Finished: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare). Loved the stage production and loved the book. :-) A light and airy one by Shakespeare. Viola and Sebastian are twin brother and sister who are all that remains of their family. They are in a huge storm on a ship that sinks and both assume the other has been drowned. They both independently wash up in the land of Illyria. Viola, distraught at the death of her brother, decides to dress up as a male for some reason and make her own way that way. She calls herself Cesario becomes a servant to the Duke of Illyria, Orsini. The Duke is in love with a countess, Olivia, who shuns his overtures of love because her own father and brother have died recently. She will wait seven years to fall in love, she says. The Duke confides his love to Cesario and asks Cesario (really Viola dressed up like a young man) to go and plead his case to Olivia. Viola does so, and Olivia, much to her own chagrin, falls in love with "Cesario". Meanwhile, listening to the Duke's romantic and forlorn declarations for Olivia, Viola falls in love with the Duke! 

To break up the romance, there is the side story of Olivia's drunken Uncle Toby, his friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who would like Olivia for himself, Maria, Olivia's gentlewoman, Fabian, Olivia's attendant, and Malvolio, Olivia's steward. Toby, Andrew, Fabian, and Maria conspire to pull a prank on the cranky, unfriendly, stickler for the rules, Malvolio. You see, Malvolio is in love with his countess, Olivia. They concoct a letter which appears to have been written and accidentally lost by Olivia in which she proclaims her secret love for one "beneath her". She wishes that this person would perform all kinds of antics to show his love for her. Malvolio, of course, assumes that he is the secret person Olivia is in love with. He begins to follow the letter, well, to the letter, and Olivia thinks he's gone mad. Honestly, the book is quick and witty and fun...but you simply must see these scenes all on stage to get the best picture of things. We saw the show at the intimate Orlando Shakespeare Theater and the Malvolio stole the show! His facial expressions alone brought down the house. I enjoyed recalling the actual actors performing all their parts as I read the book today. :-)

Anyway....Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, has also washed up in Illyria. He's been found by a sea captain, Antonio. Antonio becomes very attached to Sebastian and takes him into town. Antonio, though, wants to lie low because he might be in trouble with the law. Sebastian, however, wants to sight see. Antonio gives Sebastian his purse with all his money and tells him to have fun and meet him back at a certain hotel for the night. Meanwhile, Uncle Toby and Sir Andrew have decided to call "Cesario" out on a duel because they know that lady Olivia has fallen for the young swain. When approached, Viola is taken aback. Just as they are forcing her to draw her sword, Antonio rushes to her defense, assuming she's Sebastian! The authorities arrest Antonio for his previous charge, and he asks Viola for his purse with his money so he can pay his fine and go free. Viola has no idea who any of these people are! She denies knowing Antonio or furthermore having his money. When she hears Antonio mention the name Sebastian, Viola heads back to the Duke's and hopes beyond  hope that perhaps her brother is alive. Later, Uncle Toby and Sir Andrew come across Sebastian in a bar and try to restart the argument. This time Sebastian is very gungho and draws his sword right away. This confuses them. Olivia comes in and tells them to stop...that she loves this man. Sebastian has never seen Olivia before, but he is instantly enamored. He goes with Olivia and they get married. 

Eventually they all end up back at the Duke's and all the confusion is settled when siblings Sebastian and Viola are reunited. The Duke is relieved because he had actually begun to have feelings for Cesario instead of Olivia, and he wasn't certain why. Cesario had been so understanding and caring. The Duke asks Viola to put on her lady clothes and declares he loves her. And finally, the comic relief all confess their prank on Malvolio, and he vows to get revenge on them all. The end. :-) 

A fun book! The most memorable line of the book to me, and a recognizable one, is "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." This was in the letter that Maria wrote to Malvolio. It was supposed to be Olivia's way of explaining why it was ok for a duchess to fall for someone beneath her, like a steward. Of course, this line was Malvolio's driving force in trying to satisfy all the wishes of the letter. 

ok....I think I'm Shakespeare'd out for a while! But...I know I'll come back again.