Shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve Duke Orsino, falls for him herself, and is mistakenly wooed by the lady Olivia — while the steward Malvolio is gulled into public humiliation.
Books that mention Twelfth Night (14)
Representative Men by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “It is but a Twelfth Night, or Midsummer-Night's Dream, or a Winter Evening's Tale: what signifies another picture more or less?”
The Antiquary by Walter Scott: “Jonathan Oldbuck, that Lovel, had they not appeared at once, like Sebastian and Viola in the last scene of the "Twelfth Night," might have supposed that the figure before him was his old friend masquerading in female attire.”
Old Mortality by Walter Scott: “The devil a puritan, or any thing else he is, but a time-server. Twelfth Night.”
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington: “borrow a copy of “Twelfth Night.” ... refreshed his memory of the play”
The Magus by John Fowles: “'She is acting, amusing herself with you. Playing Olivia to your Malvolio.'”
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth: “‘What’s that book?’ ‘Twelfth Night.’ ‘No, the other one—the one with the green and white cover.’”
How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom: “may also be the best British comedy since Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, sur passing the rival works that I have listed.”
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie: “the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's "playing company," staged the first ever night of Twelfth Night before Queen Elizabeth I, Gloriana herself, and a company of VIP guests.”
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: “Listed as a school production, and later referenced as a play being staged (contrasted with The Tempest)”
Companion Piece by Ali Smith: “like when Shakespeare uses it in Twelfth Night as one of the proofs of love when one character tells another that to prove this love she'd halloo your name”
Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith: “The rain it raineth every day. When that I was and a little tiny girl, with a hey, ho, the wind and the rain. [clown’s song from Twelfth Night, adapted]”
The Disappearers by Marlon James: “Even your Twelfth Night had a table read.”
The Last Supper by Rachel Cusk: “'Instead I tell them the story of Twelfth Night.'”
Waverley by Walter Scott: “The nonsense and vulgar burlesque of that composition illustrate the ground of Sir Andrew, Aguecheek's eulogy on the exploits of the jester in "Twelfth Night,"”