Introduction to the play
Named for the twelfth night after Christmas, the end of the Christmas season, Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.
The Folger Shakespeare
Our bestselling editions of Shakespeare's plays and poems
If music be the food of love, play on.
—Orsino
Act 1, scene 1, line 1
… Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and ale?
Twelfth Night in our collection
A selection of Folger collection items related to Twelfth Night. Find more in our digital image collection
Essays and resources from The Folger Shakespeare
Twelfth Night
Learn more about the play, its language, and its history from the experts behind our edition.
About Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
An introduction to the plot, themes, and characters in the play
Reading Shakespeare’s Language
A guide for understanding Shakespeare’s words, sentences, and wordplay
An Introduction to This Text
A description of the publishing history of the play and our editors’ approach to this edition
Textual Notes
A record of the variants in the early printings of this text
A Modern Perspective
An essay by Catherine Belsey
Further Reading
Suggestions from our experts on where to learn more
Shakespeare and his world
Learn more about Shakespeare, his theater, and his plays from the experts behind our editions.
Shakespeare’s Life
An essay about Shakespeare and the time in which he lived
Shakespeare’s Theater
An essay about what theaters were like during Shakespeare’s career
The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
An essay about how Shakespeare’s plays were published
Related blog posts and podcasts
Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare
Scholar Will Tosh explores the hidden queer lives in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how early modern gender fluidity and same-sex desire influenced the Bard’s plays and characters.
Sebastian and Antonio's hidden queer lives
In an excerpt from Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, Will Tosh uses lines from Twelfth Night to trace Sebastian and Antonio’s relationship.
Judi Dench's take on Viola in Shakespeare's Twelth Night
What’s going through Viola’s head as she woos Olivia on Orsino’s behalf? Dame Judi Dench reflects on this key scene in this excerpt from her newly published book.
5 things to look for when you watch Twelfth Night
We ask a few of our favorite Shakespeareans what you should keep an eye out for when you watch Twelfth Night.
Order It: "If music be the food of love" from Twelfth Night
“If music be the food of love, play on.” Take this quiz to see if you can correctly order the lines of the opening speech of Twelfth Night, with its memorable reference to a bank of violets.
Teaching Twelfth Night
Use the Folger Method to teach Twelfth Night. Become a Teacher Member to get exclusive access to lesson plans and professional development.
The Key to Getting ALL Students Understanding and Interpreting Complex Texts
The Key to Getting ALL Students Understanding and Interpreting Complex Texts
Free resource
Introducing Twelfth Night with 2-Line Scenes
Introducing Twelfth Night with 2-Line Scenes
Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.4
Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.4
3-D Shakespeare: Twelfth Night 1.2
3-D Shakespeare: Twelfth Night 1.2
Creating a Promptbook: Twelfth Night 2.5
Creating a Promptbook: Twelfth Night 2.5
Choral Reading: Twelfth Night 1.1
Choral Reading: Twelfth Night 1.1
Words as Images: Twelfth Night 1.5
Words as Images: Twelfth Night 1.5
Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.3
Cutting a Scene: Twelfth Night 2.3
Early printed texts
Twelfth Night appeared in print for the first time in the 1623 First Folio, and that text is the basis for all subsequent editions.
