Summary: Act II, scene i

Somewhere near the coast of Illyria, we meet two men who have not yet appeared in the play. One of
them is called Antonio, and he has been hosting the other in his home. This other man is none other
than Sebastian, the twin brother of Viola, who she believes has drowned. It seems that Antonio took
Sebastian into his home when he washed up after the shipwreck and has been caring for him ever since.
At first, Sebastian gave him a false name, but now that he plans to leave Antonio and go wandering, he
decides to tell his benefactor his true identity and the tale of his sister, who he assumes drowned in their
shipwreck. We learn here that Sebastian and Viola’s father is long dead, and so Sebastian assumes that he
has no family left. He is still devastated by the loss of his sister and is preparing to go wandering through
the world, with little care as to what the future will hold.
Antonio urges Sebastian to let him come with him on his journey. It is clear that
Antonio has become very fond of Sebastian and does not want to lose him. But
Sebastian is afraid that his travels will be dangerous, and he urges Antonio to let
him go alone. After Sebastian leaves to go to Orsino’s court, Antonio ponders the
situation: he wants to follow his friend and help him, but he has many enemies in
Orsino’s court and is afraid to go there. He cares about Sebastian so much,
however, that he decides to face the danger and follow him to Orsino’s court
anyway.

Summary: Act II, scene ii

Meanwhile, outside Olivia’s house, Malvolio has caught up with Viola (still
disguised as Cesario). Malvolio gives Cesario the ring that Olivia has sent
with him, rebuking him for having left it with Olivia. Viola realizes Olivia’s
deception and plays along with it, pretending that she did indeed give the
ring to Olivia. She tells Malvolio that Olivia took the ring and insists that
Olivia must keep it.
Malvolio throws the ring onto the ground and exits. Alone, the confused Viola
picks up the ring and wonders why Olivia has given it to her. She wonders if
it means that Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario. If such is the case, Viola
reflects, then events have indeed taken an ironic turn, because Olivia has
unknowingly fallen in love with another woman. “Poor lady, she were better
love a dream,” Viola says to herself (II.ii.24). Apparently loved by Olivia and
in love with Orsino, who loves Olivia, Viola expresses her hope that time will
untangle these problems since she certainly cannot figure out how to solve
them.

Analysis: Act II, scenes i–ii

It comes as no surprise to any reader of Shakespeare’s comedies that
Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, has turned up alive. His reappearance and
resemblance to his sister (who, as we know, is currently disguised as a man)
sets the stage for later mix-ups and mistaken identities, common elements
in Shakespeare’s comic plays.

The relationship between Antonio and Sebastian, meanwhile, though it is a minor

part of the play, offers fertile ground for critical attention. Antonio and Sebastian are
clearly close, dear friends. Yet the language Antonio uses, along with his behavior,
suggests something even stronger. Antonio appears willing to sacrifice everything
for his friend, giving up his time, money, and safety to follow and protect him. He
begs Sebastian to let him be his servant and travel into danger with him, and
Antonio decides to go even when he learns that Sebastian is headed for a
dangerous place filled with Antonio’s enemies. Moreover, Antonio’s language carries
a strong emotional charge: “If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your
servant” (II.i.30–31). His implication that separation from Sebastian would be
equivalent to a violent death demonstrates how deeply important to him his
relationship with Sebastian is.

Summary: Act II, scene iii

Sir Toby and Sir Andrew stay up late drinking in Olivia’s house. Feste
appears, and Sir Andrew compliments the clown on his singing. Both
noblemen encourage Feste to sing another song. While he sings, Maria
enters, warning them to keep their voices down or Olivia will call her
steward, Malvolio, and tell him to kick them out. But the tipsy Sir Toby and
Sir Andrew cheerfully ignore her.
Malvolio comes into the room. He criticizes the men for being drunk at all
hours of the night and for singing so loudly. He warns Sir Toby that his
behavior is intolerably rude and that, while Olivia is willing to let him be her
guest (since he is her uncle), if Sir Toby does not change his behavior, he will
be asked to leave. But Sir Toby, along with Sir Andrew and Feste, responds
by making jokes and insulting Malvolio. After making a final threat, this one
directed at Maria, Malvolio leaves, warning them all that he will let Olivia
know about their behavior.

Sir Andrew suggests challenging Malvolio to a duel, but Maria has a better
idea: to play a practical joke on him. As she explains to Sir Toby and Sir
Andrew, Malvolio is a puritan, but at the same time his biggest weakness is
his enormous ego: he believes that everybody loves him. Maria will use that
weakness to get her revenge on him for spoiling their fun. Since Maria’s
handwriting is almost identical to Olivia’s, Maria plans to leave letters lying
around that will appear to have come from Olivia and will make Malvolio
think that Olivia is in love with him.

Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are amazed by Maria’s cleverness, and they admire
the plan. Maria goes off to bed, planning to get started on her joke the next
day. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, deciding that it is now too late to go to sleep,
head off to warm up more wine.

The next day, at Orsino’s house, Orsino discusses love with his young page,
Cesario (still Viola in disguise). Orsino tells Cesario that he can tell by looking
at him that Cesario is in love. Since Viola is really in love with Orsino, Cesario
admits that Orsino is right. When Orsino asks what the woman he loves is
like, Cesario answers that she is very much like Orsino—similar to him in age
and features. Orsino, not picking up on his page’s meaning, remarks that
Cesario would be better off loving a younger woman, because men are
naturally fickle, and only a younger woman can keep them romantically
satisfied for a long time.
Meanwhile, Orsino has sent for Feste, who apparently moves back and forth
between the houses of Olivia and Orsino. Feste sings another very sad love
song (this one about someone who dies for love), and, afterward, Orsino
orders Cesario to go to Olivia again, pleading Orsino’s love to her.

Cesario reminds Orsino that Olivia has denied his advances many times
before, suggesting that Orsino accept that Olivia is not romantically
interested in him, just as a woman in love with Orsino but whom Orsino did
not love would have to accept his lack of interest in her. But Orsino says no
woman can love with the same kind of passion as a man. Cesario disagrees
and tells the story of a woman he knew who died for the love of a man: the
woman never told the man about her love but, instead, simply wasted away.
Cesario refers to this girl as her father’s daughter—leading Orsino, naturally,
to think that it must be Cesario’s sister. He asks if the girl died of her love,
and Viola answers ambiguously. Orsino then gives her a jewel to present to
Olivia on his behalf, and she departs.
Read a translation of Act II, scene iv
Analysis: Act II, scenes iii–iv
These scenes give us the first of the play’s many songs. Twelfth Night is full
of music, which is linked to romance from Orsino’s command in the play’s
very first line: “If music be the food of love, play on” (I.i.1). Most of the songs
are sung either by the drunken Sir Toby and Sir Andrew or by Feste the
clown, who is a professional singer and entertainer as well as a joker. In
Shakespeare’s time, love was often associated with the emotional
expressiveness of music, so the love songs in this comedy are quite
appropriate.

Summary: Act II, scene v

In the garden of Olivia’s house, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria—along with
Fabian, one of Olivia’s servants—prepare to play their practical joke
on Malvolio. Maria has written a letter carefully designed to trick him into
thinking that Olivia is in love with him. She has been spying on him and
knows that he is now approaching. She drops the letter in the garden path,
where Malvolio will see it. She exits, while the three men hide among the
trees and shrubbery.
Malvolio approaches on the path, talking to himself. He speaks of Olivia: it
seems that he already thinks it possible that she might be in love with him.
He is deep in a fantasy of what it would be like to be Olivia’s husband and
the master of her house. He would have power over all the other servants
and even over Sir Toby. Sir Toby and the others can’t help jeering at
Malvolio’s pride from their hiding place, but they do it softly so that he will
not overhear them and realize that they are there.

Malvolio spots the letter lying in the garden path. He mistakes Maria’s
handwriting for Olivia’s, as Maria has predicted, and Malvolio thinks that the
letter is from Olivia. Apparently, Maria sealed the letter with Olivia’s sealing
ring to make the letter look even more authentic. To Sir Toby’s pleasure,
Malvolio decides to read it aloud.

The letter is addressed to “the unknown beloved” and contains what seems
to be a riddle about love (II.v.92). It suggests that the writer is in love with
somebody but must keep it a secret from the world, though she wants her
beloved to know about it. The first part of the letter concludes by saying that
the beloved’s identity is represented by the letters M.O.A.I. Malvolio,
naturally, works over the message in his mind until he has made it mean that
he is the beloved (he notes, for instance, that all four of the letters appear in
his own name). Sir Toby and the rest laugh at him from behind the bush.

Once he has convinced himself that Olivia is in love with him, Malvolio reads
the second half of the letter. The mysterious message implies that the writer
wishes to raise Malvolio up from his position of servitude to one of power.
But the letter also asks him to show the writer that he returns her love
through certain signs. The letter orders him to wear yellow stockings, “go
cross-gartered” (that is, to wear the straps of his stockings crossed around
his knees), be sharp-tempered with Sir Toby, be rude to the servants, behave
strangely, and smile all the time. Jubilantly, Malvolio vows to do all these
things in order to show Olivia that he loves her in return.

After Malvolio leaves, Sir Toby remarks that he “could marry this wench
[Maria] for this device. . . . And ask no other dowry with her but such another
jest” (II.v.158–160). Maria then rejoins the men, and she, Sir Toby, and
Fabian have a good laugh, anticipating what Malvolio is likely to do now. It
turns out that Olivia actually hates the color yellow, can’t stand to see
crossed garters, and doesn’t want anybody smiling around her right now,
since she is still officially in mourning. In other words, Malvolio is destined to
make a great fool of himself. They all head off together to watch the fun.

Read a translation of Act II, scene v

Analysis: Act II, scene v
The practical joke played on Malvolio raises themes which, by now, are
familiar: the instability of identity, the importance of clothing in establishing
one’s identity and position, and the illusions and delusions that we let
ourselves fall into in the name of love. Like everyone else,
from Orsino to Viola, Malvolio falls victim to the allure of romance. Despite
his outward puritanism, he is as much a romantic as anyone—although his
fantasy of marrying Olivia has as much to do with class-related ambition as it
does with infatuation.
Malvolio’s desire to rise above his class spurs his self-delusion, but it also
explains why Sir Toby and the others find his fantasy so ludicrous. Malvolio is
an unsuitable match for Olivia not only because of his unattractive
personality but also because he is not of noble blood. He is a commoner,
while Olivia is a gentlewoman. As such, that Malvolio would imagine Olivia
marrying him seems obscene to them. We may recall how interested Olivia is
earlier to find out from young Cesario, on whom she has a crush, that he is a
“gentleman”—meaning that he is of noble birth (I.v.249). In the class system
of Shakespeare’s time, it would have seemed very strange for a noblewoman
to marry below her rank.