In the concluding act of ‘Twelfth Night’, Act Five, there is a mix of emotions for all of the characters. During closing stages of the play, several of the characters are unhappy and confused, whilst others are happy and excited.
During the play, one of the main themes is unrequited love. This always means that some would end up being unhappy as the person they love does not love them back. We see this between Sir Andrew and Olivia. Sir Andrew loves Olivia, ‘here comes the countess, heaven walks on earth’. However, Olivia does not love Sir Andrew as she loves Cesario.
It then goes from bad to worse for Sir Andrew. The duel with Cesario goes entirely wrong. He and Sir Toby mistake Sebastian for Cesario. Sebastian does not have a clue what is happening, and ends up attacking and injuring them both. They leave the play battered and bruised: “‘Has broke my head across, and has given Sir Toby a bloody coxcomb too”. This is a twist to the end of the story, as it seems that everyone is on the verge of happiness until this.
Malvolio ends the play angered and unhappy. He received a letter apparently from Olivia which asks him to act in a foolish way. His behaviour causes people to think him mad as it is very out of character and so he ends up being put into prison. The letter was not from Olivia but was written by Maria and Sir Toby as a trick on Malvolio. At the end of the play, they own up to their deed, which leads to Malvolio being released from prison. He is very angry at how he has been treated and leaves, shouting ‘I’ll be reveng’d on the whole pack of you’
Away from the unhappy side, various characters end the play happy or excited. First we see the reunion of the long lost twins, Viola and Sebastian. They lost each other at sea when their ship crashed. Each thought that the other was dead, but then