Content abstract:
Sebastian and Viola are identical twins. In a maritime accident, they were separated on the Illyrian coast. Viola thought that his brother was unlucky, so he disguised himself as a man, assumed the name of Sisario, and went to the door of the local Duke of Ossino to serve as a waiter. The Duke of Ossino sent Viola to propose to Olivia, a beautiful and rich young countess. However, by this time, Viola had secretly fallen in love with his master Ossino. Olivia, on the other hand, fell in love with Viola at first sight. Things have become subtle and complicated.
at the same time, a plot is going on at Olivia's house. Her uncle Toby and others retaliated against him because they were scolded by the arrogant butler Malfurion. They imitated Olivia's handwriting and wrote a love letter to Malfurion, which encouraged the horse to make bold courtship and told him to wear disgusting yellow stockings often. Malfurion was possessed by ghosts and was taken in by them, and he was full of ugliness; Olivia thought the housekeeper was crazy.
In order to win Olivia's heart, Ossino once again sent Viola to Olivia's home to lobby. Olivia adores Viola more and more. Olivia's uncle, however, insisted on marrying her to a stupid rich man, Andrew, and together with Maria, Olivia's maid, he urged Andrew to duel with Viola.
It turns out that Viola's brother Sebastian was rescued by the pirate captain Antonio when he was killed, and they formed a close friend. After arriving in Illyria, Captain Antonio was afraid of being chased by Illyria authorities and could not accompany Sibas Xin around the city, so he gave him the money bag to use.
Captain Antonio accidentally met Viola, who was fighting Andrew. He mistook her for her brother Sebastian, so he drew his sword to help him. However, the police passing by recognized him and arrested him. Antonio was surprised to see that Viola was indifferent to his arrest and refused to return his purse, so he accused her of ingratitude. Andrew and others wanted to fight Viola, but they met Sebastian, mistook him for Viola, and drew their swords. Fortunately, Olivia, who arrived in time, stopped them. Olivia also mistook Sebastian for Viola and invited him home to show her love, so they married privately for a hundred years.
Malfurion was declared insane and put in a dark room, and was teased by a clown dressed as a priest. Later, Malfurion had the opportunity to write and plead with Miss Olivia, which made the truth clear.
Finally, Sebastian and Viola reunited, Sebastian and Olivia fell in love, and the Duke of Ossino was moved by Viola's appearance and announced that he would marry her, and Captain Antonio was also set free. Everyone is happy except Malfurion.
Creation background:
The storyline of this play comes from The Twin Brothers by Roman playwright Plautus and the Italian drama Ingani. In Italy, there are three kinds of plays with the theme of Ingani, which are written by Nicola Sage and Kazio gonzaga, and another is a well-known work, with French and Spanish translations. Riche, an English writer, also wrote a prose work entitled "Apollon News and Silas" based on the French translation of Yi Ming Drama, which may be the most direct source of william shakespeare.
In addition, Satubia may have referred to the play Sir Clamnen and Sir Clemdes by Anonymous (157-1583), Acadia by Sidney (159) and the prose romance Paris Moss by Emmanuel Ford. Some scholars believe that the description of Malfurion alludes to a courtier named William Norris in Queen Elizabeth's court.
In "The Wrong Comedy" written in 1594, Shakespeare wrote two pairs of twins. Because they looked exactly alike, they were mistaken by people around them and made many jokes. Finally, everyone met together, which cleared up the misunderstanding and ended in a happy ending. There are some similarities between Twelfth Night and Wrong Comedy.