Twelfth Night

Count Orsino is the Duke of Illyria. For much of the play, he is marked by his desire for Olivia, though his immediate and deep friendship with Cesario foreshadows his eventual pairing with Viola. Orsino is headstrong and determined in his pursuit of Olivia, refusing to let her go when told she won’t see anyone for seven years while she is mourning her brother, nor when she continually refuses his messages of love that Cesario brings. Later in the play, Orsino is proven to be very jealous, willing to sacrifice or harm Cesario just so that Olivia cannot have Cesario instead of him. “I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love / To spite a raven’s heart within a dove,” he says (V.1.133-134).

Orsino, however, is praised for gentler qualities as well. She does not love him, but Olivia admits that Orsino is “virtuous;” “noble;” “of great estate;” “in voices well divulged, free, learned, and valiant;” and “a gracious person” (I.5.260-264). He is a hyper-masculine who claims that no woman has the capacity to love as he does, but there is also an ambiguity around his sexuality since he loves Cesario the man as much as he does Viola the woman. Even at the end of the play, when Viola has been revealed and they plan to be wed, Orsino still insists on calling her Cesario, saying she will still be Cesario “while you are a man” (V.1.408-409)

Olivia is a noblewoman in Illyria who is mourning the recent death of her brother and living independently as the head of her own household. She is pursued by the Count Orsino, but instead falls in love with Orsino’s messenger, Cesario (who is actually Viola in disguise). As she is still in mourning, Olivia is melancholy for much of the play—her chambermaid Maria remarks on Olivia currently being “addicted to a melancholy” (II.5.206-207)—and her more serious demeanor stands in stark contrast to the jovial revelry of her uncle Sir Toby and his friends, whose antics she doesn’t approve of.

Like Viola, Olivia is cunning and devises schemes such as pretending Cesario left a ring at her estate in order to get him to call on her again, and like Orsino, she is headstrong in her unrequited love, continuing to pursue Cesario even when he refuses her advances. Thinking that Sebastian is Cesario, she immediately takes advantage of an apparent change of hard and demands that he marry her straight away, so that her “most jealous and too doubtful soul / May live at peace” (IV.3.28-29). Viola also has interesting parallels with Olivia. The similarity of their names is apparent, as are their circumstances: they are both self-driven noblewomen who are mourning their lost brothers (though Viola’s, as we know, is not actually dead). 

Sir Toby Belch is Olivia’s uncle, and he resides at her estate. He is frequently drunk and found partying with his friends, including Sir Andrew, Fabian, Maria, and Feste. When Sir Andrew asks at one point, “Shall we set about some revels?” Toby responds, “What shall we do else?” (I.3.132-134). He often instigates pranks and schemes, such as vowing revenge on Malvolio, encouraging Maria’s letter, arranging for Andrew and Cesario to duel by falsely claiming each of the actually cowardly men is determined to fight.

Toby’s revelry and his antics with his friends make for much of the play’s comic moments and contributes to the show’s festive tone, though his behavior also draws the ire of Olivia and Malvolio. “Though [Olivia] harbors you as her kinsman, she’s nothing allied to your disorders,” Malvolio tells Sir Toby (II.3.96-97). Toby proceeds for much of the play without caring about what Olivia thinks, by the end of the play he realizes he needs to be in her good graces and reform his ways, saying he wants to end their prank on Malvolio because he is “now so far in offense with my niece that I cannot pursue with any safety this sport” (IV.2.73-74).

Malvolio is one of Olivia’s servants, who is much disliked by Sir Toby, Maria, and their friends. He is pompous, haughty, and stands in contrast to the merriness of Toby and his friends. “You are sick of self-love, Malvolio, and taste with a distempered appetite,” Olivia tells him (I.5.89-90), while Maria complains that he is a “puritan” and a “time-pleaser” (II.3.145-146), meaning a self-serving opportunist. Maria goes on to say that Malvolio is an “affectioned ass” who memorizes higher-class phrases and suffers from a sense of deluded narcissism, believing himself to be “so crammed, as he thinks, with excellencies, that it is his grounds of faith that all look on him love him” (II.3.146-150).

Malvolio is ambitious and wants to raise above his working-class station in life; when Maria and the others witness him alone, he is fantasizing about marrying Olivia and being able to run her estate and boss around Sir Toby. Maria preys upon Malvolio’s ambition when she writes a letter to him in Olivia’s hand, as it encourages him to behave as if he were a higher class and strive for upward mobility. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em,” the letter tells Malvolio (II.5.149-150), saying he should behave strangely in order to accustom “thyself to what thou art like to be” (II.5.152). Malvolio’s belief in the letter ultimately causes his downfall, making Olivia initially believe he’s mad and causing him to be locked in a dark room by Toby. At the end of the play, Malvolio is the only main character without a happy ending, instead leaving while vowing revenge.

Feste is a Fool at Olivia’s estate, though he also travels and in one scene performs for Orsino at his court. He is clever and verbally spars with the other characters, challenging them with twisted rhetoric and logic. He also sings throughout the show, infusing the play with music. Though termed a “fool,” Feste is perhaps one of the wisest characters of the play, using his jester position and wit to speak truths. As Viola acknowledges about Feste, “This fellow is wise enough to play the Fool, / And to do that well craves a kind of wit. […] This is a practice /As full of labor as a wise man’s art” (III.1.61-67).

Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a knight who is staying at Olivia’s estate in an attempt to woo her, though he spends much of his time partying and getting drunk with Sir Toby. Andrew is rich but is widely decried as a dim-witted and cowardly fool, something he even acknowledges, saying, “many do call me fool” (II.5.80-81). Maria also describes him as a “great quarreler,” but notes that “he hath the gift of a coward to allay the gust he hath in quarreling” (I.3.30-32)—which Andrew later shows when he is terrified of dueling with Cesario. He is also shown to be gullible and easily persuadable, continually believing Toby when he tells Andrew he still has a shot with Olivia.

Maria is Olivia’s loyal chambermaid, though she spends much of her time with Sir Toby and his friends. Toby notes at one point that Maria “adores me,” suggesting they may have a romantic relationship (II.3.177-178). She is smart and scheming, devising the plan to give Malvolio a false letter from Olivia and writing the letter in her mistress’s hand. This earns her the respect of Sir Toby’s crew, who hail her as the “most excellent devil of wit” (II.5.210-211).

Sebastian is Viola’s twin brother, who is also shipwrecked and finds himself in Illyria. He is accompanied by Antonio, who saved him from the wreck and has become a close companion. In his few appearances, he is shown to be passionate and impulsive, immediately fighting Andrew and Toby despite not knowing them or why they wanted to fight. Andrew tells Cesario that Sebastian “broke my head for nothing” (V.1.194-195) and describes Sebastian as “the very devil incarnate” for fighting them so destructively (V.1.190-191). Sebastian also consents to marrying Olivia almost immediately when she mistakes him for Cesario, even though he does not know who she is or how she seems to know him.