Twelfth Night

After a shipwreck, Viola comes ashore in Illyria and, alone in a strange country, decides to dress as a young man and take service with its ruler, Duke Orsino. Orsino is lovesick for the Countess Olivia, who is mourning her brother and refuses all suitors. He sends his clever new page, Cesario, to plead for him, and Olivia promptly falls in love with the messenger. Viola, for her part, has fallen for Orsino and can say nothing.

In Olivia's household, a second plot unfolds. Her uncle, Sir Toby Belch, drinks and sings late into the night with the foolish Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who hopes to marry Olivia. When Malvolio, Olivia's strict and self-important steward, scolds them, Toby, the quick-witted maid Maria and others take revenge with a forged love letter that persuades him Olivia adores him and wants to see him in yellow stockings. Feste, the wise fool, comments on everything in songs. Meanwhile Viola's twin, Sebastian, has survived the wreck and is heading for the same town, and the comedy of mistaken identity builds to a joyful tangle.

Quick, musical and full of famous lines. About 272 pages in the Folger edition.