Who is Viola from Tales from Shakespeare and what is their importance? Tales_from_Shakespeare English & Literature Viola | Tales from Shakespeare

She is a gentlewoman from a country called Messaline, and also the twin sister of Sebastian. Viola first appears on the coast of Illyria in I.ii, accompanied by the captain who saved her from drowning in a shipwreck, and concerned about the fate of her missing brother, who had been traveling with her. "And what should I do in Illyria?"—she wonders— "My brother he is in Elysium [heaven]" (I.ii.3-4). Once the captain gives her reason to hope that her brother is still alive, Viola sets about the business offending for herself in a foreign country. At the close of I.ii, Viola has decided to disguise herself and seek employment with Duke Orsino; I.ii is the first and last time that Viola appears in women's clothing. For the rest of the play she wears men's clothing appropriate to her disguise as Orsino's page, Cesario.