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Scene I

Olivia's garden.

[Enter Viola, and Clown with a tabor.]

VIOLA:

Save thee, friend, and thy music: dost thou live by thy
tabour?

CLOWN:

No, sir, I live by the church.

VIOLA:

Art thou a churchman?

CLOWN:

No such matter, sir: I do live by the church; for I do live(5)
at my house, and my house doth stand by the church.

VIOLA:

So thou mayst say, the king lies by a beggar, if a beggar
dwell near him; or the church stands by thy tabour, if thy
tabor stand by the church.

CLOWN:

You have said, sir. To see this age! A sentence is but a(10)
cheveril glove to a good wit: how quickly the wrong side
may be turned outward!

VIOLA:

Nay, that's certain; they that dally nicely with words may
quickly make them wanton.

CLOWN:

I would, therefore, my sister had had no name, sir.(15)

VIOLA:

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 disgraced them.

VIOLA:

Thy reason, man?(20)

CLOWN:

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 carest for
nothing.(25)

CLOWN:

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.

VIOLA:

Art not thou the Lady Olivia's fool?

CLOWN:

No, indeed, sir; the Lady Olivia has no folly: she will(30)
keep no fool, sir, till she be married; and fools are as
like husbands as pilchards are to herrings, the husband's
the bigger: I am indeed not her fool, but her corrupter
of words.

VIOLA:

I saw thee late at the Count Orsino's.(35)

CLOWN:

Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb 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: I
think I saw your wisdom there.

VIOLA:

Nay, an thou pass upon me, I'll no more with thee.(40)
Hold, there's expenses for thee.

CLOWN:

Now Jove, in his next commodity of hair, send thee
a beard!

VIOLA:

By my troth, I'll tell thee, I am almost sick for one;

[Aside]

though I would not have it grow on my chin.(45)

[to Clown]

Is thy lady within?

CLOWN:

Would not a pair of these have bred, sir?

VIOLA:

Yes, being kept together and put to use.

CLOWN:

I would play Lord Pandarus of Phrygia, sir, to bring
a Cressida to this Troilus.(50)

VIOLA:

I understand you, sir; 'tis well begged.

CLOWN:

The matter, I hope, is not great, sir, begging but a
beggar: Cressida was a beggar. My lady is within, sir. I
will construe to them whence you come; who you are
and what you would are out of my welkin, I might say(55)
‘element,’ but the word is over-worn.

[Exit.]

VIOLA:

This fellow's 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 of persons, and the time,(60)
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows, is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.(65)

[Enter Sir Toby and Sir Andrew.]

SIR TOBY:

Save you, gentleman.

VIOLA:

And you, sir.

SIR ANDREW:

Dieu vous garde, monsieur.

VIOLA:

Et vous aussi; votre serviteur.

SIR ANDREW:

I hope, sir, you are; and I am yours.(70)

SIR TOBY:

Will you encounter the house? my niece is desirous
you should enter, if your trade be to her.

VIOLA:

I am bound to your niece, sir; I mean, she is the list
of my voyage.

SIR TOBY:

Taste your legs, sir; put them to motion.(75)

VIOLA:

My legs do better understand 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. But we are
prevented.(80)

[Enter Olivia and Maria.]

Most excellent accomplished lady, the heavens rain odours
on you!

SIR ANDREW:

That youth's a rare courtier: ‘Rain odours’—well.

VIOLA:

My matter hath no voice, lady, but to your own most
pregnant and vouchsafed ear.(85)

SIR ANDREW:

‘Odours,’ ‘pregnant,’ and ‘vouchsafed’—I'll get 'em
all three ready.

OLIVIA:

Let the garden door be shut, and leave me to my
hearing.

[Exeunt Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria.]

Give me your hand, sir.(90)

VIOLA:

My duty, madam, and most humble service.

OLIVIA:

What is your name?

VIOLA:

Cesario is your servant's name, fair princess.

OLIVIA:

My servant, sir? 'Twas never merry world,
Since lowly feigning was call'd compliment:(95)
You're 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,
Would they were blanks rather than fill'd with me!(100)

VIOLA:

Madam, I come to whet your gentle thoughts
On his behalf.

OLIVIA:

O, by your leave, I pray you:
I bade you never speak again of him:
But, would you undertake another suit,(105)
I had rather hear you to solicit that
Than music from the spheres.

VIOLA:

Dear lady,—

OLIVIA:

Give me leave, beseech you. I did send,
After the last enchantment you did here,(110)
A ring in chase of you: so did I abuse
Myself, my servant and, I fear me, you:
Under your hard construction must I sit,
To force that on you, in a shameful cunning,
Which you knew none of yours: what might you(115)
think?
Have you not set mine honour at the stake,
And baited it with all the unmuzzled thoughts
That tyrannous heart can think? To one of your
receiving (120)
Enough is shown: a cypress, not a bosom,
Hides my heart: so let me hear you speak.

• small drum
• God save you
• make a living by
• Viola is continuing the wordplay that Feste started. While Feste was punning on the phrase to live by, Viola puns on the phrases to lie by and to stand by.
• this time period
• soft type of leather
• how quickly words can be turned inside out
• play artfully
• lewd
• I wish, then
• Feste is lamenting the fact that formal contracts (or bonds) are now used in place of verbal agreements. A person's word does not mean as much as it once did.
• unwilling
• I attest; I pledge
• have no worries
• small, herring-like fish
• recently
• the Earth
• yourself, wise one
• if you drive at me with your jokes
• I'll speak no more with you.
• Take this
• shipment
• Might two of these coins have reproduced?
• “I would play…to this Troilus.” – Troilus and Cressida were legendary lovers who were brought together by Cressida's uncle Pandarus, from whom we get the verb to pander. Feste is essentially saying that he would like to be Pandarus so that he could bring a female coin to the male coin.
• In later versions of the story of Troilus and Cressida, she contracts leprosy and dies as a beggar.
• to interpret
• “like the untrained hawk stops in mid-pursuit to go after another prey…”
• who have fallen into folly
• Notice how Shakespeare changes from prose to verse and back again throughout the text. In many instances, language and the style of speaking (prose and verse) are directly correlated with a character's social ranking. Nobility and aristocracy will typically speak in verse, whereas servants and members of the lower classes will speak in prose.
  The fact that Viola is an aristocrat disguised as a servant explains why she will, sometimes suddenly, switch from speaking in prose to verse. In this specific instance, Viola is coming out of character (from Cesario) after the clown exits, which explains her use of verse here, rather than prose. Later, however, pay attention to this fact when Viola is speaking to Olivia as Cesario.
• God save you
• [French] May
• [French] And you too, sir; I am your servant.
• go into
• eager
• business
• bound for
• goal
• Try
• an aristocrat
• cannot be told to anyone
• expert, clever
• It seems that Sir Andrew is impressed with Viola's words and is trying to commit them to memory so that he can use them later himself.
• “The world isn't what it used to be. It's a sad state of affairs when a lowly pretense of humility passes for a compliment.”
• his servant must necessarily be yours
• to stimulate or awaken; sharpen
• courtship
• It was believed that the universe was made up of a series of concentric crystal spheres, with the Earth at the center, and that the motion of these spheres created a beautiful sound that human beings were incapable of hearing.
• After the last time you charmed me
• after you
• interpretation
• Which you knew was not yours (meaning the ring)
• unrestrained
• capacity to understand; intelligence
• Olivia is telling Cesario that her heart is shrouded with grief. Recall from Act II, Scene IV that the cypress tree is a symbol of mourning. The heart lies within the bosom, but it can also refer to the folds in a woman's clothing that cover the chest.

1. Strategies for Understanding Shakespeare's Language
2. Reading Pointers for Sharper Insights
3. Dramatis Personæ
4. Act I
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
   4. Scene IV
   5. Scene V
5. Act II
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
   4. Scene IV
   5. Scene V
6. Act III
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
   4. Scene IV
7. Act IV
   1. Scene I
   2. Scene II
   3. Scene III
8. Act V
   1. Scene I
9. Copyright

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