Twelfth Night (19 page)

Sir Andrew is leaving since Olivia shows “more favors to the count’s servingman” than she does to him. Fabian argues that Olivia intends to make him jealous and wake his “dormouse valour.” He claims Sir Andrew has missed an opportunity, and Sir Toby, keen for him to stay so he can continue to spend his money, suggests challenging Cesario to a duel. He instructs Sir Andrew to write a letter with “gall enough in thy ink,” emphasizing the difference between crafted words and reality. Maria calls them to have a look at Malvolio, who is obeying “every point of the letter.”

Antonio’s strong attachment to Sebastian becomes more apparent as he addresses him in potentially homoerotic terms, expressing his “desire” and “willing love,” furthering the play’s exploration of the possibilities and complexities of same-gender love hinted at in Orsino’s language to Cesario. Sebastian intends to explore Illyria but
Antonio cannot accompany him because of Orsino’s enmity. Instead, he gives Sebastian his purse and arranges to meet him later at an inn.

The fast pace of this scene emphasizes the confusion of the various deceptions that are under way.

Lines 1–76:
Olivia muses how best to woo Cesario, then asks Maria to fetch Malvolio—such a “sad and civil” person will suit her mood. Maria replies that he seems to have gone mad and “does nothing but smile” but goes to call him. Olivia observes that she herself is mad, again drawing a parallel between love and madness. There is dramatic irony in the exchange between Olivia and Malvolio as he quotes lines from the letter he believes is from her. Olivia thinks he must be mad indeed and suggests he goes to bed, which he takes to be an invitation. Cesario’s return is announced and Olivia leaves, instructing Maria to ask Sir Toby to look after Malvolio. Determined to read all events as evidence of Olivia’s love, Malvolio recalls that the letter instructed him to “be opposite with a kinsman” and decides that she has called for Sir Toby as a test.

Lines 77–175:
Sir Toby, Fabian, and Maria pretend to believe that Malvolio is mad and treat him accordingly until he exits in anger. They are delighted by the results of the plan and, in a moment of meta-theatrical awareness, Fabian declares that if he saw the scene “played upon a stage,” he would “condemn it as an improbable fiction.” Sir Toby decides they should lock Malvolio in a darkened room, a traditional treatment for madness. Sir Andrew arrives with his challenge to Cesario. Sir Toby reads it and Fabian pretends to approve while revealing the nonsensical nature of the letter and the foolishness of its writer. They encourage Sir Andrew to look for Cesario in the orchard. When he has gone, Sir Toby comments that the challenge will “breed no terror in the youth. He will find it comes from a clodpole,” so instead of delivering it he will act as a go-between, inciting them against each other.

Lines 176–248:
Olivia continues to woo Cesario/Viola, who displays a “heart of stone” and continues to plead for Orsino. When Olivia has gone, Sir Toby and Fabian accost Cesario and pretend that he has enraged Sir Andrew, who is waiting for him in the orchard, “bloody as the hunter.” Bewildered, Cesario claims that he has no quarrel with anyone, but they pretend that he must have done something to upset him, describing Sir Andrew’s fury and his history as “a devil in private brawl” who has killed three men. Alarmed, Cesario insists that he is no fighter and asks Sir Toby to speak to Sir Andrew on his behalf.

Lines 249–281:
Sir Toby now describes Cesario’s anger to Sir Andrew, who regrets challenging him. Sir Toby’s aside reveals the pleasure he takes in making a fool of Sir Andrew. Fabian brings Cesario, and Sir Toby assures the two “rivals” that the other insists on fighting but has promised not to draw blood.

Lines 282–369:
Antonio arrives and, mistaking Cesario for Sebastian, offers to fight on his behalf. Sir Toby draws his sword on Antonio but they are interrupted by the officers who arrest Antonio for his previous offenses against Orsino. Turning to Cesario, whom he takes to be Sebastian, he asks for his purse. Confused, Cesario denies all knowledge of it but offers Antonio half of his “coffer.” Antonio is heartbroken by his friend’s betrayal, claiming “Thou hast, good Sebastian, done good feature shame,” before being taken off to prison. Viola realizes that Sebastian may still be alive and rushes off to find him, followed by Sir Andrew who thinks that Cesario is running away from the duel.

Feste, believing Sebastian to be Cesario, is trying to get him to go to Olivia and becoming increasingly angry at Sebastian’s claims not to know him. Sir Andrew arrives and, mistaking Sebastian for Cesario, strikes him. Sebastian retaliates and he and Sir Toby draw upon each other as Olivia enters. She orders Sir Toby to “hold” and “be gone,” which he does, accompanied by Sir Andrew and Fabian. Olivia begs
“dear Cesario” to “Be not offended” and asks him to accompany her back to the house to be told of Sir Toby’s many faults and to learn to “smile at this.” Sebastian questions whether he is “mad” or whether it is “a dream”—both repeated images of love in the play—as he willingly submits to Olivia’s request.

Maria helps Feste to disguise himself as “Sir Topas the curate” and he asks “what is ‘that’ but ‘that’ and ‘is’ but ‘is’?”—an ironic question given that very little within the play “is” “that” which it seems to be. Sir Toby takes him to see Malvolio who is locked up. Malvolio begs the “priest” to believe he is not mad, but Feste toys cruelly with him: when Malvolio says that he is in “hideous darkness,” Feste tells him that he is in a room full of windows and must be mad. Sir Toby then tells Feste to speak to Malvolio as himself to see if the joke might be ended without trouble as he fears Olivia’s reaction. Feste then converses with Malvolio as himself and as “Sir Topas,” increasing the confusion of his identity. He agrees to bring light, ink, and paper so that Malvolio can write to Olivia.

Bewildered, Sebastian wonders whether he “Or else the lady’s mad,” as he contemplates Olivia’s love for him. He wonders where Antonio is as he would like to discuss the situation with him, but when Olivia arrives with a priest he agrees to marry her.

Lines 1–97:
Fabian wants to read Malvolio’s letter, but Feste refuses to let him. Orsino and Cesario ask for Olivia and Feste goes to fetch her. Antonio is brought in by the officers. Cesario tells Orsino that this is the man who rescued him from the duel and the officers explain that it is “that Antonio / That took the
Phoenix.”
Orsino asks what foolish boldness has brought a “Notable pirate” to Illyria. Antonio claims that he “never yet was thief or pirate” and explains that
he was drawn there by “witchcraft,” enchanted by Sebastian, whom he believes to be standing next to Orsino. He calls Cesario a “most ingrateful boy” and accuses him of “false cunning.” Orsino and Cesario are confused, explaining that Cesario has been in Illyria for the last three months.

Lines 98–152:
Olivia arrives and demands to speak to Cesario, believing that she has just married him in secret. Orsino tries to woo her but she flatly rejects his suit and refuses to listen to any more of his wooing, claiming that it is as “fat and fulsome” to her ear “As howling after music.” Stung, Orsino threatens to kill Cesario despite the fact that he, too, cares deeply for him. Cesario declares that he would die for Orsino because he loves him, at which point Olivia cries, “Cesario, husband, stay.” Cesario denies any knowledge of their “marriage.”

Lines 153–208:
The priest arrives and, believing Cesario to be Sebastian, confirms that he is married to Olivia. As Cesario protests, Sir Andrew arrives calling for a surgeon as “the count’s gentleman, one Cesario” has broken his head and “given Sir Toby a bloody coxcomb too.” Cesario denies this as well and Sir Toby arrives, very drunk. As Olivia orders Sir Toby and Sir Andrew to be removed, Sebastian appears.

Lines 209–314:
Sebastian, not seeing Viola, apologizes to Olivia for injuring her kinsman. Everyone is astonished by the likeness between Cesario and the newcomer, who is delighted to see Antonio. Finally, Sebastian notices Cesario and, astounded by their likeness, demands to know his name and parentage. After mutual questioning, Viola reveals her true identity and Sebastian points out that Olivia “would have been contracted to a maid.” Orsino reminds Viola of the number of times she has said that she loves him and asks to see her in her “woman’s weeds,” which are with the Captain, whom Malvolio has had arrested. Olivia still believes Malvolio to be mad but Fabian reads his letter and Orsino comments that it “savours not much of distraction.” Olivia sends Fabian to fetch Malvolio.

Lines 315–411:
Olivia and Orsino make peace and she offers to host the double wedding celebration at her house. He agrees and releases
his “page” from service, saying that she is to become instead her “master’s mistress,” which reinforces the gender confusions of the play, particularly as he continues to call her “Cesario.” Fabian brings Malvolio, who shows Olivia the letter and asks why she has treated him so badly. Olivia recognizes the writing as Maria’s and Fabian confesses to the plot and explains the reasons behind it, adding that Sir Toby has married Maria as a reward for her wit. Malvolio swears to be revenged “on the whole pack of you,” and although Orsino tells Fabian to entreat him to peace, this strikes a discordant note, as does the impossibility of a conclusion to Antonio’s love for Sebastian, forgotten as everyone leaves for the “solemn combination” of their “dear souls,” a symbol of the restored order. The play concludes with a wistful song from Feste.

The best way to understand a Shakespeare play is to see it or ideally to participate in it. By examining a range of productions, we may gain a sense of the extraordinary variety of approaches and interpretations that are possible—a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made “our contemporary” four centuries after his death.

We begin with a brief overview of the play’s theatrical and cinematic life, offering historical perspectives on how it has been performed. We then analyze in more detail a series of productions staged over the last half-century by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The sense of dialogue between productions that can only occur when a company is dedicated to the revival and investigation of the Shakespeare canon over a long period, together with the uniquely comprehensive archival resource of promptbooks, program notes, reviews, and interviews held on behalf of the RSC at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, allows an “RSC stage history” to become a crucible in which the chemistry of the play can be explored.

Finally, we go to the horse’s mouth. Modern theater is dominated by the figure of the director, who must hold together the whole play, whereas the actor must concentrate on his or her part. The director’s viewpoint is therefore especially valuable. Shakespeare’s plasticity is wonderfully revealed when we hear directors of highly successful productions answering the same questions in very different ways.

The first recorded performance of
Twelfth Night
was at London’s Middle Temple on 2 February (Candlemas) 1602. The student barrister John Manningham noted:

Despite Manningham’s confusion over details, the play was certainly Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night
performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s (later King’s) Men, probably with Shakespeare himself among the cast. It is generally assumed that Robert Armin, the company clown known for his singing and musical abilities, would have played Feste, with the notoriously thin John Sincklo as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

The play was probably written in 1601; it has been suggested that it may have been written for and first performed at court on Twelfth Night (6 January) 1601 before Elizabeth I and her guest, Virginio Orsino, Duke of Bracciano.
²
It was later performed before James I on Easter Monday 1618 and again at Candlemas in 1623, when it was simply called
Malvolio
. Charles I wrote this alternative title in his own Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays. The character’s popularity is attested in Leonard Digges’ 1640 commendatory verse to the first edition of Shakespeare’s collected poems:

After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the reopening of the theaters, which were closed during the civil war and Interregnum (1642–60), Shakespeare’s plays were divided up between the two licensed companies. Major innovations in performance style were introduced with movable scenery, creating a more visual, illusionist theater, and the presence of women onstage.
Twelfth Night
was assigned to William d’Avenant’s Duke of York’s Men. Shakespeare’s
comedies did not suit the taste of the new age though. Samuel Pepys saw three productions of
Twelfth Night
between 1661 and 1669, none of which he enjoyed, even though the leading actor of the age, Thomas Betterton, played Sir Toby Belch. Indeed, Pepys thought it “one of the weakest plays that ever I saw on the stage.”
⁴
In 1703 William Burnaby produced
Love Betray’d, or, The Agreeable Disappointment
, an adaptation which retained only around sixty of Shakespeare’s lines but failed in its attempt to update the play to suit contemporary tastes. “More radical transformations, such as William Wycherley’s
The Plain Dealer
or Pierre Marivaux’s
The False Servant
,” which used Shakespeare’s play as source material, were more successful.
⁵