Explore Act 1 of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Discover a summary of the play, meet Orsino and the other main characters, and study the in-depth analysis.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare: Act 1 | Summary & Analysis
Table of Contents
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
- Twelfth Night Act 1 Summary
- Twelfth Night Act 1 Analysis
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the significance of the opening scene of Twelfth Night?
The opening scene of Twelfth Night introduces the audience to one of the main characters in the play Duke Orsino. It also shows his love for Lady Olivia and the fact that she wants to be in mourning for her brother for seven years.
Where is the Duke going at the end of scene I?
At the end of Scene 1, Duke Orsino is going to listen to more music and think about Lady Olivia. He does this after he hears that Olivia is not planning to marry for seven years.
What happens to Viola in Twelfth Night Act 1?
At the beginning of Act 1, Viola washes up on the shores of Illyria without her brother Sebastian. She decides to go and work for Duke Orsino, dressed as a young man named Cesario. As Cesario, Orsino sends her to give a message to Lady Olivia about Orsino's love for her. Viola has fallen in love with Orsino and does not want to give the message to Olivia. She goes to Olivia as Cesario and gives her the message from Orsino, but Olivia falls for Cesario.
Table of Contents
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
- Twelfth Night Act 1 Summary
- Twelfth Night Act 1 Analysis
- Lesson Summary
William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night is a story about a love triangle between Viola, Orsino, and Olivia. It takes place in Illyria, where Viola washes onto shore at the beginning of the play. Viola has been separated from her twin brother Sebastian; each twin thinks the other is dead.
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Viola pretends to be a boy named Cesario and works for Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. She falls in love with Orsino, who is in love with Countess Olivia and is trying to court her. Olivia falls in love with Viola, who she thinks is a boy. When Sebastian finally comes to Illyria, confusion occurs because everyone believes that he is Cesario, who is his sister.
Characters in Twelfth Night Act 1
The main characters in Twelfth Night Act 1 by William Shakespeare include:
- Orsino- Orsino is the Duke of Illyria who is in love with Lady Olivia. He starts to have feelings for his page boy Cesario, who he does not realize is a woman named Viola.
- Olivia- Olivia is a noblewoman from Illyria who Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheck are courting. She tells them she is still mourning her brother and will not marry for seven years. Olivia falls in love with Cesario, not realizing that he is Viola in disguise.
- Viola- Viola is the play's protagonist who washes up on the shores of Illyria in a storm. She calls herself Cesario and becomes the page to Duke Orsino. She falls in love with Orsino.
- Sir Toby Belch- Sir Toby is Olivia's uncle who lives in her home. He is rowdy, makes practical jokes, and is a heavy drinker. Olivia disapproves of this behavior.
- Sir Andrew Aguecheek- Sir Andrew is a friend of Sir Toby and is one of the men trying to court Olivia. He thinks that he is smart but is an idiot.
- Cesario- Cesario is Viola's persona when she washes ashore in Illyria. She pretends to be a page boy for Duke Orsino and falls in love with him, while Olivia falls in love with who she thinks is Cesario.
- Feste- Feste is the fool in Lady Olivia's home. He goes between Olivia's and Orsino's homes and earns a living making jokes, singing songs, and being witty.
- Maria- Maria is Olivia's lady's maid, similar to Malvolio in personality.
- Malvolio- Malvolio is the head servant in Lady Olivia's household. He does not think much of people who drink, sing, or have fun and is very self-righteous.
- Sebastian- Sebastian is Viola's twin brother. When he arrives in Illyria later in the play, everyone starts believing that he is Cesario. Lady Olivia is one of these people who believe this and wants to marry him.
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Here are summaries of each of the scenes in Act 1 of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.
Act 1, Scene 1
- In "Twelfth Night," Act 1 Scene 1 starts with Orsino, who is in love with Countess Olivia. One of his attendants asks Orsino if he would like to go out and hunt. Orsino does not want to go out and hunt and listens to music instead so he can sit and think about Olivia.
- His servant Valentine tells Orsino that Olivia is mourning her brother's death and does not plan on marrying anyone for another seven years. Olivia has vowed to live like a nun and not be seen by anyone for that time. Orsino wants to wait for her because he thinks that if Olivia can love her brother so much, she will love him even more.
Act 1, Scene 2
- At the beginning of Scene 2, Viola, a noblewoman, washes up on the shores of Illyria. She believes her brother has perished during the storm because he is nowhere to be seen. The captain gives her hope, though, because he says that he saw Sebastian latch himself to the mast of the ship they were sailing.
- The captain tells her about the Duke of Illyria, Orsino. He also tells her about Olivia and how she is mourning her brother's death. Viola wants to conceal her aristocratic identity for a while in Illyria. At first, Viola wants to go and work as a servant in Olivia's household, but the captain tells her that Olivia is not accepting visitors. In order to protect her virtue, Viola decides to disguise herself as a man and go and work for Orsino as a pageboy. The captain agrees to help her disguise herself as a man.
Act 1, Scene 3
- Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, returns after a night of drinking and is very drunk. One of Olivia's gentlewomen, Maria, tells Sir Toby that Olivia is sick of his drinking. She also talks about how Sir Toby has brought one of his friends Sir Andrew Aguecheck, who acts similarly to Sir Toby. Sir Toby tells Olivia that Sir Andrew would be perfect for his niece.
- Sir Andrew comes into the room too and continues to get Maria's name wrong, solidifying what Maria was saying. After Maria leaves, Sir Andrew tells Sir Toby that he does not think that Olivia will marry him. Sir Toby tells him that he does still have a chance with Olivia.
Act 1, Scene 4
- Viola has arrived at Orsino's house and is going by the name Cesario. She is pretending to be a teenage boy and has become a favorite of Orsino after working for him for three days. Orsino has Cesario take messages to Olivia to show how much Orsino loves her.
- Cesario first tries to change Orsino's mind by saying that Olivia will not accept anyone into her home. Orsino tells Cesario that ''he'' is so young, handsome, and resembles a woman in features. Orsino believes that Olivia will take Cesario in on this alone. After Cesario leaves to give the message to Olivia, she reveals in an aside that she (Viola) has fallen in love with Orsino.
Act 1, Scene 5
- Maria is talking to Olivia's fool or clown, Feste, who has been away for quite a while. Feste refuses to let Maria know where he was, and he taunts Maria about her relationship with Sir Toby. Maria leaves as Olivia enters the room with her servant Malvolio. She initially wants to send Feste away, but he can cheer her up.
- Maria returns with a message from a young man who wants to talk with Olivia. Olivia sends Malvolio to get the young man to leave. Malvolio returns and tells Olivia that the young man will not go until ''he'' can talk with Olivia. Olivia asks what the young man is like, and Malvolio tells her that ''he'' speaks like a woman and ''he'' is very young. She decides that she will talk with the boy.
- Cesario comes into the room and gives the speech that Orsino asked ''him'' to give to Olivia. Olivia becomes more interested in Cesario and begins to ask questions about ''his'' life. Viola, as Cesario, answers the questions. Olivia then sends Cesario away and tells ''him'' to tell Orsino that she will never love him. She is interested in having Cesario come back, though. Cesario starts to return to Orsino's, but Olivia has Malvolio bring out a ring to Cesario. They are saying that Cesario accidentally left it. In truth, Olivia wanted to give it to ''him''. She does this because she says she has fallen in love with Cesario.
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In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare includes many themes that encompass the entire plot of the story. Two of the themes that play a significant role in this act of the play are the ideas of love and gender.
Love
- In Act 1 of Twelfth Night, the play's love triangle is formed by the end of the Act. At the beginning of the play, Orsino is laminating about the love he feels for Olivia and is obsessed with showing her how much he loves her. He loves the idea of being in love more than the actual act of it.
- Orsino takes in the young man Cesario as a pageboy, whom he does not realize is a girl named Viola. Disguised as Cesario, Viola is tasked to give a message to Olivia from Orsino about his love. This is unfortunate for Viola; she has fallen in love with Orsino while working with him and does not want to relay the message. Throughout the play, Orsino also falls for Viola, disguised as Cesario.
- Viola, as Cesario, takes the message to Olivia. Throughout their meeting, Olivia falls for Cesario. So, they have created a true love triangle between the group of them, with each one loving someone else in the triangle. Shakespeare pokes fun at the love and courtship of the nobles in his play through the love triangle.
Gender
- Besides love, gender is the other most crucial theme throughout Act 1 of Twelfth Night. During the play, Viola is disguised as Cesario throughout most of the plot. Her disguise causes great confusion and a lot of humor, but also it makes one look at the ambiguity of gender.
- When dressed as Cesario, Viola is often described as a man with womanly features, whether in her voice or mannerisms. Olivia falls for Cesario because ''he'' looks like a womanly man.
- Similarly, Orsino falls for Viola as Cesario throughout the play. He does fall for Viola at the end of the play. Their relationship is more than platonic, even when Viola is dressed as a man. Shakespeare plays with the gender roles of these characters and makes their relationships even more complicated.
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Act 1 of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare follows the characters of Viola, Orsino, and Olivia and their love triangle. The play starts with Duke Orsino of Illyria pining for Lady Olivia, whom he says he loves. One of his servants, Valentine, tells him that Olivia is in mourning for her brother and does not plan on marrying for seven years. Then on the shores of Illyria, Viola washes up without her twin brother Sebastian. Viola is afraid that her brother has died at sea, but the captain says that he saw Sebastian lash himself to a mast so that he might have survived. She decides to join the workers at Orsino's house and dresses up as a man because she is afraid for her virtue if she goes as herself.
Three days after Viola has been working for Orsino, disguised as a young man named Cesario, Orsino sends ''him'' to give Olivia a message of love from Orsino. Cesario agrees but is miserable about it because she (Viola) has fallen in love with Orsino. One of Olivia's lady's maids, Maria, tells Olivia that there is a young man at her house that wants to talk with her. Olivia first says she is not interested in seeing the young man and sends another of her servants, Malvolio, out to tell ''him''. Then, Malvolio tells her that the young man is not interested in leaving without talking to Olivia. She finds out that the young man is feminine and wants to speak with ''him.'' Cesario (Viola) comes in and gives Olivia the message from Orsino. Olivia tells Cesario that she does not love Orsino and never will, but she reveals in an aside that she has fallen in love with Cesario (Viola).
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Additional Info
Twelfth Night Act 1 Characters
Act 1 of William Shakespeare's Comedy Twelfth Night serves to set up both the action and the characters of the play. This lesson will focus on the summary and analysis of Act 1, but before we begin, let's take a look at the major characters in this act:
Orsino, Duke of Illyria
Olivia, the noblewoman he loves, who recently lost her brother
Viola, a young aristocratic woman who has been shipwrecked
Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's drunken uncle
Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby's equally drunken friend
Cesario, who is actually Viola in disguise
Feste, a clown in Olivia's service
Maria, Olivia's fun-loving waiting woman
Malvolio, Olivia's steward who disapproves of frivolity and fun
The Duke and his Lover
In Act I, we learn of Duke Orsino's great love for the beautiful but uninterested Olivia. She's in mourning for her dead brother and won't consider romance at this time. In fact, she has vowed to stay in mourning for seven years. Orsino is devastated. He refuses to hunt or do much of anything besides listen to music. So Orsino mopes around the house and thinks about ways that he can get Olivia to notice him.
The Shipwreck and the Deception
Meanwhile, near the coast, Viola ponders her fate. She's just survived a shipwreck that killed most people on board, and she assumes her twin brother, Sebastian, has died. The captain cautions her about writing him off just yet; he says he saw Sebastian lash himself to the mast, so there is a possibility he survived. Viola shrugs, not wanting to get her hopes up.
Of course, she needs to figure out what to do now. She's stranded miles from home with no brother to look after her. The captain tells her about both Olivia and Orsino. Viola wants to go work for Olivia. After all, she's mourning a brother, too.
But the captain again mentions the seven years of mourning and tells Viola it is unlikely Olivia will give her a place in her household. Instead, the captain believes that she could find work in the house of Duke Orsino. But, since Orsino is a bachelor and Viola's protective of her virtue, she decides to try to work for him disguised as a teenaged boy.
In Olivia's House
We are introduced to Sir Toby, Olivia's drunken uncle, who lives with Olivia. He has his friend, the equally drunken Sir Andrew, with him. Sir Toby puts forward Sir Andrew, who hopes to win Olivia's heart. She shuts him down.
Viola, who has disguised herself and is going by the name Cesario, obtains a place in Orsino's household and quickly becomes his favorite. Orsino tasks Cesario with delivering his love letters to Olivia. He commands Cesario to act as if he (she) loves Olivia. Cesario goes off to bring the letter to Olivia, miserable because she (he) has fallen in love with Orsino.
We're introduced to the servants in Olivia's household: the clown Feste, the witty Maria, and the dour Malvolio. Maria predicts Feste will be banished for spending so long away, but since he is the only one who can make Olivia happy, he is allowed to stay. Malvolio reports to his mistress that there is a good looking boy there to see her. Cesario enters and Olivia falls in love with her (him).
So at the end of Act I, we're left with this messy love triangle. Orsino loves Olivia, who loves Cesario, who is actually a girl and loves Orsino. Everyone is miserable, and everything is in a mess.
Analysis
Act I sets up the big mix-up that will occur later in the play. Her disguise, her missing brother, the love triangle…all are important pieces of the comedy that Shakespeare in pulling together. Like all of the Bard's plays, this one deals with love and loss.
Love has turned Orsino into a whimpering ghost of his former self. He wishes aloud that he had never fallen for Olivia, and yet he cannot stop thinking of her. His question of whether love is real or something merely of the mind reverberates throughout the play. The audience is meant to question whether he really loves Olivia or just loves the idea of her being forbidden to him.
In addition to the love theme, this act sets up the relationship between Orsino and Cesario/Viola. Orsino's love for Cesario is almost romantic as opposed to platonic. This is merely one of several such relationships that appear in Twelfth Night, something that shows us Shakespeare is questioning the line between friendship and love as much as he is questioning the line between male and female.
Like several other Shakespeare works, most notably Romeo and Juliet, this play questions the bounds of courtly love. Here, it is held up as silly. Don't take any of the characters and whom they love at the moment seriously, though. Like in all other comedies, it is bound to change.
Lesson Summary
Twelfth Night is a comedy, but in Act I it doesn't seem like it yet. The act sets up the characters and what they are after, but at the end of the act no one is happy. The messy love triangle serves to set up the following acts of the play, though, and there will be plenty to laugh at. But underneath the wallowing in misery and the frivolity, Shakespeare brings up some very good questions about the line between friendship and love, and the difference between male and female.
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