Twelfth night by Shakespeare, A Review by Raheem Ahmad

Twelfth night Book Review by Raheem Ahmad

Twelfth Night is a comedy made by Shakespeare. It takes place in Illyria. It starts with Duke Orsino, a nobleman who is lovesick for Lady Olivia. Meanwhile, on the coast of Illyria, a storm caused a shipwreck and Viola, is swept onto the Illyrian shore. She believes her twin brother Sebastian is dead. Viola heard of Duke Orsino and wanted to work for him, so she dresses as a man and takes the name Cesario and goes to work in the house of Orsino. While Viola works for Orsino she realizes she falls in love with him. Orsino send Cesario to deliver a love message to Olivia, Olivia realizes she fell in love with Cesario. And so the love triangle begins; Orsino is in love with Olivia who is in love with Cesario (Viola) who is in love with Orsino. Meanwhile, we see the other members in Lady Olivia’s household; Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle, his friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the lady of the house, Maria, the jokester Feste, and Olivia’s steward, Malvolio. Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrew don’t like Malvolio’s actions (he tries to spoil their fun) so they play a prank on him. Maria writes a letter saying to do foolish things Olivia “likes” and M.O.A.I is her lover. Malvolio finds the letter and he thinks Olivia is in love with him. On the Illyrian shore, Sebastian is lost and assumes Viola is dead. His caretaker, Antonio, follows him around eventually leading to Duke Orsino’s domain, even though Antonio and him are old enemies. Sir Andrew sees Olivia’s attraction to Cesario and challenges him to a duel. Moments later, Sebastian shows up and Sir Toby and Sir Andrew mistakenly think he is Cesario. Olivia arrives and warns them not to fight him. Thinking he is Cesario, Olivia asks him for marriage. Antonio is in jail and begs Cesario for help, thinking she is Sebastian. Malvolio’s gone crazy (for Olivia’s love)  and they decide to put him in a dark room. Feste dresses as “Sir Topas” and pretends to examine Malvolio. Later on, Malvolio writes a letter to Olivia asking to be released. Finally, Cesario and Orsino make it to Lady Olivia’s house, Olivia welcomes Sebastian as her new husband, thinking he is Cesario. Cesario realizes her brother is alive and they reunite and Orsino falls in love with Viola and asks her to be married to him. Sir Toby and Maria secretly get married and Malvolio is furious of what they have done to him. 

My thoughts on the book:

I would give this book 9.5/10 stars because it is a great plot and lots of humor. The plot has a great start that is easy to understand at first but then it gets hard to catch up. With all the confusion and the events to note, it’s a pretty hard book to understand, which is why I would deduct .5 points for the rating. The humor is very nice. When I read the play I even laughed at some of the things that the characters were doing. I would recommend you read this play because it has some entertainment and good interesting themes and quotes to read and learn about. People that like to read Shakespeare’s comedies and can follow a complex plot.