| Act 1, Scene 1 Summary | Orsino enters and laments that Olivia doesn’t love him. He learns via his servant Valentine that Olivia is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses any suitor. Orsino remains obsessed with Olivia and only wants to think about her. |
| Act 1, Scene 2 Summary | Viola is washed up on the shore of Illyria, believing her twin, Sebastian, drowned in a shipwreck they were in. She decides to dress as a man and enter the court of the local Duke, Orsino |
| Act 1, Scene 3 Summary | Toby introduces Maria to Andrew, a knight and the suitor he has chosen for Olivia. Andrew laments that Olivia will not talk to him and tries to leave, but Toby convinces him to stay longer, wanting to use his money |
| Act 1, Scene 4 Summary | Viola, now disguised as Cesario, talks to Valentine, who states how close he and the Duke had become over the 3 days he’d been there. Orsino enters and instructs Cesario to go and woo Olivia for him. Viola/Cesario then reveals to the audience that she has fallen in love with Orsino |
| Act 1, Scene 5 Summary | Olivia talks with Feste, her court clown. Malvolio, a puritan, questions why Olivia keeps Feste around and insults him. Maria arrives with news of a persistent servant at Olivia’s gate – Cesario. Olivia allows him in and falls in love with Cesario. She then sends Malvolio with a ring after him, pretending he left it behind. |
| Act 2, Scene 1 Summary | Sebastian, who did survive the shipwreck, talks with Antonio, the sailor who saved him. Sebastian plans to travel to Orsino’s court, and Antonio decides to follow him, despite having enemies there. |
| Act 2, Scene 2 Summary | Malvolio catches up with Cesario and gives him Olivia’s ring. Viola then realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with “Cesario” and hopes the problems sort themselves out. |
| Act 2, Scene 3 Summary | Toby, Andrew, Feste, and Maria are all drinking loudly when they are interrupted by Malvolio, who orders them to stop. Maria then proposes the plot for Malvolio’s gulling, using Malvolio’s ego against him by convincing him Olivia is in love with him |
| Act 2, Scene 4 Summary | Orsino laments about his heartbreak to Cesario, asking him if he loves anyone. Cesario replies that he loves someone similar to Orsino, and Orsino tells Cesario to go for younger women. He then orders Cesario to go to Olivia again |
| Act 2, Scene 5 Summary | Malvolio finds a letter planted by Maria, which seems to be a love letter addresses to him. He believes Olivia has fallen in love with him and agrees to do the actions in the letter, like wearing yellow stockings. Toby, Andrew, Fabian, and Maria laugh at their success |
| Act 3, Scene 1 Summary | Cesario arrives at Olivia’s house, where he meets Toby and Andrew. Olivia sends off her servants, then confesses her love to Cesario. Cesario rejects her, but Olivia is not phased by the rejection and begs him to come to her house again |
| Act 3, Scene 2 Summary | Andrew tells Toby he is going to leave again, but Toby convinces him to challenge Cesario to a duel for Olivia’s love. Maria then tells the two that Malvolio is acting like a fool and obeying the letter’s instructions |
| Act 3, Scene 3 Summary | Sebastian and Antonio arrive at Orsino’s court, where Antonio reveals he is Orsino’s political enemy after defeating him in a sea battle. |
| Act 3, Scene 4 Summary | Olivia sends for Malvolio, who arrives behaving strangely. Olivia believes that he has gone mad and tells Toby to look after him, which he does by locking him in a dark room. Andrew and Cesario then duel, each thinking the other is an expert dueller. Antonio mistakes Cesario for Sebastian, and steps him to save him, and is then arrested. Viola realizes that Sebastian is alive. |
| Act 4, Scene 1 Summary | Sebastian meets Feste, who mistakes him for Cesario and takes him to Olivia’s house. There, Andrew challenges to a duel again, where Sebastian defeats Andrew. Olivia then confesses her love to Sebastian, thinking he is Cesario, and he agress to go with her |
| Act 4, Scene 2 Summary | Toby asks Feste to antagonize Malvolio in his cell, and Feste happily agrees. Dressed as Father Topaz, Feste torments Malvolio. Toby has gotten bored of the trick and asks Feste to sort it out. Feste then helps Malvolio write a letter to Olivia |
| Act 4, Scene 3 Summary | Sebastian wonders around Olivia’s house, confused by the recent events. Olivia then appears and proposes marriage to Sebastian, who accepts. |
| Act 5, Scene 1 Summary | Antonio is angry at Cesario for not recognizing him, still believing him to be Sebastian. Olivia then enters and refers to Cesario as her husband, infuriating Orsino, who believes Cesario has betrayed him. Sebastian then arrives and the twins are reunited, with Cesario revealing his true identity as Viola. Orsino realizes he is in love with Viola and proposes to her, which she accepts. Malvolio then enters and asks Olivia why he wronged her, and she then reveals the prank to him. He leaves, swearing revenge on everyone there. |
| Who is Viola? | Sebastian’s twin, daughter of a duke. The protagonist, she disguises herself as Cesario to join Orsino’s court. |
| Who is Sebastian? | Viola’s twin, son of a duke. Believed to have drowned in a shipwreck, he was actually saved by Antonio. |
| Who is Orsino? | Duke of Illyria, the setting of the play. Infatuated with Olivia at start of the play, he refuses to accept her rejections. |
| Who is Olivia? | Head of local noble house, target of Orsino’s affections. In a period of mourning for her recently deceased brother at start of the play. |
| Who is Feste? | The fool for both Orsino and Olivia’s houses, he entertains both the nobles. He hides his own intelligence, which is shown via him speaking two languages |
| Who is Toby? | Olivia’s uncle, he is a guest at Olivia’s house to support her after he brother’s death. Trying to set her up with Andrew, hates Malvolio |
| Who is Andrew? | A knight and one of Olivia’s suitors, he’s incredibly stupid. He is being used by Toby for financial gain. |
| Who is Maria? | Olivia’s lady-in-waiting, she devises Malvolio’s gulling. |
| Who is Malvolio? | Olivia’s butler, a strict puritan with a massive ego and fantasies of marrying his mistress and becoming a lord. |
| Who is Antonio? | A sailor who saves Sebastian from the shipwreck, he becomes infatuated with Sebastian. |
| What are the Key Themes? | Love/self love, madness, appearances vs. reality, deception, excess, gender |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Madness? | Malvolio’s gulling, the love triangle, Toby and Andrew, the concept of being madly in love |
| What are some Key Quotes for the theme of Madness? | “Why, it hath bay windows transparent as barricadoes” – Feste, A4S2;”Poor lady, she were better love a dream” – Viola, A2S2,”‘Tis not the first time I have constrained one to call me Knave” – Andrew, A2S3 |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Appearance Vs. Reality? | Sebastian’s death, Maria’s letter, Feste, Orsino’s love for Olivia |
| What are some Key Quotes for the Theme of Appearance Vs. Reality? | “My brother, he is in Elysium” – Viola, A1S2″Conceal me what I am” – Viola, A1S2″It is, in contempt of question, her hand” – Malvolio, A2S3 |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Deception? | Viola/Cesario, Olivia’s mourning, Feste’s intelligent fool, Malvolio’s gulling |
| What are some Key Quotes for the Theme of Deception? | “Conceal me what I am” – Viola, A1S2″I can write very like my lady your niece” – Maria, A2S3″And in this she manifests herself to my love” – Malvolio, A2S5 |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Excess? | Andrew and Toby’s drunkenness, Orsino’s indulgence in sorrow, Malvolio’s gulling, Viola maintaining her lie |
| What are some Key Quotes for the Theme of Excess? | “If music be the food of love, play on” – Orsino, A1S1″Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?” Toby, A2S3″Come, we’ll have in a dark room and bound” – Toby, A3S4 |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Gender? | Viola/Cesario, Sebastian’s femininity, women were originally played by men, Olivia’s independence |
| What are some Key Quotes for the Theme of Gender? | “I am all the daughters of my fathers house and brothers too” – Viola, A2S4″Thy small pipe is as the maiden’s organ” – Orsino A1S4″I am yet so near the manners of my mother” – Sebastian, A2S1 |
| What are some examples of the Key Theme of Love/Self-love? | Orsino’s infatuation with Olivia, Olivia’s love for Cesario, Malvolio’s ego, Viola and Sebastian, Antonio and Sebastian |
| What are some Key Quotes for the Theme of Love/Self-love | “Who’er I woo, myself would be his wife” – Viola, A1S4″If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your servant” – Antonio, A2S1″Poor Lady, she were better love a dream” – Viola A2S3″For such as I am all true lovers are” – Orsino, A2S4″Should she fancy, it should be one of my complexion” – Malvolio, A2S5 |
Twelfth Night
July 31, 2019