Like with many of Shakespeare's comedies, mistaken identity is a key part of this play. In fact, the play is named for the Christian holiday of same the name, which is closely associated with confusion, revelry, and chaos.
For the majority of the play, Viola is disguised as Cesario, a young man. The other characters in the play, including the man she loves, spend most of the story thinking of her as a man. Olivia also falls in love with her due to this mistaken identity, which creates the love triangle that is the center of the play. Orsino loves Olivia. Olivia loves Cesario (or Viola), and Viola loves Orsino.
It is only another mistaken identity that helps solve this problem. Olivia marries Sebastian, Viola's brother, because she mistakes him for Cesario. This allows Viola to reveal her identity and marry Orsino without much conflict.
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