part of twith night

1. Twelfth Night
Act 4 Scene 2
Summary, Analysis and Commentary

2. Malvolio has been locked up in a dark room in the cellar of
Olivia’s house by Sir Toby and his cohorts. Maria seems to
have come up with a new way to torture Malvolio. She waits
outside Malvolio’s cell as Feste disguises himself as Sir Topas
the curate.

3. Putting on the curate’s gown, Feste jests that he will dissemble
himself (pretend to be a curate), and that he wishes he were the
first that ever dissembled himself in such a gown (pretended to
be virtuous). This harks back to Feste’s quip to Olivia in Act I,
Scene 5: “...cucullus non facit monachum,” that is, the cowl
does not make the monk, as well as to his equivocal comments
to Cesario about living by the church.

4. Feste uses his wit to criticize hypocrisy, false appearances, and
any force that sets itself in opposition to experiencing the
pleasures of life. His targets include the church, Olivia’s
protracted mourning, Orsino’s self-proclaimed constancy, and
Malvolio’s moral rectitude and social climbing.

5. Feste sums up the question of being and identity in this play by
saying, “That that is, is; so I, being Master Parson, am Master
Parson....” Or to put it another way, we are the roles we play, while
we play them. Malvolio, the somber puritanical steward locked in a
room for madmen, is a madman; Viola, while she plays Cesario, is
the handsome young gentleman desired by Olivia; and so on, until
the role no longer suits the occasion.

6. Disguised as Sir Topas, Feste calls into the prison and announces that he
has come to visit Malvolio the lunatic. Malvolio is relieved to hear the
parson’s voice, for he fondly imagines that his deliverance from prison is
near. And as it is deliverance from darkness that Malvolio craves, Feste, in
the guise of Sir Topas, offers Malvolio enlightenment. Feste parodies the
language of the church, suggesting that Malvolio’s darkness is ignorance.

7. In an attempt to prove his sanity to the parson, Malvolio asks
to have his reason put to the test. Feste asks him what the
opinion of Pythagoras was concerning wild fowl, and Malvolio
correctly answers that he believed in the transmigration of
human souls into animals. He adds that he himself does not
believe this, for he thinks nobly of the soul.

8. Feste leaves Malvolio in his darkness to join Toby and Maria.
Maria notes that Feste might have acted the part of the parson
without his disguise, as Malvolio could not see him in the
dark. Toby suggests that Feste should return to Malvolio in his
regular voice to find out how he is doing.

9. Toby has grown weary of this business. He is worried that
Olivia will never forgive him. He has just abused Sebastian,
remember, and now he is abusing her steward, about whom we
know she cares a great deal. Toby is beginning to see that
things have gone too far, and things that are enjoyable in
moderation can be harmful if taken to extremes.

10. Feste re-enters as himself, singing. Malvolio calls out to him for help,
asking for ink and paper and a candle so that he can write a note to Olivia.
Feste asks how Malvolio went mad, and Malvolio answers, “I am as well
in my wits, fool, as thou art.” Feste’s questioning of Malvolio’s wits
hearkens back to their first confrontation when Malvolio implied that the
fool’s wits were infirm. Now, however, Malvolio can no longer afford to
act superior to the fool. Perhaps the gulling has served a positive function,
if it has taught Malvolio humility.

11. Malvolio complains of his treatment — he claims to have been
notoriously abused — and Feste tells him to watch his words,
for the minister is here. Feste then assumes his ecclesiastical
voice again and gives Malvolio another pearl of specious
wisdom. By changing from one voice to another in rapid
succession, Feste gives Malvolio the impression that he has two
visitors instead of one.

12. Finally, having had his fun, and perhaps beginning to feel
slightly guilty for torturing the pathetic steward, Feste
promises to bring Malvolio some ink and paper. Feste leaves
singing. Feste’s participation in Malvolio’s gulling is benign
for the most part, as it comes late (he takes no part in the initial
planning) and leads to his eventual release.

13. Act 4 Scene 3

14. In Olivia’s garden, Sebastian revels in his good fortune. He
can’t help wondering whether the events of the day aren’t too
wonderful to be real. No, it’s not a dream; the pearl she gave
him is real; he can attest to that. In need of advice, he thinks of
Antonio, who might help reason out this mad situation, but
Sebastian has not been able to find him.

15. Notice that while Sebastian is interested in finding Antonio, it
is not because he misses him; rather Antonio’s advice would do
Sebastian golden service, that is, it would help him to pierce
the mystery of his situation and decide whether he should
marry Olivia.

16. Here is another distinguishing characteristic that differentiates
Viola from her brother. Where Viola is constantly giving of herself
for others, Sebastian seems a bit opportunistic. He readily accepts
pearls and kindness from Olivia. With Antonio, the man who saved
his life and took care of him for three months, Sebastian is
interested in seeing him only when Antonio can provide him a
“golden service”. He is either insensitive to Antonio’s feelings for
him or very naïve.

17. Sebastian reasons that Olivia must be sane. She could not hold
authority in her house if she were mad. And he has seen the
servants obey her commands, so she does hold authority.
Sebastian sums up the mad world of this play when he says,
“there’s something in’t that is deceivable.” He simply cannot
believe that love can be this easy.

18. We know that he is right; it is likely that Olivia would not have
fallen for Sebastian so easily had she not thought he was
Cesario. But the fact that Olivia chooses to stick by Sebastian,
even when she finds out that he is not who she first fell for,
reveals that part of Sebastian’s function is to provide a stark
contrast with other love plots.

19. The other plots in this play are, by contrast, so much ado about
nothing. The other characters (Orsino, Olivia, and Viola) have
made the notion of love so difficult that, by this point in the
play, Sebastian brings a certain refreshing quality in the ease
with which he finds love.

20. Olivia arrives with a priest. She apologizes for rushing the
marriage but she has a jealous mind and too many doubts to
find any peace until they have their full rites in the church.
Apparently, she either suspects that the person she thinks is
Cesario will change his mind, or fears that Cesario’s sudden
acceptance, after such protracted wooing and rejection, may be
a dream.