretend to be in love with her.

Scene 5
Olivia's clown, Feste, puts her in a better mood. Viola arrives as Cesario to deliver Orsino's love message, but Olivia falls in love with Cesario and sends Malvolio after him with a ring.

Act 2

Scene 1
Sebastian survives and Antonio watches over him. Sebastian plans to go to Orsino's court, and Antonio follows him despite having enemies there.

Scene 2
Malvolio gives Cesario the ring from Olivia, falsely. Viola realizes that Olivia is in love with her disguise of Cesario, that Orsino loves Olivia and that she herself loves Orsino, and she hopes time will untangle the web.

Scene 3
Malvolio reprimands Sir Toby and Sir Andrew for being drunk, rude, and loud, and threatens to throw them out. Maria suggests playing a practical joke on Malvolio by writing letters in Olivia's handwriting suggesting she is in love with him.

Scene 4
Orsino can tell that Cesario is in love, but when they talk he misses her hints that she loves someone like him. Feste sings a sad love song, and then Orsino gives Cesario a jewel to give to Olivia.

Scene 5
Malvolio finds Maria's letter, which tricks him into thinking that Olivia is in love with him, and instructs him to do ridiculous things to show his reciprocation.

Act 3

Scene 1
After joking with Feste and meeting Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, Viola goes to Olivia's house as Cesario to give her another love message from Orsino. Olivia admits her love for Cesario, who rejects her, and Olivia suggests that Cesario can convince her to love Orsino after all.

Scene 2
Sir Toby convinces Sir Andrew to impress Olivia by challenging Cesario to a duel. Maria reports that Malvolio is following the instructions in the letter and acting like a total fool.

Scene 3
Sebastian and Antonio arrive at their destination and Sebastian roams the streets while Antonio finds an inn. Antonio is not safe in Illyria because of a past fight with Orsino, but he likes Sebastian enough to follow him.

Scene 4
Olivia thinks Malvolio has gone mad because of his strange behavior, and Sir Toby, Fabian, and Maria try and convince him he is possessed by the devil. Sir Andrew challenges Cesario to a duel, but Antonio comes in and mistakes Cesario for Sebastian; when Viola doesn't know Antonio, he takes it as Sebastian's betrayal, and Viola realizes her brother may be alive.

Act 4

Scene 1
Feste, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew mistake Sebastian for Cesario. Both sirs begin to fight him, but Olivia stops it and tells Sebastian to follow her, also mistaking him for Cesario.

Scene 2
Maria and Sir Toby lock Malvolio in a dark room and send Feste to pretend to be a priest and convince Malvolio he is insane, continuing the practical joke.

Scene 3
Olivia still thinks Sebastian is Cesario and woos him with gifts. Confused but happy, Sebastian agrees to marry her.

Act 5

Scene 1
Orsino, Antonio, Olivia, and Sir Andrew mix up Viola and Sebastian until the twins appear in the same room and sort everything out. Orsino realizes Cesario is Viola and agrees to marry her. Malvolio is released and Feste explains the practical joke, and Sir Toby marries Maria.

Take a Study Break