SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Twelfth Night (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options) recap

After a shipwreck separates twins Viola and Sebastian, Viola disguises herself as a young man named Cesario and serves Duke Orsino, who sends her to court the mourning Countess Olivia. Viola falls for Orsino, while Olivia falls for Cesario. In Olivia's household, Maria, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and Feste punish the pompous steward Malvolio with a forged letter that persuades him Olivia loves him. Sebastian, also alive, enters Illyria with the loyal Antonio. Because he looks like the disguised Viola, he is mistaken for Cesario, accepts Olivia's sudden proposal, and baffles people involved in Sir Andrew's challenge. The confusions converge when both twins appear together. Viola reveals her identity; Orsino recognizes his love for her, and Olivia remains happily married to Sebastian. The prank on Malvolio is confessed, and he departs angrily while the household celebrates the paired marriages.

Duke Orsino of Illyria longs for Countess Olivia, who has withdrawn from courtship while mourning her brother. On the coast, Viola survives a shipwreck but believes her twin brother Sebastian has died. With a sea captain's help, she adopts male clothing and the name Cesario so she can safely enter Orsino's service. Elsewhere, Olivia's uncle Sir Toby drinks and makes noise in her house with Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a rich, inept suitor whom he encourages to keep pursuing Olivia. Maria, Olivia's waiting-gentlewoman, warns them that their conduct is unwelcome. Viola quickly gains Orsino's confidence. He sends Cesario to present his love to Olivia, while Viola privately realizes that she has fallen in love with Orsino herself.

Cesario gains an audience with Olivia and speaks for Orsino with such force that Olivia becomes interested in the messenger instead of the master. She sends Malvolio after Cesario with a ring and pretends it was left behind. Viola understands that Olivia has fallen for her male disguise and sees the emerging triangle: she loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario. Meanwhile, Sebastian is revealed to have survived the wreck. He believes Viola dead and prepares to travel into Illyria. Antonio, the captain who rescued him, cares for him deeply and decides to follow despite having enemies in Orsino's territory.

Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Feste hold a loud late-night gathering until Malvolio rebukes them and threatens to report Maria. In response, Maria devises a punishment based on Malvolio's vanity: she will imitate Olivia's handwriting in a letter suggesting that Olivia secretly loves him and wants him to behave in a series of conspicuous ways. Orsino continues confiding in Cesario about love. Viola comes close to describing her own feelings but cannot reveal her identity. At Olivia's house, Malvolio finds the planted letter while Maria and the others watch from hiding. He convinces himself it is genuine and resolves to approach Olivia smiling, wearing yellow stockings crossed with garters, and treating the rest of the household with arrogance. The tricksters are delighted that he has followed their design.

Olivia declares her love directly to Cesario, but Viola can only reject her. Sir Andrew decides to leave because Olivia favors the page; Sir Toby keeps him present by persuading him to challenge Cesario. Antonio catches up with Sebastian and gives him money before they separate to explore the town. Malvolio then appears before Olivia in the bizarre clothing and manner prescribed by the forged letter. Because Olivia knows nothing of the trick, she thinks he is mentally unwell and leaves Sir Toby to supervise him. Maria and her companions intensify the deception by treating Malvolio as possessed. At the same time, Sir Toby and Fabian frighten both Sir Andrew and the equally unwilling Cesario with exaggerated accounts of the other's skill in combat, forcing them toward a duel neither wants.

Antonio mistakes Cesario for Sebastian and intervenes in the duel. When officers arrest him, he asks for the money he gave Sebastian, but Viola cannot understand him and has none. Antonio interprets this as betrayal. His references to Sebastian give Viola hope that her brother may be alive. Sebastian then arrives and is repeatedly mistaken for Cesario. Unlike Viola, he responds forcefully when Sir Andrew and Sir Toby attack him. Olivia intervenes, addresses him as Cesario, and urges him to come with her. Though astonished by her affection and by the strange familiarity of everyone around him, Sebastian accepts the good fortune and agrees to marry her. Malvolio has meanwhile been confined in darkness. Feste disguises his voice as a learned examiner to torment him, then promises to carry out a letter in which Malvolio asks Olivia for release.

Orsino visits Olivia with Cesario. Olivia treats Cesario as her husband, while Antonio identifies the page as Sebastian, producing accusations of betrayal on every side. Sir Andrew and Sir Toby enter wounded and blame Cesario for beating them. The appearance of the real Sebastian finally separates the two identities. Sebastian and Viola recognize one another as the twins lost in the wreck, and Viola explains her disguise. Olivia accepts Sebastian as the man she married. Orsino, seeing that Cesario is Viola and recalling her devotion, asks Viola to become his wife once she resumes her own identity. Feste delivers Malvolio's letter, and Malvolio is released. Fabian and Feste explain Maria's forged message; Fabian also reports that Sir Toby has married Maria. Malvolio leaves in anger, promising revenge, while Orsino calls for an effort to make peace and prepares for the two marriages.

In the final gathering, Sebastian's appearance proves that he and Viola are separate people and resolves the many mistakes caused by their resemblance. The twins recognize each other and rejoice that both survived the shipwreck. Olivia accepts that she has married Sebastian rather than Cesario, while Orsino learns that Cesario is Viola and turns his affection toward her; Viola will resume her female clothing once it is recovered. Maria's forged letter is exposed as the cause of Malvolio's humiliation. Sir Toby has married Maria, but Malvolio leaves vowing retaliation against the household. Orsino orders that he be pursued and reconciled if possible. The play closes with two newly acknowledged couples, Olivia and Sebastian and Orsino and Viola, while Feste remains to sing about the persistence of ordinary hardship beyond the festivities.