Book Club Guide

Twelfth Night

by William Shakespeare · 1602 · Classics

Key themes

Love as delusion — loving what you cannot really see
Identity and its instability under disguise
Malvolio and the comedy of a man who cannot read the room

About this book

Viola, shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, disguises herself as a boy and enters the service of the melancholy Duke Orsino, falling in love with him while carrying his messages to the Countess Olivia, who falls in love with Viola instead. Shakespeare's most exuberant comedy of disguise and desire ends with multiple weddings and one character left out in the cold.

Written around 1601, Twelfth Night is generally considered the culmination of Shakespeare's 'happy comedies.' Feste and Malvolio are among his most discussed characters. The play has been particularly beloved in theatrical history.

Discussion questions

Three of the play's characters love someone who is (for various reasons) unavailable or mistaken in identity. What is Shakespeare saying about the nature of romantic love through this layered confusion?
Viola's disguise creates a triangular situation where she loves Orsino, Olivia loves her, and Orsino loves Olivia. What does this structure say about desire and its objects?
Malvolio is humiliated for believing that Olivia loves him. Is this comedy fair — does the play invite us to laugh cruelly — or does his final line ('I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you') complicate our response?
Feste the fool is often the play's wisest voice. What does Twelfth Night say about the relationship between wit and wisdom — and between the fool and those who employ him?
The play's title refers to the Twelfth Night of Christmas — a period of licensed misrule. How does the carnival atmosphere inform the play's treatment of identity, desire and social order?