Twelfth Night focuses mainly on the storyline of Viola, Orsino and Olivia, but a number of other characters star in their own subplots which tie in with the main plot.
Malvolio
If it wasn't for Malvolio, the ending of Twelfth Night could be regarded as a smooth conclusion, albeit one with several abrupt marriages lightly. However, Malvolio is seen as "most notoriously abused".
He is unwilling to join in with the activities of the other characters in the household, perhaps taking himself too seriously. He regards himself highly and has no humour, and for this reason is mocked by the rest of the characters, in a world where wordplay and wit are the foundations of intelligence.
Malvolio is tricked by the rest of the househould when they write him a letter pretending to be Olivia and confessing her love. This results in his humiliation and when Olivia orders for him to be looked after, the other characters lock him in a dark room, and continue to mock and confuse him. This evokes the readers sympathy as it is too strong a punishment.
He has been knocked off the pedestal he has placed himself on, and his suffering seems too cruel. At the end of the play he curses the rest of the characters, and stops the conclusion of the play from being an entirely happy ending.
Sebastian
Sebastian is absent for much of the play, but is still an important character. Viola's missing brother is used as a plot device to help with the theme of mistaken identity. He mourns for his sister as she does for him. He is shown as a good character, similar to Viola in terms of independence and strength. He is grateful to Antonio for rescuing him.
Antonio
Antonio rescues Sebastian from the shipwreck and cares for him afterwards. He shows good qualities of friendship, risking his own safety to accompany Sebastian to Orsino's court. He is generous, as shown when he lends Sebastian his purse – which ofcourse leads to more confusion when he asks Viola/Cesario for his purse back, causing bewilderment all round.
Sir Toby
Sir Toby is regarded as a drunken fool who enjoys humour at others expense. He takes advantage of being in Olivia's home and only cares about enjoying himself, even at a time when Olivia is in mourning. He mocks Sir Andrew constantly and has respect only for those with wit. He is also part of the group that humiliate Malvolio after Olivia has ordered for him to be cared for.
Sir Andrew
Sir Andrew is the foolish fool of the play; he stands in contrast to the wise fool Feste, whose clever word-play is admired, Andrew is a fool due to his simple mind. The other characters mock him by using language he doesn't understand, and he doesn't realise that he is being made a fool of. He does however show tender emotions and evokes sympathy; he laments "I was adored once". Although lacking in intelligence, he still wants to be cared for.
Maria
Maria enjoys causing trouble along with Sir Toby. She shows two sides of herself – an intelligent and well-behaved character in the presence of Olivia, and a calculating troublemaker as she instigates the trick played on Malvolio. She is capable of holding her side of a witty repertoire with Feste. She is wed to Sir Toby, thereby rising in rank from maid to wife, and Toby claims that it is because of the cunning she showed in the tricking of Malvolio.
Feste
Feste sets the standard of word-play throughout Twelfth Night. The other characters intelligence is measured against his own. He joins in with the trickery throughout the play, and appears at certain times to show the mood by singing appropriate songs or making relevant comments.
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