Background
Written for the festive season associated with misrule, the play lets mistaken identity loosen ordinary social roles. Its comedy also carries a strand of melancholy through characters who are out of step with the celebration around them.
Reading notes
- Track what each character knows about Viola and when that knowledge changes.
- Notice how the same words carry different meanings for Orsino, Olivia, and Cesario.
- Read Malvolio’s subplot as a question about both self-regard and group cruelty.
Version note
Text source: the Standard Ebooks EPUB edition identified on this page. This site extracted the English text and retained the source edition’s chapter order. Public-domain status must be checked for the territory where the text will be distributed.