Lex

Browse

GenresShelvesPremiumBlog

Company

AboutJobsPartnersSell on LexAffiliates

Audio

Lex StudioVoicesFirst chapter freeAudiobook pricingAudiobook samplesAudiobook guidesAudio blog

Resources

DocsInvite FriendsFAQ

Legal

Terms of ServicePrivacy Policygeneral@lex-books.com+1 951-551-2243WhatsApp (international)

© 2026 LexBooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Twelfth Night

1601

William Shakespeare

Read

Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare

1601

British Literature, Classics of Literature, Plays/Films/Dramas

Shipwreck separates twins Viola and Sebastian in the dukedom of Illyria. To survive, Viola disguises herself as a man called Cesario and finds employment with the lovesick Duke Orsino. But when Orsino sends his new page to court the resistant Countess Olivia, things twist: Olivia falls for Cesario, not knowing she's a woman, while Viola falls for Orsino, unable to reveal her true self. What follows is one of Shakespeare's most intricate comedies of errors, where desire circulates in the wrong directions and everyone loves someone who loves someone else. Yet beneath the confusions lies something profound: a meditation on identity itself, on who we are when clothes and performance become indistinguishable from the self. With prose that crackles, songs that ache, and characters who reveal surprising depths beneath their follies, Twelfth Night rewards every encounter. It remains as fresh and unsettling as it was four centuries ago, asking us to consider what we truly know about the ones we love, and the selves we show them.

Project Gutenberg

A comedic play written in the late 16th century. The story unfolds in the fictional land of Illyria, exploring themes of...

Wikipedia

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1...

Editions

Twelfth Night
Twelfth NightCurrent
Project Gutenberg · 86 pages
EPUB
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night
Standard Ebooks · 88 pages
EPUB
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night
Project Gutenberg · 87 pages
EPUB
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night
Project Gutenberg · 74 pages
EPUB

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.

Read Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare free on Lex
HTML
<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1"><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>
Markdown
[![Read Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare free on Lex](https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg)](https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1)
BBCode
[url=https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]
Plain link
Read Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1

Cite this book

Reading this edition for a paper or guide? Copy a citation.

MLA
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Lex, lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1.
APA
Shakespeare, W. (1601). Twelfth Night. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1
Chicago
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/twelfth-night-f4ada308-8c7e-4928-b672-63537f2532a1.

More books from this author

William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
1564-1616

Iconic English playwright known for his profound tragedies and innovative comedies.

A MidsummerNight’sDream(Comprehe...

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

JuliusCaesar(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

King Lear(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

King Lear (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

King Lear

William Shakespeare

King Lear

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

The Tamingof the Shrew

William Shakespeare

The Taming of the Shrew

Poetry

William Shakespeare

Poetry

Henry IV,Part II

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part II

Edward III

William Shakespeare

Edward III

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

Coriolanus

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

The TwoGentlemen ofVerona

William Shakespeare

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The MerryWives ofWindsor

William Shakespeare

The Merry Wives of Windsor

All’s WellThat EndsWell

William Shakespeare

All’s Well That Ends Well

Henry VI,Part III

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part III

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

Henry IV,Part I

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part I

Much AdoAboutNothing

William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing

Macbeth(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Macbeth (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

Henry VI,Part I

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part I

The Comedyof Errors

William Shakespeare

The Comedy of Errors

Troilus andCressida

William Shakespeare

Troilus and Cressida

Timon ofAthens

William Shakespeare

Timon of Athens

A MidsummerNight’sDream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Love’sLabour’sLost

William Shakespeare

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Measure forMeasure

William Shakespeare

Measure for Measure

The Winter’sTale

William Shakespeare

The Winter’s Tale

TitusAndronicus

William Shakespeare

Titus Andronicus

Richard II

William Shakespeare

Richard II

Henry VI,Part II

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part II

The TwoNobleKinsmen

William Shakespeare

The Two Noble Kinsmen

Romeo andJuliet

William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet

Pericles

William Shakespeare

Pericles

Hamlet(Comprehen...Summary)

William Shakespeare

Hamlet (Comprehensive Summary)
Premium

Richard III

William Shakespeare

Richard III

More books like this

right arrow

Don Juan

1819

George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron

TheAdventuresof FerdinandCount Fat...

T. Smollett

The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete

Pride andPrejudice

1813

Jane Austen

Now We AreSix

1927

A. A. Milne

Now We Are Six

The Rainbow

1915

D. H. Lawrence

The Rainbow

Nostromo: ATale of theSeaboard

1904

Joseph Conrad

New GrubStreet

George Gissing

The CompleteProse Worksof MartinFarquhar...

Martin Farquhar Tupper

Men andWomen

Robert Browning

Phantasmag...and OtherPoems

1869

Lewis Carroll

Outlines ofEnglish andAmericanLiteratur...

William J. Long

Sybil, Or,the TwoNations

1845

Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield Disraeli

KiplingStories andPoems EveryChild Sho...

Rudyard Kipling

TheGourmet'sGuide toLondon

Lieut.-Col. Newnham-Davis

The Gourmet's Guide to London

The Works ofJohnMarston.Volume 3

John Marston

The Works of John Marston. Volume 3

OldMortality,Complete

Walter Scott

Old Mortality, Complete