Twelfth Night
Viola and her twin brother are shipwrecked in an enemy country. Viola thinks her brother is dead. She is alone and needs a job so she puts on boys’ clothes.
“My new name is Cesario.”
This is Duke Orsino. Viola arrives at his palace and asks for a job. She becomes his messenger.
Duke Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia.
“Cesario, take this message to Lady Olivia. Tell her I love her.”
Viola is sad because she loves Duke Orsino!
“Ahhh.”
This is Lady Olivia. Viola goes to her house.
“Duke Orsino loves you.”
“I do not love Duke Orsino.”
Viola is worried because Lady Olivia starts to fall in love with Cesario!
“What a mess! Duke Orsino loves Olivia, but I love Duke Orsino, and Olivia loves me! I can’t tell the truth because of my disguise.”
Viola wants to tell Duke Orsino that she loves him but he asks her to go back to Lady Olivia with a jewel.
Viola tells Lady Olivia that Duke Orsino still loves her. But Olivia says she loves Cesario!
“I’m sorry. I can’t marry you.”
This is Sebastian, Viola’s brother. He is alive! Lady Olivia sees him and thinks that he is Cesario.
“Cesario, please will you marry me?”
Sebastian doesn’t understand, but he thinks Lady Olivia is very beautiful.
“Yes, um, OK. Let’s get married!”
Later, Duke Orsino and Viola go to see Lady Olivia. Duke Orsino is surprised when Olivia calls Viola her husband.
“Cesario, my husband!”
Then Sebastian arrives. Viola sees her brother and is very happy. She tells everyone the truth.
“My real name is Viola and this is my brother, Sebastian.”
When Duke Orsino sees Viola he falls in love with her and asks her to marry him.
Duke Orsino and Viola are happy. Lady Olivia and Sebastian are happy too. They decide to have a double wedding party to celebrate!
Discussion
Did you like this play? Write a comment and tell us what you think.
Imagine you are shipwrecked. What would you do? Write a comment and tell us about it!
You will find all of our Shakespeare stories in our Shakespeare topic:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/category/topics/shakespeare
Which one is your favourite?
Best wishes,
MissInternetEarth
LearnEnglish Kids team
I'm happy to read that you like this story and our other Shakespeare videos. I'm sorry but we are not planning to add any more Shakespeare videos at the moment. However there will be some new videos about other famous British people from history coming soon!
Best wishes,
MissInternetEarth
LearnEnglish Kids team
I am one of the adults who works on the LearnEnglish Kids website. I check all of the comments that our members post to make sure that they don't break our house rules. I help keep this website a safe place for kids. I really enjoy reading all the comments that our members post and I'm happy that you like our site!
Have fun practising your English on LearnEnglish Kids!
Best wishes,
MissInternetEarth
LearnEnglish Kids team
I'm happy to read that you enjoyed the story. I love the message too - be yourself and people will like you for who you really are!
I hope you have fun practising your English with all of our Shakespeare stories.
Best wishes,
MissInternetEarth
LearnEnglish Kids team