Drama
56 Twelfth Night: Act 3
William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night (Modern). Internet Shakespeare Editions. University of Victoria. Editors: David Carnegie and Mark Houlahan.
Scene 1
Enter [from different ways] Viola [as Cesario] and Clown [playing on tabor and pipe[1]].
Viola
1215Save thee[2], friend, and thy music. Dost thou live by[3] thy tabor?
Clown
No, sir, I live by[4] the church.
Viola
Art thou a churchman?[5]
Clown
No such matter, sir. I do live by the church, for I do live at my house, and
1220my house doth stand by the church.
Viola
So thou mayst say the king lies by[6] a beggar, if a beggar dwell near him; or
the church stands by[7] thy tabor, if thy tabor stand by the church.
Clown
You have said,[8] sir. [To the audience as well as Viola] To see this age! A
1225sentence[9] is but a cheverel[10] glove to a good wit: how quickly the wrong side
may be turned outward!
Viola
Nay, that’s certain: they that dally[11] nicely[12] with words may quickly make them
wanton[13].
Clown
I would therefore my sister[14] had had no name, sir.
1230Viola
Why, man?
Clown
Why, sir, her name’s a word, and to dally with that word might make my
sister wanton. But indeed, words are very rascals since bonds[15] disgraced
them.
Viola
Thy reason, man?
1235Clown
Troth, sir, I can yield you none without words, and words are grown so false
I am loath to prove reason with them.
Viola
I warrant thou art a merry fellow and car’st for nothing.
1240Clown
Not so, sir, I do care for something; but in my conscience, sir, I do not care
for you: if that be to care for nothing, sir, I would it would make you
invisible.[16]
Viola
Art not thou the Lady Olivia’s fool?
Clown
1245No indeed, sir! The Lady Olivia has no folly. She will keep no fool, sir, till
she be married; and fools are as like husbands as pilchards[17] are to herrings:
the husband’s the bigger. I am indeed not her fool, but her corrupter of
words.
Viola
I saw thee late[18] at the Count Orsino’s.
1250Clown
Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb[19] like the sun, it shines everywhere. I
would be sorry, sir, but the fool should be as oft with your master as with my
mistress[20]: I think I saw your wisdom[21] there.
Viola
1255Nay, an[22] thou pass upon me[23], I’ll no more with thee. Hold, [Giving him a
coin] there’s expenses for thee.
Clown
Now Jove, in his next commodity[24] of hair, send thee a beard[25].
Viola
By my troth, I’ll tell thee, I am almost sick for one, [To the audience] though
1260I would not have it grow on my chin.[26] [To the Clown.] Is thy lady within?
Clown
[Indicating the coin] Would not a pair of these have bred,[27] sir?
Viola
Yes, being kept together, and put to use.[28]
Clown
I would play Lord Pandarus of Phrygia, sir, to bring a Cressida to
[Displaying the coin] this Troilus.[29]
1265Viola
I understand you, sir, ’tis well begged. [Gives another coin.]
Clown
The matter, I hope, is not great, sir, begging but a beggar[30]: Cressida was a
beggar. My lady is within, sir. I will conster[31] to them whence you come; who
1270you are, and what you would, are out of my welkin–I might say element,
but the word is overworn.[32]
Exit.
Viola
[To the audience] This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,
And to do that well craves a kind of wit.
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality[33] of persons, and the time;
1275And like the haggard, check at every feather[34]
That comes before his eye. This is a practice[35]
As full of labor as a wise man’s art:
For folly that he wisely shows,[36] is fit[37];
But wise men, folly-fall’n,[38] quite taint their wit.[39]
1280Enter Sir Toby and Sir Andrew.
Sir Toby
Save you, gentleman.
Viola
And you, sir.
Sir Andrew
Dieu vous garde, monsieur.[40]
Viola
Et vous aussi; votre serviteur.[41]
1285Sir Andrew
I hope, sir, you are, and I am yours.[42]
Sir Toby
Will you encounter[43] the house? My niece is desirous you should enter, if
your trade[44] be to her.
Viola
I am bound[45] to your niece, sir; I mean, she is the list[46] of my voyage.
1290Sir Toby
Taste[47] your legs, sir, put them to motion.
Viola
My legs do better understand[48] me, sir, than I understand what you mean by
bidding me taste my legs.
Sir Toby
I mean to go, sir, to enter.
Viola
I will answer you with gait and entrance–[49]
Enter Olivia and [Maria].
1295But we are prevented.[50] [To Olivia] Most excellent accomplished lady, the
heavens[51] rain odors on you.[52]
Sir Andrew
[To the audience] That youth’s a rare courtier: “rain odors”–well.[53]
1300Viola
My matter hath no voice, lady, but to your own most pregnant[54] and
vouchsafed[55] ear.
Sir Andrew
[Writing] “Odors,” “pregnant,” and “vouchsafed”: I’ll get ’em all three all
ready.[56]
Olivia
1305Let the garden door[57] be shut, and leave me to my hearing.
[Exeunt Maria and Sir Toby, followed by Sir Andrew][observing Olivia.]
Give me your hand, sir.
[Viola kneels instead to kiss Olivia’s hand.]
Viola
My duty, madam, and most humble service.[58]
Olivia
What is your name?
Viola
Cesario is your servant’s[59] name, fair princess.
Olivia
My servant, sir? ‘Twas never merry world[60]
1310Since lowly feigning[61] was called compliment.
Y’are servant to the Count Orsino, youth.
Viola
And he is yours, and his must needs be yours:
Your servant’s servant is your servant, madam.
Olivia
For him, I think not on him; for his thoughts,
1315Would they were blanks,[62] rather than filled with me.
Viola
Madam, I come to whet your gentle thoughts
On his behalf.
Olivia
Oh, by your leave, I pray you![63]
I bade you never speak again of him;
1320But would you undertake another suit,
I had rather hear you to solicit that
Than music from the spheres.[64]
Viola
Dear lady–
Olivia
Give me leave, beseech you. I did send,[65]
1325After the last enchantment you did here,
A ring in chase of you. So did I abuse[66]
Myself, my servant, and I fear me, you.
Under your hard construction[67] must I sit,
To force that on you in a shameful cunning
1330Which you knew none of yours. What might you think?
Have you not set mine honor at the stake,
And baited it with all th’unmuzzled[68] thoughts
That tyrannous heart can think? To one of your receiving[69]
Enough is shown; a cypress, not a bosom,
1335Hides my heart.[70] So, let me hear you speak.[71]
Viola
I pity you.
Olivia
That’s a degree[72] to love.
Viola
No, not a grece[73]: for ’tis a vulgar[74] proof
That very oft we pity enemies.[75]
1340Olivia
Why then, methinks ’tis time to smile again.
O world, how apt the poor are to be proud![76]
If one should be a prey, how much the better
To fall before the lion than the wolf![77]
Clock strikes.[78]
1345The clock upbraids me with the waste of time.
Be not afraid, good youth, I will not have you;
And yet when wit and youth is come to harvest,[79]
Your wife is like to reap a proper[80] man.
There lies your way, due west.[81]
1350Viola
Then westward ho![82]
Grace and good disposition[83] attend your ladyship.
You’ll nothing, madam, to my lord by me?
Olivia
Stay![84]
I prithee tell me what thou[85] think’st of me?
Viola
That you do think you are not what you are.[86]
1355Olivia
If I think so, I think the same of you.[87]
Viola
Then think you right: [Including the audience] I am not what I am.[88]
Olivia
I would you were as I would have you be.
Viola
Would it be better, madam, than I am?
I wish it might[89], for now I am your fool![90]
1360Olivia
[To the audience] Oh, what a deal of scorn looks beautiful[91]
In the contempt and anger of his lip!
A murd’rous guilt shows not itself more soon,
Than love that would seem hid. Love’s night is noon.[92]
[To Viola] Cesario, by the roses of the spring,
1365By maidhood, honor, truth, and everything,
I love thee so, that maugre[93] all thy pride,
Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.
Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,
For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause;
1370But rather reason thus with reason fetter:[94]
Love sought is good, but giv’n[95] unsought is better.
Viola
By innocence I swear, and by my youth,
I have one heart, one bosom,[96] and one truth,
And that no woman has; nor never none
1375Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.
And so adieu, good madam; never more
Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.[97][98]
Olivia
Yet come again–for thou[99] perhaps mayst move
That heart, which now abhors, to like his love.
Exeunt [different ways].
Scene 2
Enter Sir Andrew,[100] [followed by] Sir Toby and Fabian.
Sir Andrew
No, faith, I’ll not stay a jot longer!
Sir Toby
Thy reason, dear venom, give thy reason.
Fabian
1385You[101] must needs yield your reason, Sir Andrew!
Sir Andrew
Marry, I saw your niece do more favors to the count’s serving-man than ever
she bestowed upon me. I saw’t i’th’orchard.[102]
Sir Toby
Did she see thee the while,[103] old boy, tell me that?
1390Sir Andrew
As plain as I see you now.
Fabian
This was a great argument[104] of love in her toward you.
Sir Andrew
‘Slight,[105] will you make an ass o’me?
Fabian
1395I will prove it legitimate, sir, upon the oaths of judgment and reason.
Sir Toby
And they have been grand-jurymen[106] since before Noah was a sailor.
Fabian
She did show favor to the youth in your sight only to exasperate you, to
1400awake your dormouse[107] valor, to put fire in your heart, and brimstone[108] in your
liver. You should then have accosted[109] her, and with some excellent jests, fire-
new from the mint,[110] you should have banged the youth into dumbness. This
was looked for at your hand, and this was balked.[111] The double gilt[112] of this
1405opportunity you let time wash off, and you are now sailed into the north[113] of
my lady’s opinion, where you will hang like an icicle on a Dutchman’s
beard,[114] unless you do redeem it by some laudable attempt, either of valor or
policy.[115]
1410Sir Andrew
An’t be any way, it must be with valor, for policy I hate. [To the audience] I
had as lief[116] be a Brownist,[117] as a politician[118].
Sir Toby
Why then, build me[119] thy fortunes upon the basis of valor. Challenge me the
1415count’s youth to fight with him, hurt him in eleven places. My niece shall
take note of it; and assure thyself, there is no love-broker[120] in the world can
more prevail in man’s commendation with women than report of valor.
Fabian
There is no way but this, Sir Andrew.
1420Sir Andrew
Will either of you bear me a challenge to him?
Sir Toby
Go, write it in a martial hand.[121] Be cursed[122] and brief. It is no matter how witty,
so it be eloquent, and full of invention.[123] Taunt him with the license of ink.[124] If
1425thou “thou’st”[125] him some thrice, it shall not be amiss; and as many lies[126] as will
lie in thy sheet[127] of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of
Ware[128] in England, set ’em down. Go, about it! Let there be gall[129] enough in thy
ink; though thou write with a goose-pen[130], no matter. About it!
1430Sir Andrew
Where shall I find you?
Sir Toby
We’ll call thee at thy cubiculo.[131] Go!
Exit Sir Andrew.
Fabian
This is a dear manikin[132] to you, Sir Toby.
Sir Toby
1435I have been dear[133] to him, lad, some two thousand[134] strong, or so.
Fabian
We shall have a rare letter from him–but you’ll not deliver’t?
Sir Toby
Never trust me[135] then; and by all means[136] stir on the youth to an answer. I think
1440oxen and wainropes[137] cannot hale[138] them together. For Andrew, if he were
opened[139] and you find so much blood in his liver[140] as will clog[141] the foot of a
flea, I’ll eat the rest of th’anatomy.[142]
Fabian
And his opposite[143], the youth, bears in his visage no great presage[144] of cruelty.
1445Enter Maria.
Sir Toby
Look where the youngest wren of nine[145] comes.
Maria
If you desire the spleen[146], and will laugh your selves into stitches, follow me.
Yond gull Malvolio is turned heathen, a very renegado[147]; for there is no
1450Christian that means to be saved by believing rightly[148] can[149] ever believe such
impossible passages of grossness.[150] He’s in yellow stockings!
Sir Toby
And cross-gartered?
Maria
1455Most villainously,[151] like a pedant that keeps a school i’th’church.[152] I have
dogged him like his murderer. He does obey every point of the letter that I
dropped to betray him. He does smile his face into more lines than is in the
new map with the augmentation of the Indies[153]; you have not seen such a
1460thing as ’tis. I can hardly forbear hurling things at him; I know my lady will
strike him. If she do, he’ll smile, and take’t for a great favor.
Sir Toby
Come, bring us, bring us where he is!
Exeunt omnes.
Scene 3
Enter Sebastian and Antonio.
Sebastian
I would not by my will have troubled you,
But since you make your pleasure of your pains,
I will no further chide you.
1470Antonio
I could not stay behind you. My desire,
More sharp than filèd steel, did spur me forth;
And not all[154] love to see you–though so much
As might have drawn one to a longer voyage–
But jealousy[155] what might befall your travel,
1475Being skilless in[156] these parts, which to a stranger,
Unguided and unfriended, often prove
Rough and unhospitable.[157] My willing love,
The rather[158] by these arguments of fear,
Set forth in your pursuit.
1480Sebastian
My kind Antonio,
I can no other answer make but thanks,
And thanks, and ever thanks; and oft[159] good turns
Are shuffled off[160] with such uncurrent[161] pay.
But were my worth[162], as is my conscience[163], firm,
1485You should find better dealing. What’s to do?
Shall we go see the relics[164] of this town?
Antonio
Tomorrow, sir; best first go see your lodging.
Sebastian
I am not weary, and ’tis long to night.
I pray you, let us satisfy our eyes
1490With the memorials and the things of fame
That do renown this city.
Antonio
Would you’d pardon me.[165]
I do not without danger walk these streets.
Once in a sea-fight ‘gainst the count his[166] galleys
1495I did some service, of such note indeed
That were I ta’en here it would scarce be answered.[167]
Sebastian
Belike[168] you slew great number of his people.
Antonio
Th’offence is not of such a bloody nature,
Albeit the quality[169] of the time and quarrel
1500Might well have given us bloody argument.[170]
It might have since been answered in repaying
What we took from them, which for traffic’s sake[171]
Most of our city did. Only myself stood out,
For which, if I be lapsèd[172] in this place,
1505I shall pay dear.
Sebastian
Do not then walk too open[173].
Antonio
It doth not fit[174] me. Hold, sir, here’s my purse.
In the south suburbs at the Elephant[175]
Is best to lodge; I will bespeak our diet,[176]
1510Whiles you beguile the time, and feed your knowledge
With viewing of the town. There shall you have me.[177]
Sebastian
Why I your purse?
Antonio
Haply[178] your eye shall light upon some toy[179]
You have desire to purchase; and your store,
1515I think, is not for idle markets,[180] sir.
Sebastian
I’ll be your purse-bearer,[181] and leave you for
An hour.
Antonio
To th’Elephant.
Sebastian
I do remember.
Exeunt [different ways].
Scene 4
Enter Olivia and Maria [following].
Olivia
[To the audience] I have sent after him; he says[182] he’ll come.
How shall I feast him? What bestow of[183] him?
For youth is bought more oft than begged or borrowed.[184]
1525I speak too loud–
[To Maria] Where’s[185] Malvolio? He is sad and civil,[186]
And suits well for a servant with my fortunes[187].
Where is Malvolio?[188]
Maria
He’s coming, madam, but in very strange manner. He is sure possessed,[189]
madam.
1530Olivia
Why, what’s the matter? Does he rave?
Maria
No, madam, he does nothing but smile. Your ladyship were best to have
some guard about you if he come, for sure the man is tainted[190] in’s wits.
Olivia
Go call him hither.
[Maria starts to exit.]
[To the audience] I am as mad as he,
If sad and merry madness equal be.
1535Enter Malvolio[191] [smiling, in yellow stockings, and cross-gartered].[192]
How now, Malvolio!
Malvolio
Sweet lady, ho, ho![193]
1540Olivia
Smil’st thou? I sent for thee upon a sad[194] occasion.
Malvolio
Sad, lady? I could be sad. This does make some obstruction in the blood,[195]
this cross-gartering; but what of that? If it please the eye of one,[196] it is with
1545me as the very true sonnet[197] is, [Singing] “Please one, and please all.”[198]
[He kisses his hand to her repeatedly.]
Olivia
Why, how dost thou, man? What is the matter with thee?
Malvolio
Not black in my mind,[199] though yellow[200] in my legs. [Holding up letter] It[201] did
1550come to his hands, and commands shall be executed. I think we do know the
sweet roman hand.[202]
Olivia
Wilt thou go to bed,[203] Malvolio?
Malvolio
To bed! [Singing] “Ay, sweetheart, and I’ll come to thee.”[204]
Olivia
1555God comfort thee! Why dost thou smile so, and kiss thy hand[205] so oft?
Maria
How do you, Malvolio?
Malvolio
[To Maria, scornfully] At your request? Yes, nightingales answer daws![206]
Maria
1560Why appear you with this ridiculous boldness before my lady?
Malvolio
[To Olivia] “Be not afraid of greatness”: ’twas well writ.
Olivia
What mean’st thou by that, Malvolio?
Malvolio
“Some are born great–”
Olivia
Ha?
1565Malvolio
“–some achieve greatness–”
Olivia
What say’st thou?
Malvolio
“–and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
Olivia
Heaven restore thee!
Malvolio
1570“Remember who commended thy[207] yellow stockings–”
Olivia
Thy yellow stockings?
Malvolio
“–and wished to see thee cross-gartered.”
Olivia
Cross-gartered?
Malvolio
“Go to, thou art made, if thou desir’st to be so–”
1575Olivia
Am I made?[208]
Malvolio
“–if not, let me see thee a servant still.”
Olivia
[To the audience] Why, this is very midsummer madness.[209]
Enter Servant.
Servant
1580Madam, the young gentleman of the Count Orsino’s is returned; I could
hardly[210] entreat him back. He attends your ladyship’s pleasure.
Olivia
I’ll come to him. [Exit Servant.] Good Maria, let this fellow be looked to.
Where’s my cousin 1585Toby? Let some of my people have a special care of
him; I would not have him miscarry[211] for the half of my dowry.
Exit [following Servant, Maria a different way].
Malvolio
Oh ho, do you come near[212] me now? [To the audience] No worse man than
Sir Toby to look to me! This concurs directly with the letter. She sends him
1590on purpose, that I may appear stubborn to him; for she incites me to that in
the letter. “Cast thy humble slough,” says she, “be opposite with a kinsman,
surly with servants, let thy tongue tang with[213] arguments of state, put thyself
1595into the trick of singularity”; and consequently[214] sets down the manner how:
as, a sad face, a reverend carriage, a slow tongue, in the habit[215] of some sir of
note,[216] and so forth. I have limed[217] her, but it is Jove’s[218] doing, and Jove make me
thankful. And when she went away now, “Let this fellow[219] be looked to.”
1600“Fellow!” Not Malvolio, nor after my degree,[220] but “fellow.” Why, everything
adheres together, that no dram of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple,[221] no
obstacle, no incredulous or unsafe[222] circumstance–what can be said? Nothing
that can be can come between me and the full prospect of my hopes. Well
1605Jove, not I, is the doer of this, and he is to be thanked.
Enter Sir Toby, Fabian, and Maria.
Sir Toby
[Pretending not to see Malvolio] Which way is he, in the name of sanctity?
If all the devils of hell be drawn[223] in little[224], and Legion[225] himself possessed him,
yet I’ll speak to him.
1610Fabian
Here he is, here he is. [To Malvolio] How is’t with you, sir? How is’t with
you, man?
Malvolio
Go off, I discard you. Let me enjoy my private[226]. Go off!
Maria
[To Sir Toby and Fabian, aloud, to be overheard] Lo, how hollow the fiend
1615speaks within[227] him! Did not I tell you? Sir Toby, my lady prays you to have a
care of him.
Malvolio
[Aside] Ah ha! Does she so?
Sir Toby
[To them, aloud] Go to, go to. Peace, peace, we must deal gently with him.
1620Let me alone.[228] [Approaching Malvolio] How do you, Malvolio? How is’t
with you? What, man, defy the devil; consider, he’s an enemy to mankind.
Malvolio
Do you know what you say?
Maria
[To them, aloud] La you,[229] an you speak ill of the devil, how he takes it at
heart! Pray God he be not bewitched!
1625Fabian
[To them, aloud] Carry his water[230] to th’wise woman.[231]
Maria
[To them, aloud] Marry, and it shall be done tomorrow morning[232] if I live. My
lady would not lose him for more than I’ll say.
Malvolio
How now, mistress?
1630Maria
[To them, aloud] Oh Lord!
Sir Toby
[To them, aloud] Prithee hold thy peace, this is not the way. Do you not see
you move him[233]? Let me alone with him.
Fabian
[To them, aloud] No way but gentleness; gently, gently. The fiend is rough,
and will not be roughly used.
1635Sir Toby
[Approaching Malvolio] Why, how now, my bawcock[234]? How dost thou,
chuck[235]?
Malvolio
Sir!
Sir Toby
Ay, biddy,[236] come with me. What, man, ’tis not for gravity[237] to play at cherry-pit[238]
with Satan. Hang him, foul collier![239]
1640Maria
[To them, aloud] Get him to say his prayers, good Sir Toby, get him to pray.
Malvolio
My prayers, minx![240]
Maria
[To them, aloud] No, I warrant you, he will not hear of godliness.
1645Malvolio
Go hang yourselves all! You are idle,[241] shallow things; I am not of your
element.[242] You shall know more hereafter.
Exit.
Sir Toby
[Laughing] Is’t possible?
Fabian
1650[Including the audience] If this were played upon a stage now, I could
condemn it as an improbable fiction![243]
Sir Toby
His very genius[244] hath taken the infection of the device, man.
Maria
Nay, pursue him now, lest the device take air, and taint.[245]
1655Fabian
Why, we shall make him mad indeed.
Maria
The house will be the quieter.
Sir Toby
Come, we’ll have him in a dark room and bound.[246] My niece is already in the
belief that he’s mad. We may carry it thus[247] for our pleasure, and his penance,
1660till our very pastime, tired out of breath, prompt us to have mercy on him; at
which time we will bring the device to the bar[248] and crown thee for a finder of
madmen.[249]
Enter Sir Andrew [with a challenge].
But see, but see!
Fabian
More matter for a May morning![250]
1665Sir Andrew
Here’s the challenge, read it. I warrant there’s vinegar and pepper in’t.
Fabian
[Taking the challenge] Is’t so saucy?[251]
Sir Andrew
Ay, is’t, I warrant him![252] Do but read.
Sir Toby
1670Give me. [Taking the challenge and reading]
“Youth, whatsoever thou art, thou art[253] but a scurvy fellow.”
Fabian
[To Sir Andrew] Good, and valiant.
Sir Toby
[Reading]
“Wonder not, nor admire[254] not in thy mind, why I do call thee so, for I
will show thee no reason for’t.”
Fabian
[To Sir Andrew] A good note:[255] that keeps you from the blow of the law.[256]
1675Sir Toby
[Reading]
“Thou com’st to the Lady Olivia, and in my sight she uses thee kindly. But thou liest in thy throat;[257] that is not the matter I challenge thee for.”
Fabian
Very brief, and to exceeding good sense–[Aside] less.[258]
Sir Toby
[Reading]
“I will waylay thee going home, where if it be thy chance 1680to kill me–“
Fabian
Good.[259]
Sir Toby
[Reading]
“–thou kill’st me like a rogue and a villain.”
Fabian
[To Sir Andrew] Still you keep o’th’windy[260] side of the law. Good.
Sir Toby
[Reading]
1685“Fare thee well, and God have mercy upon one of our souls. He may
have mercy upon mine, but my hope is better,[261] and so look to thyself.
Thy friend, as thou usest him,[262] and thy sworn enemy,
Andrew Aguecheek.”
Sir Toby
If this letter move him not, his legs cannot. I’ll giv’t him.
1690Maria
You may have very fit occasion for’t; he is now in some commerce[263] with my lady, and will by and by depart.
Sir Toby
Go, Sir Andrew; scout me[264] for him at the corner of the orchard like a bum-
1695baily.[265] So soon as ever thou see’st him, draw. And as thou draw’st, swear
horrible;[266] for it comes to pass oft that a terrible oath with a swaggering
accent, sharply twanged off, gives manhood more approbation[267] than ever
proof[268] itself would have earned him. Away!
1700Sir Andrew
Nay, let me alone for swearing.
Exit.
Sir Toby
Now will not I deliver his letter; for the behavior of the young gentleman
gives him out to be of good capacity[269] and breeding. His employment between
1705his lord and my niece confirms no less. Therefore this letter, being so
excellently ignorant, will breed no terror in the youth; he will find[270] it comes
from a clodpoll.[271] But, sir, I will deliver his challenge by word of mouth, set
upon Aguecheek a notable report of valor, and drive the gentleman (as I
1710know his youth will aptly receive it)[272] into a most hideous opinion of his rage,
skill, fury, and impetuosity. This will so fright them both that they will kill
one another by the look, like cockatrices.[273]
Enter Olivia and Viola [as Cesario].
Fabian
1715Here he comes with your niece; give them way[274] till he take leave, and
presently[275] after him.
Sir Toby
I will meditate the while upon some horrid[276] message for a challenge.
[Exeunt Sir Toby, Fabian and Maria.]
Olivia
I have said too much unto a heart of stone,
And laid mine honor too unchary[277] on’t;[278]
1720There’s something in me that reproves my fault,
But such a headstrong potent fault it is,
That it but mocks reproof.
Viola
With the same havior that your passion bears[279]
Goes on my master’s griefs.
1725Olivia
Here, wear this jewel for me, ’tis my picture–[280]
Refuse it not,[281] [Giving the jewel] it hath no tongue to vex you–
And I beseech you come again tomorrow.
What shall you ask of me that I’ll deny,
That, honor saved,[282] may upon asking give?
1730Viola
Nothing but this: your true love for my master.
Olivia
How with mine honor may I give him that
Which I have giv’n to you?
Viola
I will acquit[283] you.
Olivia
Well, come again tomorrow. Fare thee well,
1735A fiend like thee might bear my soul to hell.
[Exit Olivia.]
Enter Sir Toby and Fabian.
Sir Toby
Gentleman, god save thee.[284]
Viola
And you, sir.
Sir Toby
1740That defense[285] thou hast, betake thee to’t. Of what nature the wrongs are thou
hast done him, I know not; but thy interceptor, full of despite,[286] bloody as the
hunter, attends thee at the orchard-end. Dismount thy tuck,[287] be yare[288] in thy
preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly.
1745Viola
You mistake, sir; I am sure no man hath any quarrel to me. My
remembrance is very free and clear from any image of offence done to any
man.
Sir Toby
You’ll find it otherwise, I assure you. Therefore, if you hold your life at any
1750price, betake you to your guard;[289] for your opposite[290] hath in him what youth,
strength, skill, and wrath can furnish man withal.[291]
Viola
I pray you, sir, what is he?
Sir Toby
He is knight, dubbed with unhatched[292] rapier and on carpet consideration,[293] but
1755he is a devil in private brawl. Souls and bodies hath he divorced three, and
his incensement at this moment is so implacable that satisfaction can be
none but by pangs of death and sepulcher. “Hob, nob”[294] is his word:[295] giv’t or
take’t.
Viola
1760I will return again into the house, and desire some conduct[296] of the lady. I am
no fighter. I have heard of some kind of men that put quarrels purposely on
others to taste[297] their valor; belike[298] this is a man of that quirk.[299]
[As Viola starts to exit, Sir Toby blocks her way.]
Sir Toby
1765Sir, no. His indignation derives itself out of a very competent[300] injury;
therefore get you on, and give him his desire. Back you shall not to the
house, unless you undertake that[301] with me which with as much safety you
might answer him. Therefore on, or strip your sword stark naked; for
1770meddle[302] you must, that’s certain, or forswear to wear iron[303] about you.
Viola
[To the audience] This is as uncivil[304] as strange. [To Sir Toby] I beseech you,
do me this courteous office, as to know of[305] the knight what my offence to
him is. It is something of my negligence, nothing of my purpose.
1775Sir Toby
I will do so.[306] [To Fabian] Signor Fabian, stay you by this gentleman till my
return.
Exit [Sir] Toby.
Viola
Pray you, sir, do you know of this matter?
Fabian
I know the knight is incensed against you, even to a mortal arbitrament,[307] but
1780nothing of the circumstance more.
Viola
I beseech you, what manner of man is he?
Fabian
Nothing of that wonderful promise, to read him by his form,[308] as you are like
to find him in the proof of his valor. He is indeed, sir, the most skilful,
1785bloody, and fatal opposite that you could possibly have found in any part of
Illyria. Will you walk towards him?[309] [Viola hesitates.] I will make your
peace with him, if I can.
Viola
I shall be much bound to you for’t. I am one that had rather go with sir priest[310]
1790than sir knight; I care not who knows so much of my mettle.
Exeunt. [or withdraw.][311]
Enter [Sir] Toby and [Sir] Andrew.
Sir Toby
Why, man, he’s a very devil, I have not seen such a virago.[312] I had a pass[313] with
him, rapier, scabbard,[314] and all, and he gives me the stuck[315] in[316] with such a
1795mortal[317] motion[318] that it is inevitable;[319] and on the answer,[320] he pays[321] you as surely
as your feet hits[322] the ground they step on. They say he has been fencer to the
Sophy.[323]
Sir Andrew
Pox on’t, I’ll not meddle with him!
Sir Toby
1800Ay, but he will not now be pacified; [Pointing towards Viola and Fabian]
Fabian can scarce hold him yonder.[324]
Sir Andrew
Plague on’t, an[325] I thought he had been valiant, and so cunning[326] in fence, I’d
have seen him damned ere I’d have challenged him. Let him let the matter
slip, and I’ll give him my horse, gray Capilet.[327]
1805Sir Toby
I’ll make the motion.[328] Stand here, make a good show on’t; this shall end
without the perdition of souls.[329] [Aside] Marry, I’ll ride[330] your horse as well as I
ride you.
Enter Fabian and Viola. [or they come forward.][331]
1810[To Fabian] I have his horse to take up[332] the quarrel. I have persuaded him the
youth’s a devil.
Fabian
[Indicating Viola] He is as horribly conceited[333] of him; and pants and looks
pale, as if a bear were at his heels.
Sir Toby
[To Viola] There’s no remedy, sir; he will fight with you for’s oath sake.
1815Marry, he hath better bethought him of his quarrel, and he finds that now
scarce to be worth talking of. Therefore draw, for the supportance of his
vow; he protests he will not hurt you.
Viola
[To the audience] Pray God defend me! A little thing would make me tell
them how much I lack of a man.[334]
1820Fabian
[To Viola][335] Give ground if you see him furious.
Sir Toby
Come, Sir Andrew, there’s no remedy, the gentleman will for his honor’s
sake have one bout with you. He cannot by the duello[336] avoid it. But he has
1825promised me, as he is a gentleman and a soldier, he will not hurt you. [To
them both] Come on, to’t.
Sir Andrew
Pray God he keep his oath!
Enter Antonio[337] [observing Sir Andrew and Viola drawn].
Viola
[To Sir Andrew] I do assure you, ’tis against my will.
Antonio
[To Sir Andrew, drawing] Put up your sword! If this young gentleman
1830Have done offence, I take the fault on me;
If you offend him, I for him defy you.[338]
Sir Toby
You, sir? Why, what are you?
Antonio
One, sir, that for his love dares yet do more
Than you have heard him brag to you he will.
1835Sir Toby
[Drawing] Nay, if you be an undertaker,[339] I am for you.[340]
Enter Officers.
Fabian
O good Sir Toby, hold! Here come the officers.
Sir Toby
[To Antonio] I’ll be with you anon.[341]
[They sheathe their swords.]
Viola
[To Sir Andrew] Pray sir, put your sword up, if you please.
1840Sir Andrew
Marry, will I, sir; [Sheathing his sword] and for that I promised you, I’ll be
as good as my word. He will bear you easily, and reins well.[342]
First Officer
[To Second Officer] This is the man; do thy office.
Second Officer
Antonio, I arrest thee at the suit
Of Count Orsino.
1845Antonio
You do mistake me, sir.
First Officer
No, sir, no jot. I know your favor[343] well,
Though now you have no sea-cap[344] on your head.
Take him away; he knows I know him well.
Antonio
I must obey.[345] [To Viola] This comes with seeking you;
1850But there’s no remedy, I shall answer[346] it.
What will you do,[347] now my necessity
Makes me to ask you for my purse? It grieves me
Much more for what I cannot do for you
Than what befalls myself. You stand amazed,[348]
1855But be of comfort.
Second Officer
Come, sir, away.
Antonio
I must entreat of you some of that money.
Viola
What money, sir?
For the fair kindness you have showed me here,
1860And part[349] being prompted by your present trouble,
Out of my lean and low ability
I’ll lend you something. My having is not much;
I’ll make division of my present[350] with you.
Hold, [Offering a few coins] there’s half my coffer.[351]
1865Antonio
[Rejecting them] Will you deny me[352] now?
Is’t possible that my deserts[353] to you
Can lack persuasion?[354] Do not tempt[355] my misery,
Lest that it make me so unsound[356] a man
As to upbraid you with those kindnesses
1870That I have done for you.
Viola
I know of none,
Nor know I you by voice or any feature.
I hate ingratitude more in a man
Than lying, vainness, babbling drunkenness,
1875Or any taint of vice whose strong corruption
Inhabits our frail blood.
Antonio
O heavens themselves!
Second Officer
Come, sir, I pray you go.
Antonio
Let me speak a little. This youth that you see here
1880I snatched one half out of the jaws of death,[357]
Relieved him with such sanctity of love,[358]
And to his image,[359] which methought did promise
Most venerable[360] worth, did I devotion.[361]
First Officer
What’s that to us? The time goes by. Away!
1885Antonio
But O, how vile an idol proves this god!
[To Viola] Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame.
In nature, there’s no blemish but the mind;
None can be called deformed but the unkind.[362]
Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evil[363]
1890Are empty trunks,[364] o’er-flourished[365] by the devil!
First Officer
The man grows mad; away with him. [To Antonio] Come, come, sir!
Antonio
Lead me on.
Exit [Antonio guarded by Officers].
Viola
[To the audience] Methinks his words do from such passion fly
1895That he believes himself; so do not I.[366]
Prove true, imagination, O prove true,
That I, dear brother, be now ta’en for you!
Sir Toby
Come hither,[367] knight, come hither, Fabian. We’ll whisper o’er a couplet or
two of most sage saws.[368]
[They stand apart.]
1900Viola
[To the audience] He named Sebastian! I my brother know
Yet living in my glass.[369] Even such and so
In favor was my brother, and he went
Still[370] in this fashion, color, ornament,
For him I imitate. O, if it prove,[371]
1905Tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh[372] in love.
[Exit.]
Sir Toby
A very dishonest[373] paltry boy, and more a coward than a hare.[374] His dishonesty
appears in leaving his friend here in necessity, and denying him; and for his
cowardship, ask Fabian.
1910Fabian
A coward, a most devout coward, religious[375] in it.
Sir Andrew
‘Slid,[376] I’ll after him again, and beat him.
Sir Toby
Do, cuff him soundly, but never draw thy sword.[377]
Sir Andrew
An I do not–[378]
[Exit following Viola.]
1915Fabian
Come, let’s see the event.[379]
Sir Toby
I dare lay any money ’twill be nothing yet.[380]
Exit [Sir Toby and Fabian][following Sir Andrew].
- Playing both at the same time was common, though Viola only refers to the Clown's drumming. Viola's reference to the Clown's "tabor" (a small drum used chiefly to accompany a pipe or trumpet), and mention of "thy music", strongly suggests that Robert Armin was playing both drum and pipe, one with each hand. An earlier Elizabethan clown, Richard Tarlton, is pictured in a manuscript drawing doing just that, and a woodcut of Kemp's Nine Days' Wonder (1600) shows Thomas Sly, Kemp's taborer, playing both instruments as he accompanies Kemp's famous jig from London to Norwich. See also note to TLN 296, and R. A. Foakes, Illustrations of the English Stage 1580–1642 (London: Scolar Press, 1985), pp. 44–5 and 150. ↵
- God preserve you. Viola as a matter of course uses the singular pronoun to a social inferior; compare the more formal greetings at TLN 1281-1283. ↵
- Make a living by. ↵
- Live beside. ↵
- Since the Clown is in motley, Viola is ironic or continuing the joke. ↵
- (a) dwells by, (b) sleeps with. ↵
- (a) is near, (b) is maintained by. ↵
- The Clown appears to accept Viola's skill with words, as he did Maria's at TLN 320, but goes on to make that the subject for further jesting. ↵
- i.e. a pithy form of words, an aphorism (Latin sententia, whence modern "sententious"). ↵
- Kid leather (noted for pliancy and capability of being stretched; pronounced "shevril"). Compare Rom. TLN 1185-1186, "a wit of cheverel, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad." ↵
- (a) play, (b) flirt. ↵
- Subtly. ↵
- (a) capricious, equivocal, (b) lascivious. See also TLN 1231. ↵
- In production, Viola may become suddenly serious in listening to the Clown's wise wit about the ambiguity of sisters and words. ↵
- Either (a) words are regarded as rogues, now that legal contracts ("bonds") have made a person's word distrusted; or, less likely, (b) words are dishonored since so many promises have been broken. ↵
- The Clown's elaborate syllogism runs thus: since he does "care for something," Viola's proposition that he cares for nothing is untrue. But "I do not care for you" is the same, in this chop-logic, as "I do care for not-you, i.e. nothing." Hence "Cesario" is categorized as (a) invisible, and (b) worthless, naught (nought, zero, "nothing"), with possibly a double sexual quibble, unrecognized by the Clown, on "no thing" as lacking a penis, and "nought" (a circle) as the vagina. ↵
- Small fish very similar to "herrings." ↵
- Lately. ↵
- Around the earth. In the Ptolemaic system, the sun was thought to circle the earth, the centre of the universe. ↵
- i.e. it would be a pity if (a) I, (b) you, (c) folly, were not to spend as much time with Orsino as with Olivia. ↵
- A mocking title, = "fool." ↵
- If ↵
- Jest at (from fencing, "thrust") me; the emphasis is on "me." ↵
- Consignment. ↵
- The Clown's earlier implication that Viola is in some sense his fellow or rival is reinforced by this one use of the singular "thee" as he emphasizes Cesario's youth (and, probably unconsciously, Viola's disguise). ↵
- Emphasis must be on "my". ↵
- (a) produced offspring, (b) earned interest. Compare MV TLN 422-423, "is your gold and silver ewes and rams?" "I cannot tell, I make it breed as fast." ↵
- (a) copulation, (b) usury, earning interest. Viola, as usual, extends the Clown's jest. ↵
- Pandarus of Troy acted as "pander" to his niece Cressida and Troilus. The story was well known from Chaucer and other poets, and Shakespeare probably wrote his Tro. shortly after TN. ↵
- I.e. the coin he has begged is a beggar because it is Cressida (portrayed in later versions of the story, and in Dekker and Chettle’s 1599 Troyelles and Cresseda, as a beggar and leper). ↵
- Construe, explain (to those within). This unusual usage, like "welkin" and "element," gives an air of mock-learning. ↵
- The Clown's main point is that he is in doubt about Cesario's identity and purpose. The Clown's word-play starts with the ostentatiously poetic "welkin" for "sky" (i.e. region, knowledge). The discarded "element" also means sky (air, one of the four elements; see TLN 32); it is "overworn" either because of recent stage satire (directed at Ben Jonson in Dekker's Satiromastix) or because Malvolio uses it (see TLN 1646). ↵
- (a) nature, (b) rank. ↵
- Like an untamed adult hawk, fly at every lure (that the trainer swings) in its view. Some editors believe this should read "Not, like the haggard," since good clowning, unlike the behavior of an unruly hawk, depends on careful observation and choosing the right moment; but that is the purpose of the hawk's training. ↵
- Profession, skill. ↵
- Shows wisely (with discretion). ↵
- Appropriate. ↵
- i.e. who have fallen into folly. ↵
- Infect their (? reputation for) intelligence. The rhyming couplet gives a sense of thematic completion to the entire sequence from the start of the scene. ↵
- "God save you, sir." (French.) ↵
- "And you also; [I am] your servant." (French.) ↵
- Since Sir Andrew's phrase is memorized ("without book," TLN 144), he is comically at a loss when Viola replies in French. ↵
- Either (a) confront as an adversary, or (b) go to meet. Whether Sir Toby is mocking Cesario, or is simply extravagant in his language (perhaps because drunk), is not clear. ↵
- Business. Perhaps contemptuous. ↵
- (a) bound for (nautical, following "trade"), (b) obliged to (for the invitation), (c) tied to. Viola's quick expansion of the nautical metaphor may be to avoid embarrassing inquiry into (c). ↵
- Boundary (hence, "destination"). Viola gives as good as she gets in response to Sir Toby's figurative language. ↵
- Try. Compare TLN 1762. ↵
- (a) stand under, (b) comprehend. ↵
- (a) going and entering (as Sir Toby asked), (b) gate and doorway. ↵
- Anticipated, forestalled. ↵
- May the heavens. ↵
- In production, Viola may present Orsino's jewel (TLN 1013) at this point. Shakespeare makes no mention of it here. ↵
- Probably "that's good" (rather than "good heavens!"). ↵
- Receptive. ↵
- Bestowed (i.e. attentive); probably pronounced vouchsafèd. ↵
- Perhaps memorizing, but more likely by writing them in his table-book, which he may now be doing. Compare Ham. TLN 792, "My tables--meet it is I set it down." ↵
- i.e. the door into the private walled garden where they are now imagined to be. ↵
- Although Olivia offers her hand, as to an equal, Viola emphasizes her page's role, probably kneeling and kissing the hand. ↵
- Servant: (a) attendant, (b) suitor, love. ↵
- i.e. things have never been good since. ↵
- Pretended humility. ↵
- Blank pages. Compare TLN 999; Orsino's thoughts will be filled with the "blank" of Viola's story. ↵
- Olivia's completion of the blank verse line started by Viola suggests urgency and interruption. ↵
- i.e. the celestial music, inaudible to mortals, created by the rotation of the crystalline spheres supporting the planets and fixed stars. ↵
- Whether Viola's beginning and Olivia's interruption constitute two short lines or a shared hexameter, the metrical disruption clearly signals Olivia's urgency and breach of decorum. ↵
- Wrong. ↵
- Harsh interpretation. ↵
- The image is from bear-baiting, with Olivia's honor chained to a stake like the bear, and baited (bitten, hence wounded) by Cesario's contemptuous thoughts (like unmuzzled dogs). ↵
- Perception. ↵
- i.e. transparent gauze, not flesh, covers my heart (therefore you can see my feelings). The metaphor is stronger if Olivia is not actually wearing cypress; therefore she may have changed out of mourning. See TLN 459 and TLN 521-524, where her mourning veil is probably black cypress. ↵
- Possibly Olivia has to prompt Viola to speak. ↵
- Step. ↵
- This obsolete word tends to be used for shallow ceremonial steps raising a throne, altar, etc., and does not have the more general meanings of "degree." Pronounced "greece." Viola is perhaps thinking of a high "degree" (e.g. temporary seating for theatre at court), and replying "not even a very low 'grece'." Folio's "grize" suggests a "z" sound in Elizabethan pronunciation. ↵
- Common, generally accepted. ↵
- Viola gently returns Olivia's ring at this point in the Nunn film. ↵
- Either (a) isn't it typical that, though rejected, I am still proud, or (b) look at him, poor but too proud to accept me. ↵
- Either (a) Cesario rather than anyone base, or (b) Orsino, a king among men, rather than the cruel Cesario. The first is more likely, because Olivia is a victim ("prey") to Cesario, but never offers herself to Orsino. ↵
- Since this unusual stage direction serves no plot function, the thematic importance to Shakespeare of time passing deserves notice. ↵
- i.e. when you reach maturity. ↵
- (a) worthy, excellent, (b) handsome. ↵
- Perhaps non-specific, perhaps metaphorically "into the sunset, out of my life"; or Shakespeare may simply be setting up Viola's next line. ↵
- The familiar Thames watermen's cry seeking passengers going upriver to the court at Westminster (perhaps suggesting Orsino's court) from the City (or the theaters). Compare departure by water at TLN 496-498. "Westward Ho" could also, as in Dekker and Webster's play of that name (perf. 1604, pub. 1607), imply less salubrious destinations upriver such as Brentford, notorious as a place of assignation. ↵
- God's grace, and peace of mind. ↵
- In the Folio, this is printed as part of the next line, adding an extra foot to the meter. But possibly a long pause is indicated, signaling the higher intensity of Olivia's question and the exchange to come. ↵
- Here and at TLN 1367 Olivia switches from "you" to "thou" as she declares her love; see note to TLN 1180. ↵
- That you mistake yourself. There are several ways in which Olivia mistakes herself, including loving a woman, loving beneath her rank, thinking herself rejected by a poor young man, and cloistering herself from an appropriate marriage with Orsino. ↵
- i.e. that you are more than you appear (perhaps noble in disguise; compare TLN 585-588). ↵
- Viola's rueful self-awareness about her situation again means more to the audience than to the person addressed. ↵
- (be better). ↵
- i.e. being made a fool of by you. ↵
- Compare AYL TLN 1838, "I had rather hear you chide than this man woo." ↵
- Proverbially, "murder will out," and "love cannot be hid." Olivia's passion is about to declare itself in full light. ↵
- Despite (pronounced "mauger": "au" as in "taught"). ↵
- i.e. do not squeeze out arguments from this proposition, that because I love you therefore you should not love me; instead, restrain that reasoning with this, as follows. ↵
- In performance the actor would probably elide to one syllable for the meter. ↵
- (a) seat of affection (i.e. the heart), (b) repository of secrets. ↵
- i.e. tell you sadly about Orsino's love-grief. ↵
- The intensity of this exchange is heightened by its structure, a 14-line rhyming couplet sonnet of declaration and reply. Cf. Rom. TLN 670-685. ↵
- Stressed; therefore "you if anyone." ↵
- Probably he enters first, given his "venom" (TLN 1383) and the other two trying to dissuade him from leaving. His intended departure may be evident by his wearing boots and spurs (see note to TLN 29). His intended departure may be evident by his wearing boots and spurs (see note to TLN 29). ↵
- Sir Toby uses, as always, the familiar second person singular, Fabian the respectful plural. ↵
- Garden (not necessarily for fruit trees). Compare "garden door," TLN 1304. ↵
- During that time. ↵
- Proof. ↵
- By God's light (as at TLN 1048). ↵
- Judgment and Reason are personified as members of a grand jury, who decide whether evidence is sufficient to send a case to trial. ↵
- (a) hibernating, (b) timid. ↵
- Sulphur. ↵
- The audience, and even Sir Andrew, may recall Sir Toby's definition at TLN 17-172. ↵
- i.e. like a coin freshly minted from molten metal. ↵
- Let slip. ↵
- I.e. "golden opportunity," since gilded twice over. Cf. 2H4 TLN 2661 "England shall double gild his treble guilt." ↵
- Cold and distant region. ↵
- The arctic expedition of Willem Barents in 1596-7 would have lent topicality to this use of "north." See also note to TLN 1467-1469 for discussion of Novaya Zemblya in the "new map". ↵
- (a) strategy, (b) scheming (derogatory; see "politicians," TLN 1411-1412, and TLN 774). ↵
- Rather. ↵
- i.e. puritan. The authorities feared the campaign by the sect's founder, Robert Browne, for radical reform of church government, as dangerously "political." ↵
- Amoral intriguer (cf. TLN 774). ↵
- The ethical dative, meaning "for me," but principally acting as an intensifier for Sir Toby's close involvement, as also in the next line. ↵
- Go-between. ↵
- No such style of handwriting is known; Sir Toby has probably made it up (although editors have suggested a careless scrawl, or aggressive flourishes). ↵
- Malignant, disagreeable (usually spelt at the time, as in Folio, "curst"). ↵
- The major divisions of rhetoric, equivalent to style and content. Here, "invention" perhaps also carries the sense of "fabrication". Sir Toby contradicts his earlier advice (from dueling manuals) to be "brief," no doubt in hopes of encouraging Sir Andrew to laughable rhetorical excess. ↵
- Freedom conferred by writing (not face to face). ↵
- i.e. rudely use "thou" rather than "you." The prosecution of Sir Walter Raleigh illustrates the usage well: "I thou thee, thou traitor!" ↵
- i.e. iterations of "thou liest," an accusation that would provoke a duel. ↵
- (a) paper, (b) bedsheet. ↵
- This bed, an Elizabethan tourist attraction at an inn in Ware, measures over 3 meters square, and is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. ↵
- (a) oak-gall (used in making ink), (b) bitterness. ↵
- (a) goose quill, (b) pen used by a goose (fool). ↵
- Bedchamber (a humorous or affected use of Latin or Italian). ↵
- Little man (i.e. "you are fond of this plaything"). ↵
- Expensive (punning on previous line). ↵
- Either ducats (see note to TLN 139) or pounds. ↵
- (if I do not). But Sir Toby changes his mind after reading the challenge: see TLN 1701-1706. ↵
- Probably (a) in every possible way, but possibly (b) certainly (i.e. used permissively). ↵
- Oxen and their wagon ("wain") harness. ↵
- Drag. ↵
- Dissected. ↵
- A "liver white and pale"--i.e. lacking in blood (courage)--is "the badge of . . . cowardice" (2H4 TLN 2341-2342). Compare "lily-liver'd" (Mac. TLN 2332). ↵
- (a) encumber, clag (in something sticky), (b) provide with clogs (wooden shoes). ↵
- (a) body for dissection (see "opened," TLN 1440), (b) skeleton (referring to Sir Andrew's thinness). Compare Err. TLN 1714-1715, possibly referring to the same actor, "a hungry lean-fac'd villain, / A mere anatomy". ↵
- Opponent. ↵
- Sign, portent. ↵
- i.e. the last hatched, and therefore tiniest, of a brood of nine of the smallest bird (another reference to Maria's size). ↵
- Amusement (laughter was thought to be controlled by the spleen). ↵
- Spanish form of "renegade"; traitor to Christianity. ↵
- Orthodoxly. ↵
- i.e. who can. ↵
- Either (a) acts of absurdity, or (b) grossly unbelievable statements (i.e. "passages" of Maria's letter). ↵
- Abominably. ↵
- i.e. schoolmaster who has to use the church for lack of his own schoolroom. Like cross-gartering (see TLN 1159), this sounds far from fashionable. ↵
- The image of wrinkles probably comes from the rhumb-lines which were a striking feature of a recent map. Maria's description of Malvolio's smile creating "more lines than is in the new map with the augmentation of the Indies" seems to refer to the diagonal "rhumb lines" printed on maps and charts as navigation courses. They can be seen in the particular map Maria is probably referring to, Hakluyt's map of the world published in 1599 or 1600. The crisscrossing diagonal lines create a vivid image of a smiling face crinkling into laugh lines. The map's "augmentation of the Indies" evidently refers to a very much more detailed depiction of the East Indies than in earlier maps (just above one of the first extensive outlines of northern Australia). The other new feature on this map is the detail around the western and northern coasts of the island of Novaya Zemlya north of Russia. That the Dutch Arctic expedition under Barents (hence Barents Sea) was still in the popular imagination is evident in Fabian's warning to Sir Andrew at TLN 1404–1407 (3.2.24–6) that "you are now sailed into the north of my lady's opinion, where you will hang like an icicle on a Dutchman's beard . . ." (see note). Detail from this map is available at TLN 1458. See also Arthur M. Hind, Engraving in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Part I (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952), Plates 100, 101. ↵
- Only. ↵
- Anxiety, "fear" (TLN 1478). ↵
- Ignorant of. ↵
- Shakespeare may be thinking of pirates (compare 2H6 TLN 2276, "Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate"). ↵
- More speedily (the original meaning). ↵
- Folio ("thanks: and ever oft") is defective in meter and sense. Theobald's emendation, accepted here, assumes accidental omission by scribe or compositor of two words already occurring in the line. ↵
- Evaded. ↵
- Worthless (because not legal money, not "currency"). ↵
- Value, wealth. ↵
- Awareness of being indebted. ↵
- Antiquities (as TLN 1490-1491). ↵
- Possibly completing an irregular verse line. ↵
- Count's. ↵
- i.e. if I were captured, it would be virtually impossible for me to defend myself (under their law). Since reparation would not now be accepted (TLN 1501-1505), his life might be in danger. The metrical irregularity of the line seems to serve neither characterization nor Folio compositorial demands, and could be smoothed be reading: "That were I taken here t'would scarce be answered." ↵
- I suppose. This line can be spoken as a question from a Sebastian anxious for Antonio, or eager for stories of adventure. ↵
- Nature. ↵
- Reason justifying bloodshed. Orsino and the First Officer describe (at TLN 2202-2214) fights that certainly involved bloodshed, but no loss of life. ↵
- For the sake of trade. ↵
- Apprehended (an unusual usage). ↵
- Openly, publicly. ↵
- Is not appropriate for. ↵
- There was an inn with this common name very close to the Globe in the "south suburbs" of London. ↵
- Order our meals (note "feed" in the next line). ↵
- Find me. ↵
- Perhaps. ↵
- Trifle. ↵
- Your supply of money is not enough for unnecessary expenditure. ↵
- Sebastian is joking about a formal appointment as official in charge of payments. ↵
- i.e. suppose he says. The servant sent after Cesario does not return until TLN 1578. ↵
- On. ↵
- Olivia turns the proverb "better to buy than to beg or borrow" to a wryly cynical meaning. ↵
- Folio may have had to contract the metrically preferable "where is" in order to justify a tight line. ↵
- Grave and circumspect. ↵
- (a) her bereavement, (b) her love melancholy. ↵
- The repetition of the question may indicate that Olivia has directed the previous line to the audience, and that Maria has stayed near the door looking out for Malvolio. ↵
- i.e. by the devil; mad. ↵
- Diseased. Compare TLN 1279. ↵
- Malvolio's extraordinary appearance usually provokes loud laughter (often Olivia's prompt to turn and see him),so theatres seldom follow the placing of the Folio entry direction prior to her aside, as Malvolio would upstage her. ↵
- Yellow was a fashionable color for young (marriageable) men; and garters crossed behind the knee and tied in front in a bow were equally appropriate to a lover. Some critics have suggested that the point about Malvolio's stockings being yellow is that the color had become unfashionable, but costume histories refute this; it is clear that yellow remained a popular color, both in general use and at court, into the seventeenth century. It was often associated with love and marriage (and marital jealousy), and such a light color was evidently fashionable for young (and therefore marriageable) men, or for older men seeking to relive their youth. What is fashionable for a young man may appear surprising or even shocking on an older man, or on a character like Malvolio whose usual dress is probably dark and sober in style and color, in keeping with the hint of puritanism (TLN 833-840). And of course for Olivia, "'tis a color she abhors" (TLN 1202). The purpose of garters was to support a man's trunk hose. Cross-gartering involved placing a ribbon below the front of the knee, passing the ends behind the knee and giving them a cross twist before bringing them forward above the knee and tying them in a bow at the side or in front. This flamboyant style was still in fashion at the time of Twelfth Night (though some critics deny this), but, like yellow stockings, it seems to have been a fashion more appropriate for the young and flamboyant than for an older and graver man. "As rare an old youth as ever walked cross-gartered" (John Ford, The Lover's Melancholy [1629], 3.1.2) describes a man seeking to dress younger than his age. The combination of yellow stockings and cross-gartering displays the usually soberly dressed Malvolio as a lover to Olivia.
He is gartered, however, not ungartered; he does not show the proper marks of a lover as Rosalind describes them As You Like It:
Your hose should be ungartered, your bonnet unbanded, your sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and everything about you demonstrating a careless desolation. But you are no such man. You are rather point-device in your accouterments, as loving yourself. . . . (TLN 1562-1567)
See M. Channing Linthicum, "Malvolio's Cross-Gartered Yellow Stockings," Modern Philology 25 (1927–28), pp. 87–93, Costume in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1936), and C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, Handbook of English Costume in the Sixteenth Century (London: Faber and Faber, 1954) and Handbook of English Costume in the Seventeenth Century (London: Faber and Faber, 1955). ↵ - The words are in effect a stage direction for laughter (in addition to his smiles) rather than words to be articulated. ↵
- (a) serious (Olivia's sense), (b) melancholy (Malvolio's sense in the next line). ↵
- Which would cause melancholy; see previous note. ↵
- i.e. of Olivia. His innuendo is lost on her. ↵
- Song (not exclusively a 14-line poem; see next note). ↵
- The refrain of a ballad, and therefore probably sung by Malvolio. Richard Tarlton, the theatre clown wrote the ballad, which says all women want the same thing: their (sexual) will. ↵
- Melancholy (thought to be caused by black bile; see also note to TLN 1542). ↵
- Although yellow might be the color for a lover (see note to TLN 1158), "Black and Yellow" was also a popular sad song. ↵
- i.e. the letter. ↵
- i.e. Olivia's fashionable italic (Italian) handwriting (not the old-fashioned English Secretary hand). ↵
- (a) to rest and recover (Olivia's sense), (b) for sex (Malvolio's sense in the next line). ↵
- Again from a popular song, and presumably sung. ↵
- A gentlemanly courtesy to a lady. Compare Othello TLN 947-951, "it had been better you had not kiss'd your three fingers so oft . . . Yet again, your fingers to your lips?" ↵
- Apparently sarcastic: he (the prized singing nightingale) refuses to answer Maria (a stupid noisy jackdaw). ↵
- It is not clear if Olivia here thinks Malvolio is addressing her (rudely) with "thy yellow stockings." Some editors emend "thy" to "my," but probably she simply echoes him in bewilderment, though at TLN 1575 she clearly believes his "thou" (from the letter) to be addressed to her. ↵
- Olivia is astonished at Malvolio's rude ("thou") offer of a position she already holds ("made" = assured of success in life). ↵
- Proverbial. Compare, in a different context. Rom. TLN 1434-1435, "now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring." ↵
- Only with difficulty. ↵
- Come to harm. ↵
- Begin to understand. ↵
- The Folio misprint of "langer" for "tang" may indicate confusion which would justify omitting the "with" in order to be absolutely consistent with the letter at TLN 1155-1156. ↵
- Subsequently. ↵
- (a) clothing, (b) manner. ↵
- Distinguished gentleman. ↵
- Caught (as birds ensnared with sticky birdlime). ↵
- See TLN 1175. ↵
- (a) equal (compare "fellow of servants," TLN 1161), (b) inferior person (compare TLN 2253). Malvolio understands (a), whereas Olivia clearly means (b). ↵
- Rank (as steward). ↵
- Not a tiny measure ("dram") of doubt ("scruple"), not even a third of a dram ("scruple") of doubt ("scruple"). ↵
- Incredible or unreliable. ↵
- (a) assembled (as an army), (b) painted. ↵
- In miniature. ↵
- The "unclean spirits" possessing a man in Mark 5: 1-20 replied to Jesus "My name is Legion: for we are many" (a Roman legion was about 6000 men). ↵
- Privacy. ↵
- This sequence depends on everything Malvolio says being taken as the voice of the devil possessing him (see TLN 1608 and note). ↵
- Leave it to me. ↵
- Look you. Malvolio has evidently reacted strongly to Sir Toby's implication that he is in league with the devil. ↵
- Urine (for diagnosis by a physician or a "wise woman"). Sometimes in production they present Malvolio with an empty flask for the purpose, much to his disgust. ↵
- A woman skilled in cures (and perhaps in undoing witchcraft). ↵
- The prospect of Maria's interest in his full chamber-pot will further outrage Malvolio. ↵
- Raise his emotions. ↵
- Fine bird (in this context a comic term of endearment, like "chuck" and "biddy" which follow). Possibly Sir Toby is clucking to call Malvolio. ↵
- Chicken. ↵
- Chick. ↵
- (a) dignified, (b) appropriate to Gravity (i.e. a personification of a grave, dignified person). ↵
- A children's game throwing cherry stones into a hole. ↵
- Dirty coalman (referring to the devil's blackness). ↵
- Hussy, impertinent girl. ↵
- Foolish. ↵
- i.e. in your sphere (of existence). Compare note to TLN 1269-1270. ↵
- Often in production Fabian acknowledges audience complicity in the theatrical illusion. Shakespeare uses such theatrical reflexivity elsewhere (e.g. JC TLN 1326-1331, Ant. TLN 3459-3464). ↵
- Spirit, soul. ↵
- Be exposed, and spoil (like food). ↵
- Standard treatment for madness. Compare Err. TLN 1380-1382, "both man and master is possess'd . . . They must be bound and laid in some dark room." ↵
- Maintain this pretence. ↵
- i.e. court; hence, the verdict of public opinion. ↵
- (a) discoverer of lunatics, (b) member of a jury which finds (declares) a person insane. ↵
- Sport fit for (a) May Day foolery, (b) a spring or early summer morning in the northern hemisphere. ↵
- (a) spicy (with "vinegar and pepper"), (b) insolent. ↵
- Give him (Cesario) my word. ↵
- Sir Andrew has followed Sir Toby's instruction to be insulting (see TLN 1423-1424). ↵
- Marvel, "wonder." ↵
- i.e. well said. ↵
- Punishment (for a breach of the peace). ↵
- To "give the lie" in this emphatic form could only be answered by a duel, but Sir Andrew withdraws the insult in the next phrase. To refer to Olivia's reception of Cesario as Cesario lying is nonsensical, unless one presumes an elided thought that Cesario has claimed either that he is well received, or that his reception is why Sir Andrew is angry. ↵
- Because (a) Olivia using Cesario "kindly" is not a lie, and (b) Sir Andrew, having used it as provocation anyway, then says it is "not the matter." ↵
- Fabian's anticipation here may be comic if Sir Andrew realizes the implication. ↵
- i.e. windward (the safe side when sailing, or, for an animal, if being hunted). Fabian is pointing out Sir Andrew's absurd avoidance of giving legal offence in his challenge. ↵
- Sir Andrew means he hopes to survive, but sounds as if he hopes to be damned. ↵
- In so far as you treat me like (a friend). ↵
- Dealing, communication. ↵
- Keep a look out. For "me" as an intensifier, see note to TLN 1413. ↵
- A contemptuous term for a sneaking bailiff who caught debtors "in the rear" (OED, bumbailiff). ↵
- Horribly. ↵
- Credit. ↵
- Testing, trial. ↵
- Intelligence. ↵
- Realize. ↵
- Blockhead. ↵
- His inexperience will readily accept it. ↵
- i.e. basilisks, mythical monsters that could kill with a look (in this case, comically, each other). ↵
- Stay out of their way. It appears they do, since Olivia and Viola give no indication of seeing them. ↵
- Immediately. ↵
- Horrible, terrifying. ↵
- Unwarily, carelessly. ↵
- Either (a) on the "heart of stone" (imagined as an altar, or as a known stone in a church where debts were paid), or (b) on what "I have said" (the idea is of wagering honor). Some editors emend to "out", imagining honor as now expended, or as exposed to view. ↵
- Behavior that characterizes your emotional state. ↵
- A miniature portrait in a richly jeweled setting, probably a pendant on a gold chain. ↵
- Viola bows her head to have the chain put round her neck after initial refusal; see TLN 1728. ↵
- My virtue (i.e. chastity) excepted. Olivia's general sense is clear, that she (or honor) will grant anything consistent with virtue. Folio's punctuation "honor (saved)" has "honor" doing double duty, as both the subject who will "give," and the object of "saved." ↵
- Release, discharge (from a debt). ↵
- Sir Toby initially asserts superiority (or scorn). ↵
- i.e. her sword. ↵
- Contempt and outrage. ↵
- Draw your rapier. "Dismount" is inflated language, since it properly applies to cannon. ↵
- Prompt. ↵
- Posture of defence (fencing term). Sir Toby employs specialized sword-fighting vocabulary as he prepares "Cesario" and Sir Andrew for their duel (see notes on "pass," TLN 1793, "stuck," TLN 1794, and "duello," TLN 1823). Joseph Swetnam's manual, The School of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence (1617), is one among many books of instruction in the art of fighting, and a woodcut illustrates his description of the best en garde position for someone told to "betake you to your guard" (TLN 1749): Keep your rapier point something sloping towards your left shoulder, and your rapier hand so low as your girdlestead [waist], or lower, and bear out your rapier hand right at arm's end, so far as you can, and keep the point of your rapier something leaning outwards toward your enemy, keeping your rapier always on the outside of your enemy's rapier, but not joining with him, for you must observe a true distance at all weapons, that is to say, three feet betwixt the points of your weapons, and twelve foot distance with your fore-foot from your enemy's fore-foot. You must be careful that you frame your guard right, now you must not bear the rapier hand wide of the right side of your body, but right forward from your girdlestead, as before said. ("The true guard for the single Rapier," p. 117). ↵
- Opponent. ↵
- Emphatic form of "with." ↵
- Unhacked (i.e. the blade never nicked in battle). ↵
- i.e. dubbed at court, not kneeling on a battlefield: a carpet knight. "Consideration" may imply payment. ↵
- "give't or take't" (i.e. death; literally, "have or have not"). ↵
- Motto (written on a shield). ↵
- An escort. ↵
- Try, test. ↵
- Either (a) probably, or (b) possibly. The choice will depend on Viola's level of confidence in trying to talk her way out. ↵
- Peculiarity. ↵
- Sufficient (in law to demand satisfaction). ↵
- i.e. a duel. Sir Toby's stance will no doubt indicate his readiness to draw his sword, and either he or Fabian will have blocked Viola's retreat. ↵
- Engage (in fighting). ↵
- i.e. admit your cowardice (compare "never draw sword again," TLN 177). ↵
- Discourteous. ↵
- Enquire from. ↵
- Sir Toby can increase Viola's anxiety by an extended pause before he speaks. ↵
- Decision by (combat to the) death. ↵
- Outward appearance. ↵
- This suggestion will usually terrify Viola. Folio's comma after "him" would mean Fabian is saying "If you please to . . . ." ↵
- Priests were normally called "sir," whether or not they had taken a university degree, which would also entitle them to this English translation of Latin dominus. Compare Sir Topaz (TLN 1987). ↵
- Folio's Exeunt is playable, but most productions prefer the comic possibilities of the antagonists in sight of each other from a distance. Do Fabian and Viola leave the stage? Folio’s :Exeunt is clear. On the other hand, no new scene is marked, as would be the usual convention. It is fundamentally a production decision. Fabian and Viola can simply withdraw, perhaps to a corner; then, if Sir Toby and Sir Andrew come in at the other door and move forward, perhaps to an opposite corner, they are well placed for comic business around Sir Andrew believing Sir Toby's "Fabian can scarce hold him yonder" (see note to TLN 1800), and for the center-stage conference of Sir Toby and Fabian (TLN 1809-1812). ↵
- Female warrior. Possibly Sir Toby uses the term jokingly for the womanish-looking Cesario, unaware of its irony. ↵
- i.e. bout. Compare "stuck in," and Rom. TLN 1516, "Come, sir, your passado." ↵
- Either a ludicrous embellishment, or for a practice bout, explaining Sir Toby's lack of injury. ↵
- Thrust (Italian stoccata). Compare Ham. TLN 3152, "your venom'd stuck." ↵
- i.e. home (perhaps with emphatic gesture). Compare Rom. Q2, 3.1.84.2 [Norton], "Tybalt under Romeo's arm thrusts Mercutio in." ↵
- Deadly. ↵
- i.e. a practiced fencing move. ↵
- Not able to be parried. ↵
- (your) counter-thrust. ↵
- i.e. kills. Compare 1H4 TLN 1151, "Two I am sure I have paid." ↵
- See TLN 843 for another example of a singular verb with a plural noun, not uncommon in Shakespeare. Editors and actors sometimes emend to "hit." ↵
- Shah of Persia (see note to TLN 1183). ↵
- Often the audience can see that Viola's attempts to escape might look to Sir Andrew like aggression (as in Nunn's film). ↵
- If. ↵
- Skillful. ↵
- Folio's spelling may represent the name Capulet, and it is possible that "Gray" should be part of the name. ↵
- Offer. ↵
- i.e. loss of life. ↵
- Make a fool of (punning on "ride your horse"). ↵
- Often Sir Toby Meets Fabian center-stage before crossing to Viola. See notes to TLN 1790 and 1820. ↵
- Settle. ↵
- Has as terrifying an idea. ↵
- It would not take much to make me admit (a) how afraid I am, (b) that I am a woman (with a sexual quibble on the lack of "a little thing"). ↵
- Staging will determine whether Fabian addresses Viola or Sir Andrew. Sir Toby crossing the stage repeatedly to (falsely) report on the failure of his intended embassies of peace is central to the scene. Since Fabian has been managing Viola throughout, and since Sir Toby is now returning to Sir Andrew, Fabian is likely to remain with her, causing her further comic terror. In such a staging each combatant has a supporter, like boxers with trainers, and often each has to physically push his combatant to the mark. If, alternatively, Fabian addresses this line to Sir Andrew, and the duel therefore starts with Fabian and Sir Toby both with him, they leave Viola clear for her aside to the audience, observe a comic gulling again as they did in 2.5, and provide an apparently unfair situation for Antonio to respond to. ↵
- Code of dueling (available in published manuals). ↵
- Precisely when Antonio enters will depend largely on how much comic business is involved in persuading the two unwilling duelists to face each other. Often performance includes some comic fighting by the terrified and incompetent duelists before they are interrupted. An audience will not worry about whether Antonio has entered the "orchard" (TLN 1694, TLN 1742) or we are now "in the streets" (TLN 2215). ↵
- Antonio probably interposes his body between Viola and Sir Andrew; the intrusion of the serious plot is also signaled by his speaking in verse. ↵
- (a) one who enters into combat with (see TLN 173), (b) one who accepts responsibility (often, for another). ↵
- Ready for you. ↵
- Straight away. There is implicit agreement to conceal from the Officers any evidence of a duel. ↵
- Sir Andrew sheathes his sword in relief, and reaffirms his promise (TLN 1803-1804) of his horse; Viola will be totally mystified. ↵
- Face. ↵
- A recognizable mariner's cap, which he was probably wearing earlier; see note to TLN 611. The exact nature of sailors' apparel in Shakespeare's time is not certain, but it seems to have been distinctive, as the Officer's identification of Antonio suggests (TLN 1847). Possibly Antonio was wearing it when he first appeared in the play, prior to following Sebastian to Orsino's court. The "sea-cap" was probably a "Monmouth" thrummed "shaggy brimless hat or cap" with its very long pile designed to shed water, which went with "baggy breeches gathered in below the knee [and] a loose waist-length coat" (Phillis Cunnington and Catherine Lucas, Occupational Costume in England [London: Adam and Charles Black, 1967], p 56). The breeches were likely made of canvas, possibly coated with tar (hence "tarpaulin"). Sailors often wore knives around their necks on a lanyard. Chaucer says of his Shipman, in the General Prologue, 392-393, that "A dagger on a lanyard falling free / Hung from his neck under his arm and down". In an illustration from Cesare Vecellio, Habiti Antichi et Moderni di Tutto il Mondo (Venice, 1598), a sailor in a thrummed sea-cap is carrying the additional identifier of a compass in its bowl, as does possibly the Captain who enters with his sailors at the start of the second scene of the play (TLN 50). ↵
- At some point Antonio will surrender his sword, if it has not already been seized. ↵
- (a) face the charge, (b) pay the penalty. See note to TLN 1496. ↵
- i.e. without enough money. ↵
- Bewildered. A much stronger word in Elizabethan English than now, as is evident from Antonio's concern. ↵
- In part. ↵
- i.e. such money as I have at present. ↵
- Strong-box (a rueful exaggeration of her nearly-empty purse). ↵
- Antonio's anger may lead him to strike the few coins from her hand. ↵
- Deservings. ↵
- Can lack power to move you (of all people). ↵
- Put to the test (by refusing me). ↵
- Morally weak (since kindness should be for its own sake, not for reward). ↵
- i.e. from half-way to death. ↵
- i.e. great and almost holy love ("such" adds emphasis to "sanctity"). Folio's "Jove" ("Ioue" in Elizabethan typography) almost certainly results from a damaged "I" being set by mistake for an "l". ↵
- (a) appearance, (b) religious image (compare "idol," TLN 1885). ↵
- Worthy of veneration. ↵
- (a) loyal service, (b) worship (compare "god," TLN 1885). ↵
- (a) cruel, (b) unnatural. ↵
- Compare TLN 100-101. ↵
- (a) bodies, (b) household chests. ↵
- Painted with elaborate decoration. ↵
- i.e. I do not accept his belief (that I am Sebastian). ↵
- Shakespeare's purpose seems to be to give Viola most of the stage alone, to emphasize her next speech. ↵
- Wise sayings. Sir Toby is apparently mocking Antonio's conventional (though intensely felt) couplets at TLN 1887-1900. ↵
- In me as a mirror image (of him). ↵
- Always. ↵
- Prove true (that Sebastian is alive). ↵
- i.e. sweet (drinkable), not salt. ↵
- Dishonorable. ↵
- Proverbial. ↵
- i.e. making a religion of cowardice. ↵
- By God's eyelid (a mild oath). ↵
- Presumably Sir Toby realizes that Sir Andrew will lose his nerve if required to draw sword again. In production, Sir Toby sometimes relieves him of his sword. ↵
- If I do not (cuff him soundly). ↵
- Outcome. ↵
- After all. ↵