Plot Construction of Twelfth Night

Plot, says Aristotle, is the soul of a tragedy. We can legitimately appropriate

Aristotle’s doctrine in respect of a comic play. A drama is distinguishable from
other genres of literature for its emphasis on action, and dramatic action cannot
it’s achieve the desired effect if the plot is not constructed artistically and with
due care and craftsmanship. A play achieves greatest success through interaction
of incidents and characters. Even in his comedies, the master dramatist is fully
aware of this factor, and while he stresses the importance of the comic spirit, he
takes care that the plot does not turn loose. Twelfth Night is often called a play of
conversation rather than of action, not without reason, considered to be the best
romantic comedy of Shakespeare. The festive mood runs so high in this comedy
that we often tend to conclude that there is no well-constructed plot in this play,
and that the subplot(s) affect(s) the integrity of the structure. Shakespeare’s
dramatic design is always complex, but it is this complexity that constitutes the
beauty of his art.
The first Act of Twelfth Night introduces both the main plot and the subplot in a
complex framework. Orsino, Duke of Illyria loves Olivia, a countess, who hides her
feelings as she has vowed to mourn her brother’s death for a period of seven
years. On the other hand Viola who was the victim of a ship-wreck along with her
twin brother, Sebastian, has been rescued but has been separated from him. She
arrives at the court of the Duke in the guise of a boy page under the name,
Cesario. The third scene of the first Act introduces some of the characters of the
subplots – Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s kinsman, Maria, Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman,
and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby’s companion. Viola, now Cesario, who is
already in love with the Duke is engaged by the Duke to serve him and is sent to
Olivia carrying his message of love. The situation is further complicated as Olivia
takes fancy with Cesario. Sir Andrew, Sir Toby’s companion and Malvolio, Olivia’s
steward who believes that the lady of the house loves him also make their
appearance in the final scene of the Act.
The theme of mistaken identity takes over in the opening scene of the second Act.
Sebastian, the twin brother of Viola, and her look-alike arrives at the court. In the
scene that follows Viola is shocked to find that Olivia loves her. In utter confusion,
she leaves the issue to be disentangled by time: “O Time, thou must untangle this,
not I.” The third scene of Act II deals with the subplot in the main. The gulling of
Malvolio, a subject of self-love, is planned by Maria who can imitate Olivia’s
calligraphy, and the gulling of Malvolio takes place in the fifth scene.
The third Act of the play is the pre-climax of the plot. Olivia, now out of her shell
of self-deception, is denied of Cesario’s love for the obvious reason that she
cannot ‘marry a woman’. The fourth scene is the most hilarious section of the
play. Emboldened by the billet-doux forged by Maria Malvolio presents himself
before Olivia in yellow stockings and cross garters, and wearing a broad smile on
his face. Olivia concludes that Malvolio is a subject of mal-volition and Sir Toby
proposes to confine him in a dark room. Another scene of high comedy is
presented when Sir Andrew challenges Cesario, his rival. While Sir Toby warns Sir
Andrew against Cesario’s prowess, Fabian, a member of Olivia’s household, warns
Cesario against Sir Toby’s. High hilarity tones up the whole atmosphere. Antonio
who is the old enemy of the Duke is arrested by the officers of the Duke. In the
last scene of the third Act, the main plot and the chief subplot are interwoven.
Sebastian links up both. He hits Sir Andrew and badly injures him. Everyone
mistakes him for Cesario. Thus the complication reaches its pinnacle.

The fourth Act takes the main plot to its climax. In the first scene, Olivia mistakes
Sebastian for Cesario. As he is wooed by Olivia, he feels wonder-struck. The
second scene takes the subplot to its height. The clown meets and talks to
Malvolio, now confined in a dark room. He agrees to take a letter from Malvolio
to Olivia. In the third scene, the mistaken identity sets aright the complication.
Olivia persuades Sebastian whom she takes for Cesario, to be formally engaged to
her.
The fifth Act resolves all the issues waiting for clearance. Viola in the guise of
Cesario and her twin brother, Sebastian, meet in the presence of all the
characters of the play and their similarity in appearance explains the whole
situation. Olivia discovers, of course to her satisfaction, that she has been
‘betrothed to’ Sebastian, not to Cesario. Orsino, failing to win the heart of Olivia,
shifts his adoration in favour of Viola. Malvolio appears before Olivia, and Fabian
explains how Malvolio has been befooled. While as a reward Sir Toby gets the
hand of Maria, Malvolio raves and threatens to take revenge upon the whole
troop. Thus the play ends in the happy union between Viola and Orsino, Olivia
and Sebastian, Sir Toby and Maria. Malvolio who suffers from acute self-love is
rejected, being out of tune with the sane comic spirit. Thus Viola’s anticipation
that time would disentangle the mesh succeeds.
Thus we see that Shakespeare very cleverly fuses all the strands into an organic
whole. The play deals with unmasking of the real nature hidden under the cover
of self-deception and self-love. Love too is treated in diverse forms in Twelfth
Night as it is treated in As You Like It. Thus in the ultimate analysis, Twelfth Night
is a play with a coherently constructed plot, and there are no loose ends. While
Shakespeare presents a world of song, feast, mirth and dance, he does so through
a well-knit structure, dwelling on two important issues that affect the sanity of life
– self-love and self-deception. While dramatic technique is superfine, it is
propped up by the gaiety that is main purpose of the play. At the end of Twelfth
Night the impression that lasts is the purgation of the two affectations. In a way,
the play offers a comic catharsis.