Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man.
Scene from 'Twelfth Night' ('Malvolio and the Countess'), Daniel Maclise (1840)
Scene from Twelfth Night, by Francis Wheatley (1771–72)
A depiction of Olivia by Edmund Leighton from The Graphic Gallery of Shakespeare's Heroines
Sir Toby Belch coming to the assistance of Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Arthur Boyd Houghton, c. 1854
Romantic comedy is a subgenre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typical romantic comedy, the two lovers tend to be young, likeable, and seemingly meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating circumstance until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally united. A fairy-tale-style happy ending is a typical feature.
Kathryn Grayson in Seven Sweethearts (1942), a musical romantic comedy film
