Twelfth Night
1623

Shipwrecked and believing her twin brother dead, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who is pining for the cold-hearted Countess Olivia. But Orsino's plan to use his new messenger as a go-between backfires spectacularly when Olivia, mourning her own brother's death, falls in love with the disguised Viola. Meanwhile, Olivia's pompous steward Malvolio chases a fake letter purporting to be from his mistress, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, aridiculous suitor, challenges Cesario to a duel. The gender-bent confusion spirals beautifully until the twins reunite and everything untangles in one of Shakespeare's most satisfying conclusions. This is a play about desire masquerading as something else, about the performances we give in love, and about how completely we can misunderstand what we think we want. Four weddings and a feast to end the Christmas season. What could go wrong?
Editions
X-Ray
“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.””
— William Shakespeare
“If music be the food of love, play on;Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,The appetite may sicken, and so die.That strain again! it had a dying fall:O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,That breathes upon a bank of violets,Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,That, notwithstanding thy capacityReceiveth as the sea, nought enters there,Of what validity and pitch soe'er,But falls into abatement and low price,Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancyThat it alone is high fantastical.””
— William Shakespeare
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Your fate awaits you. Accept it in body and spirit. To get used to the life you'll most likely be leading soon, get rid of your low-class trappings.””
— William Shakespeare
“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.””
— William Shakespeare
“Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know.””
— William Shakespeare
“a young woman in love always looks like patience on a monument smiling at grief””
— William Shakespeare
“Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better.””
— William Shakespeare
“I say, there is no darknessbut ignorance; in which thou art more puzzled thanthe Egyptians in their fog.””
— William Shakespeare
“O time, thou must untangle this, not I.It is too hard a knot for me t'untie.””
— William Shakespeare
Link to this book
Add a free, dofollow link to Lex on your blog, forum, syllabus, or reading list.
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9Cite this book
Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Lex, lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9.Shakespeare, W. (1623). Twelfth Night. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-1cd6382d-4795-4a8a-9fbe-bc2c130198e9.










































