KAMALA NIKETAN MONTESSORI SCHOOL

CBSE

TWELFTH NIGHT
-William Shakespeare

VANDANAASREE KANNAN
XII-G
 TWELFTH NIGHT
-William Shakespeare

Introduction:
Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare is a comedy
about a cross-dressing, shipwreck surviving, poetry-loving girl who finds
herself at the centre of a not-so-typical love triangle. Written between 1601 and
1602 (around the same time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and Troilus and
Cressida), the play is best known today as a "Transvestite Comedy" (a comedy
with one or more cross-dressing characters). All stage plays in Elizabethan
London were performed by male actors who cross-dressed to play the roles of
women. Twelfth Night is especially provocative and intriguing because the role
of its heroine, Viola, would have been played by a boy actor dressed as a female
character dressed as a boy.
Viola's cross-dressing may be no big deal to modern audiences, but it was
a big deal to 16th century Puritans. Cross-dressing was deemed sinful,
"wicked," and "monstrous" by theatre critics. They claimed that it encouraged
sexual "deviance" and transformed women into hermaphrodites. Twelfth Night,
on the other hand, is one of Shakespeare's most popular and beloved comedies
today, perhaps due to its rebellious portrayal of gender ambiguity.
Shakespeare was most likely influenced by the Italian plays of his age.
Written most likely after his comedies Much Ado About Nothing and As You
Like It and before the great tragedies Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear, this
comedy of Shakespeare are considered to be the highest comic piece. It is a
nearly perfect construction of a comedy form as the 19th-century critic William
Hazlitt describes, ―This is just be considered as one of the most delightful of
Shakespeare's comedies.
20th-century director and critic B.Parker called the ―Twelfth Night the
last play of Shakespeare‘s golden age.‖
The Title:
 The title Twelfth Night or What You Will refers to the 12th day after
Christmas, when the church celebrates the religious festival of Epiphany - the
manifestation of Christ. The play was written for that night's entertainment
because the festival is about joy and fellowship. It is thought to have been
performed for the first time on the Night of the Epiphany, February 2nd, 1602.
The characters in the play are cosmopolitan in nature and do not belong to any
specific country, making it appropriate for a Christmas entertainment with no
national distinction or identity. Work in parallel plots in the spirit of the
romance, comedy, and even morality of Feste.
The sources of Twelfth Night:
Many Shakespearean plots are thought to be derivative. Shakespeare is
thought to have adapted stories from classical texts, British history, old French
or Italian literature, ancient Roman legends, and a variety of other sources. The
dramatic possibilities and stunning moments seem to be there in all of them. By
intelligent selection and rejection, as well as integration with other stories or
creative material of his own, Shakespeare has transformed various national
folklores and created some of the master characters who were initially wooden
or dull characters in engaging tales.
Main Characters:
1.Orsino
He holds the titles of Duke and Count of Illyria. He is a young man who
is madly and stylishly in love with Olivia. Her rejection of him plunges him
into a deep and fashionable melancholy.
Instead of going himself, he sends messengers to Olivia, and he may never
have met her. He has only seen her from a distance. He no longer hunts now
that he is in love, but he has a deep love of music that he frequently indulges
in. He adores his new page, Cesario (Viola in disguise), and provides him with
sound advice on love and women. Cesario is also used as a messenger for him
to Olivia. He wasn't always so weary and has fought in sea-battles, including
one against Antonio. Discovering that Cesario is loved by Olivia, he swears to
tug them apart. Discovering that they're married, he turns his rage against
Cesario face to face . Discovering that Cesario is, in fact, a woman, who loves
him dearly and isn't married to Olivia, he decides to marry her instead.

2. Sebastian:
 He is Viola‘s twin brother. He plays an important role as a balancing
factor in the play. After the shipwreck, he was rescued by Antonio and spent
three months in his company. He decides to reach to Orsino in search for dome
work. On arriving in Illyria he discovers that Antonio has followed him. He
proceeds to possess a really confusing day, where his enjoyment of the
standard touristy activities of sightseeing is continually interrupted by a series
of mad people that claim to know him, including a pair of insulting ones with
whom he almost finishes up during a fight. His bafflement and belief that each
one Illyrians are insane don't stop him from following the gorgeous woman
who breaks up the fight, however. He is not entirely unconvinced that he‘s
dreaming but can find no good reason to not follow this woman and therefore
the priest she drags in, then goes along with her plans of a secret marriage.
Meeting his two opponents again, he shows them no mercy, breaks their heads,
and rushes to apologize to his wife—only to get that his sister is alive which
Olivia originally fell crazy together with her , not him. He is a loyal and well-
poised character in the play.

3. Viola:
She is the main woman character is having a double role in the play-
Viola and Cesario. She is a lady of Messaline whose brother Sebastian is lost
and feared dead in a shipwreck. She disguises herself as a man for her safety
and seeks refuge at Orsino‘s court, where she quickly becomes his favourite
page under the name of Cesario. Sent to woo Olivia, she so impresses that
lady, partly by her willingness to throw her script away, that Olivia falls in
love with her, which is unfortunate seeing as she‘s a woman and happens to be
in love with Orsino. She defends her gender‘s ability to love to Orsino, can be
readily terrified at being forced to fight and is quick-witted enough to realise
that her brother may still be alive when Antonio recognises her. Despite this,
she is confused enough when accused of having married Olivia that she does
not consider that Sebastian may be an answer to the enigma.

4. Olivia:
When the play begins, she is the Countess, and she is seen in grief. Her
brother died recently, and she claims to have been in grief for seven years.
Count Orsino's love proposals had no effect on her... Her uncle Toby tests her
patience. She adores Feste, leans on Malvolio, and admires Feste. Despite this,
she is kind and patient, as evidenced by her treatment of Malvolio when he
appears to be going insane. She has little illusions about the world, being as
conscious of Malvolio's flaws as she is of her uncle's inebriation. She falls in
love with cesario but when she proposed her for him, he plainly rejected her
love. Despite his rejection of her, she begs him to return, hoping to bring him
to love her by degrees – not entirely unlike Orsino. She is quite capable of
losing her temper, especially when her uncle is on the verge of fighting with
Cesario. She is similarly impulsive enough that when Cesario suddenly starts
treating her well, she rushes to find a priest who will marry them in secret. She
is therefore deeply hurt when he later denies this and runs away after Orsino,
swearing he loves the Duke more than he does her. This confusion is cleared
up when it is discovered that the Cesario Olivia fell for is, in fact, a woman by
the name of Viola, while the one who was taken with her and married her is
Viola‘s twin brother Sebastian. She is somewhat shocked at this but accepts
that Viola, who will now be marrying Orsino, will be her sister.

5.Malvalio:

He is the main character in the play who causes confusion and then clears
it up. He is Olivia's steward and is a puritan by nature, abhorring disorder and
drunkenness, as well as bear-baiting and, for that matter, laughter: he does not
smile at all. He is disgusted that Olivia enjoys Feste's jokes as a professional
jester. He also has a healthy sense of self-esteem; in fact, he is ridiculously
self-centered. His social ambitions are also somewhat limitless: he aspires to
the nobility, for which he believes he is well-suited. His fantasies about
marrying Olivia are almost entirely non-erotic, focusing rather on the power,
wealth and respectability he would thus gain. When Sir Toby pulls rank on
him in the middle of the night, reminding him that he is nothing but a steward,
his immediate reaction is to pull rank on Maria, who is even lower in the social
hierarchy. He is, therefore, well-primed to interpret the letter in the garden the
way he does, especially as it urges him to act towards others in the way that is
his natural bent.

6.Feste:
He is the clown is the comic element of the play who also provides the
counter-narrative of many seemingly stupid acts and dialogues in the play. He
was Olivia‘s father‘s jester, and is now hers, though it appears that he wanders
around a bit. An expert in wordplay, he attempts to bring Olivia out of her
 melancholy and mourning, though this brings him Malvolio‘s scorn. His
wordplay is also useful in convincing people to give him money. Though he
joins in the plot against Malvolio, it is clear that his first loyalty is to Olivia: he
runs to find her when Sir Toby and Sir Andrew set upon Cesario and refuses to
let Fabian read the letter the steward sends Olivia from his prison, apparently
thinking the prank has gone long enough. When Malvolio is freed, however,
Feste does make certain to remind him of the scorn he has poured on his
underlings. He appears to be the only member of Olivia‘s household who
thinks she should be cheered up. As he was her father‘s jester, he has likely
known her all her life.

Summary:

In the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening

to music, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because
she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of
marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A
young, aristocratic-born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore.
Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin
brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what
sort of work she can do. A friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino’s
courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in
Olivia’s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any strangers, Viola
decides that she cannot look for work with her. Instead, she decides to disguise
herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the
household of Duke Orsino.

Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who

makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a
difficult love to pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino
sends Cesario to deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia
herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love
triangle is complete: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves
Cesario—and everyone is miserable.

Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her rowdy

drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who
is trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty waiting-
gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the
dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s household. When Sir Toby and the others take
offense at Malvolio’s constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a
practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges
a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is
signified by the letters M.O.A.I.), telling him that if he wants to earn her favor,
he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile
constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter,
assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia
and becoming noble himself, happily follows its commands. He behaves so
strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister
Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio.
Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and
perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so that he follows him
to Orsino’s domain, in spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies.Sir
Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise),
challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as
entertaining fun, eggs Sir Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks
just like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby
end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia
enters amid the confusion.

Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to

marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however,
that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go
along with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and
now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing
Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed
him. Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive.
Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest
to lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him
at will. Feste dresses up as "Sir Topas," a priest, and pretends to examine
Malvolio, declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir
Toby begins to think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter
to Olivia, in which he asks to be released.

Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way
to Olivia’s house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking
him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then
Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are
joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows
she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. We discover that Sir Toby and
Maria have also been married privately. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio
and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the
embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration.

Critical Analysis:

The Different Types of Love Presented in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

True love is sincere based on actions and sacrificial services to make the other
happy. It is always quiet and in disguise. It’s based on inner qualities and driven
by reason, principles of trust and commitment. True love is centered on pleasing
the other and is more permanent; growing stronger as time passes. Infatuation
on the other hand, is insincere and driven by emotions. It’s superficial; based on
words and displays of affection. Infatuation is also self-centered; based on
external appearances. It expects the other to meet your needs. Moreover, it’s
temporary. It’s just a phase that one goes through. William Shakespeare shows
us these two types of love outlining the entire play. However, there are more
than just these types of love being presented in the play. There is also friendship
and self-love, which are two other kinds of love, which is presented in the play.
Sir Andrew and Malvolio show self-love in the play. Friendship is also another
kind of love that is being presented in the play by Orsino and ‘Caesario’.
Almost every type of love is being expressed in this play. Sibling relationships,
genuine love, self-love leading to complete blind love. The characters also seem
to go to extremes to get want they want which is the love that they desire. From
this we can sometimes even associate love with their madness to get what they
want.

In the play, Twelfth Night, we can see that Orsino’s romantic infatuation
for Olivia leads to sentimental his own self-absorption. We can see this by the
quote, “ If music be the food of love, play on, /Give me excess of it, that
surfeiting, /he appetite may sicken and so die.”. Here Orsino is relating music to
love. Too much or excess music, meaning over-indulgence in music is actually
being compared with overeating food. Just like how overeating makes one feel
sick, over-indulgence in music in this case, over-indulgence in love for Olivia
makes one lovesick and desperate. From another quote, “ Love thoughts lie rich
when canopied with bowers” tells us that he needs his surroundings to be very
romantic to be able to love. Orsino seems to love Olivia only in such conditions
and he feels that his so strong for her that even in a short period of time, his love
is so full of fancies. This clearly shows us that his love is actually infatuation for
Olivia, as none’s love gets strong within just a short period of time. “O sprit of
love, how quick and fresh art thou,” tells us that Orsino is saying that lovers are
so hungry that for their lovers that that other good things in life seem to lose
their value. The lover is completely wrapped up in his own fertile and intense
imagination. This tells us that his love for Olivia is a self-absorbed love.

Also, Olivia’s exaggerated and over-indulged love for her dead brother
leads to excessive grief, self- dramatization and self-pity. We can see this from
her speech that Valentine made to Orsino regarding Olivia, “The element itself,
till seven years’ heat, /Shall not behold her face at ample view, / But, like a
cloistress, she will veiled walk, / And water once a day her chamber round/
With eye-offending brine; all this to season/ A brother’s dead love, which she
would keep fresh/ And lasting, in her sad remembrance.”. We can see that that
this speech on what Olivia does is exaggerated, as she wants the whole world to
know that she is mourning for her dead brother. This shows us that this act of
over-indulgence of love shown for her brother leads to self-dramatization of
own self. We can also see this, as from the speech, we can see her passion that
she has for her dead brother and we can see this passion being displayed in her
loyalty and devotion to her brother by mourning for him, which is also self-
dramatized. From this act of grieving for her brother we can also see that she is
being very emotional here. We can see that she is very emotional here as she
expresses her emotions excessively. This tells us that this act of mourning for
her dead brother does not only lead to self-dramatization, it also leads to
excessive grief being shown out to others. We can also see that this exaggerated
and over-indulged love for her brother that she displays also leads to self-pity as
through her act of mourning. We can see this by the tears she cries from the
lines “eye-offending brine” that she wallows in self-pity as she is only crying to
get attention from others so that others would pity her. Olivia’s love is
demonstrated through the external in this sense it is simply by her tears. There
appears a lack of sincerity or genuine love in her actions. In fact, she appears to
be self-absorbed. Her mourning draws more attention to her than to her brother.
One example showing that is when Orsino himself later praises Olivia and
hardly mentions her brother at all. This happens when Orsino says, “ How will
she love, when rich golden shaft Hath killed the flock of all affections else that
live in her; when liver, brain, and heart, These sovereign thrones, are all
supplied and filled, her sweet perfections, with one self king!”. Everything that
Orsino said was all about “she”, Olivia. Nothing of anything that he said was to
do with Olivia’s dead brother. This shows that Olivia only gets pity from others,
which in addition is considered as getting self-pity from others like the count
Orsino.

Moreover, Olivia’s impulsive and reckless love for ‘Caesario’ is

ironically as misjudged and misguided as Orsino’s love for her. We can see that
Olivia fell in love with ‘Caesario’ impulsively and recklessly from the quote,
“Not too fast! soft, soft”. From this quote, we can see that she fears that she’s
falling in love too fast and gets carried away by her love for ‘Caesario” which
shows how fast she actually has fallen in love with ‘Caesario’ which shows us
her reckless and impulsive love for ‘Caesario’. It is ironically misjudged and
misguided as Orsino’s love for her. We can see this the fact that since Orsino’s
love for her is superficial and Olivia’s love for ‘Casario’ is also as superficial as
Orsino’s is for her. We can see this as she is carried away by her emotions. We
can see this from the quote, “I do I know not what, and fear to find/ Mine eye
too great a flatterer for my mind.”. This quote tells us that she is carried away
by what she feels and what she sees but by not her mind. From this we can tell
that her love is superficial as it acts on her emotions, which she feels when she
feels, infatuated by ‘Caesario’.

Also in Sebastian and Viola we can see the intimate and intense love
between brother and sister. The first thing Viola says when she steps into lllyria
is that, “My brother, he is in Elysium”.From this we can tell that what she said
is being said sincerely as the focus is on her brother and not on herself. We can
also see that from the fact that the statement said that it was a short, simple and
direct statement. From that quote, we can see Viola displaying love for
Sebastian by worrying for him thinking that he is dead. From this we can see the
intense and intimate love between her and her brother, Sebastian. Sebastian on
the other hand also displays the same affection that Viola displays for him
without he himself knowing it as they have been separated at sea. Sebastian
while talking to Antonio about Viola says, “She is drowned already, sir, with
salt water, though I seem to drown her remembrance again with more”. From
what he says we can see that he has a close relationship with his sister, Viola. It
also shows that Sebastian is a sensitive person that loves his sister, Viola very
much. Through even their times of sorrow and mourning for each of their
apparent deaths they still loved each other. Both believed deep down in their
hearts that maybe someway or by some miracle that each of them was still alive
and well. Through all this we can see the intimate and intense love that both
brother and sister, Sebastian and Viola share between each other.

Another kind of love portrayed in this play is true love like Viola’s.
Viola’s patient and consistent love for Orsino is perhaps the most selfless,
generous and ennobling of all. The quote, “We men say more, swear more, but
indeed/Our shows are more than will; for still we prove/Much in our vows, but
little in our love.”. Viola here says how a women’s (herself) love is more
faithful, mature, and sincere than men. From this we can see Viola love being
the most ennobling of all. Another quote “Too well what love women to men
may owe. / In faith, they are as true of heart as we.” From this quote, we can see
the sincerity of Viola’s love for Orsino. “And with a green and yellow
melancholy/ She sat like Patience on a monument”. This quote tells us of
Viola’s patience; that her patience is stable and unchanging. In only true love
can unchanging and stable patience for the person you love can be found. Thus,
from this we can see the true love that Viola has for Orsino. When Orsino asks
her history, Viola says, “A blank, my lord. She never told her love, / But let
concealment, like a worn i’th’bud, / Feed on her damask check. She pined in
thought,” this quote tells us of Viola’s intense love that is not shown to Orsino.
By her words we can tell of her hidden, long suffering that is killing her slowly.
This shows her being sacrificial to Orsino, which shows us of her selfless love.
Another example of her selfless love for Orsino is when she tells Orsino, “ I’ll
do my best/ To woo your lady.” From this we can see that she sacrifices her
own happiness for his. “[Aside] Yet a barful strife! / Whoever I woo, myself
would be his wife.” This quote is very powerful and strong as it may be
observed in the soliloquy, which shows Viola’s true self, which ends the scene
in a rhyming couplet. The love she displays here is sacrificial as she yet again
sacrifices her own happiness to make Orsino happy to get what she wants which
is to be by him and to serve him. This shows the selfless nature of her love and
also the generosity she displays by
wanting to serve Orsino which is also the noblest as she does not exaggerate or
use flowery language to express her true love for Orsino.

Twelfth Night” consists of many love triangles, however many of the

characters that are tangled up in the web of love are blind to see that their
emotions and feelings toward other characters are untrue. They are being
deceived by themselves and/or the others around them. There are certain
instances in the play where the emotion of love is true, and the two people
involved feel very strongly toward one another. Viola’s love for Orsino is a
great example of true love. Although she is pretending to be a man and is
virtually unknown in Illyria, she hopes to win the Duke’s heart. In act 1, scene
4, Viola let’s out her true feelings for Cesario, “yet a barful strife! Whoe’er I
woo, myself would be his wife.” That statement becomes true when Viola
reveals her true identity. Viola and Orsino had a very good friendship, and
making the switch to husband and wife was easy. Viola was caught up in
another true love scenario, only this time she was on the receiving end, and
things didn’t work out so smoothly. During her attempts to court Olivia for
Orsino, Olivia grew to love Cesario. Viola was now caught in a terrible
situation and there was only one way out, but that would jeopardize her chances
with Orsino. It’s amazing that Olivia could fall for a woman dressed as a man,
but because Viola knew what women like to hear, her words won Olivia’s heart.
This is just one of the love triangle that occurs in the play.

Conclusion:
 “Twelfth Night” is a romantic comedy, and romantic love is the play’s
main focus. Despite the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in which the
various lovers find one another and achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows
that love can cause pain. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of
curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various
characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the
pangs of unrequited love. At one point, Orsino depicts love dolefully as an
“appetite” that he wants to satisfy and cannot; at another point, he calls his
desires “fell and cruel hounds”. Olivia more bluntly describes love as a
“plague” from which she suffers terribly. These metaphors contain an element
of violence, further painting the love-struck as victims of some random force in
the universe. Even the less melodramatic Viola sighs unhappily “My state is
desperate for my master’s love”. This desperation has the potential to result in
violence—as in Act five Scene one, when Orsino threatens to kill ‘Cesario’
because he thinks that ‘Cesario’ has forsaken him to become Olivia’s lover. So
from this we can see that “Twelfth Night” is also a romantic comedy which is
yet another theme of love that is being presented in the play.

Love is also exclusionary in this play as some people achieve romantic

happiness, while others do not. At the end of the play, as the happy lovers
rejoice, both Malvolio and Antonio are prevented from having the objects of
their desire. Malvolio, who has pursued Olivia, must ultimately face the
realization that he is a fool, socially unworthy of his noble mistress. Antonio is
in a more difficult situation, as social norms do not allow for the gratification of
his apparently sexual attraction to Sebastian. Love, thus, cannot conquer all
obstacles, and those whose desires go unfulfilled remain no less in love but feel
the sting of its absence all the more severely. Love plays a major role in
“Twelfth Night,” and Shakespeare addresses true love, self-love and friendship
in a very compelling and interesting way. “Twelfth Night” is the true definition
of love, and I feel that Shakespeare does a great job of explaining a somewhat
difficult topic,
Bibliograpghy:

 https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/twelfthnight/summary/
 https://www.netflix.com/in/title/70032594?
s=a&trkid=13747225&t=cp&vlang=en&clip=81118306
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my teacher MR.MILLER MANI
sir as well as our principal MRS.MALA
SIVAKUMAR who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the
topic Twelfth Night , which also helped me in
doing a lot of research about the
story .Secondly I would also like to thank my
parents and friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited frame.
 OBJECTIVE

The main theme of the story “Twelfth Night”

is Love as a Cause of Suffering
Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy, and
romantic love is the play's main focus. Despite
the fact that the play offers a happy ending, in
which the various lovers find one another and
achieve wedded bliss, Shakespeare shows that
love can cause pain.