The Twelfth Night, Or What You Will is a reflection of how Shakespeare felt and his state of mind after the death of his son, Hamnet. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has characters that are in mourning similar to Shakespeare’s mourning, the characters were inspired by his grief, and this means he is the acceptance stage of grief. Twelfth Night is a comedy about Viola, who pretends to be a man to survive in the new land she has shipwrecked upon. She is sent by the Duke Orsino, whom she has fallen for, to plead his love to Olivia, who is deep in mourning. Olivia falls for Viola, AKA: Cesario. This creates an awkward love triangle, especially when Viola’s brother, Sebastian turns out to be alive and is mistaken for Cesario. Malvolio, Olivia’s steward, is tricked by Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby, and her maid, Maria. Everything is eventually sorted out, and the twin siblings reunite happily. Sebastian …show more content…
One of the biggest examples of this is Viola, who thought her brother was lost at sea and her first scene is one of woe where she laments the loss of Sebastian, as seen when she says, “Perchance he is not drown'd: what think you, sailors?”(I.ii.52). Another example is Olivia, who lost her brother and refuses to see anyone because of her grief. This is shown in multiple places, one of which is Valentine saying, “A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh / And lasting in her sad remembrance.” (I.i.35-36). When Sebastian is revealed to still be alive, he weeps for the loss of his sister, “She is drowned already, sir, with salt / water, though I seem to drown her remembrance again with more.” (II.i.638-639). All of this proves that there are major characters in Twelfth Night that feel grief that is akin to the grief Shakespeare felt at the loss of his