Twelfth Night | Act III, Scene IV

Scene IV

Olivia's garden.

[Enter Olivia and Maria.]

OLIVIA:

[Aside]

I have sent after him: he says he'll come;
How shall I feast him? what bestow on him?
For youth is bought more oft than begg'd or borrow'd.
I speak too loud.

[To Maria.]

Where's Malvolio? he is sad and civil,(5)
And suits well for a servant with my fortunes:
Where is Malvolio?
MARIA:
He's coming, madam; but in very strange manner. He is,
sure possessed, madam.
OLIVIA:
Why, what's the matter? does he rave?(10)
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 in his wits.
OLIVIA:
Go call him hither. [Exit Maria.] I'm as mad as he,
If sad and merry madness equal be.(15)

[Enter Malvolio, with Maria.]

How now, Malvolio?
MALVOLIO:
Sweet lady, ho, ho.
OLIVIA:
Smil'st thou? I sent for thee upon a sad occasion.
MALVOLIO:
Sad, lady? I could be sad: this does make some
obstruction in the blood, this cross-gartering; but what of(20)
that? If it please the eye of one, it is with me as the very true
sonnet is, ‘Please one and please all.’
OLIVIA:
Why, how dost thou, man? what is the matter with
thee?
MALVOLIO:
Not black in my mind, though yellow in my legs. It(25)
did come to his hands, and commands shall be executed: I
think we do know the sweet Roman hand.
OLIVIA:
Wilt thou go to bed, Malvolio?
MALVOLIO:
To bed? ‘Ay, sweetheart, and I'll come to thee.’
OLIVIA:
God comfort thee! Why dost thou smile so, and kiss thy(30)
hand so oft?
MARIA:
How do you, Malvolio?
MALVOLIO:
At your request? yes; nightingales answer daws.
MARIA:
Why appear you with this ridiculous boldness before(35)
my lady?
MALVOLIO:
‘Be not afraid of greatness:’ 'twas well writ.
OLIVIA:
What meanest thou by that, Malvolio?
MALVOLIO:
‘Some are born great,’—
OLIVIA:
Ha?(40)
MALVOLIO:
‘Some achieve greatness,’—
OLIVIA:
What say'st thou?
MALVOLIO:
‘And some have greatness thrust upon them.’
OLIVIA:
Heaven restore thee!
MALVOLIO:
‘Remember who commended thy yellow(45)
stockings,’—
OLIVIA:
‘Thy yellow stockings’?
MALVOLIO:
‘And wished to see thee cross-gartered.’
OLIVIA:
‘Cross-gartered’?
MALVOLIO:
‘Go to, thou an made, if thou desirest to be so:’—(50)
OLIVIA:
Am I made?
MALVOLIO:
‘If not, let me see thee a servant still.’
OLIVIA:
Why, this is very midsummer madness.

[Enter Servant.]

SERVANT:
Madam, the young gentleman of the Count Orsino's
is returned: I could hardly entreat him back: he attends(55)
your ladyship's pleasure.
OLIVIA:
I'll come to him.

[Exit Servant.]

Good Maria, let this fellow be looked to. Where's my
cousin Toby? Let some of my people have a special care
of him: I would not have him miscarry for the half of my(60)
dowry.

[Exeunt Olivia and Maria.]

MALVOLIO:
O, ho! do you come near me now? No worse man
than Sir Toby to look to me! This concurs directly with
the letter: she sends him on purpose, that I may appear
stubborn to him; for she incites me to that in the letter.(65)
‘Cast thy humble slough,’ says she; ‘be opposite with a
kinsman, surly with servants; let thy tongue tang with
arguments of state; put thyself into the trick of singularity';
and consequently sets down the manner how; as, a
sad face, a reverend carriage, a slow tongue, in the habit(70)
of some sir of note, and so forth. I have limed her;
but it is Jove's doing, and Jove make me thankful! And,
when she went away now, ‘Let this fellow be looked to’:
Fellow! not Malvolio, nor after my degree, but fellow. Why,
everything adheres together, that no dram of a scruple, no(75)
scruple of a scruple, no obstacle, no incredulous or unsafe
circumstance—What can be said? Nothing that can be, can
come between me and the full prospect of my hopes. Well,
Jove, not I, is the doer of this, and he is to be thanked.

[Re-enter Maria, with Sir Toby and Fabian.]

SIR TOBY:
Which way is he, in the name of sanctity? If all the(80)
devils of hell be drawn in little, and Legion himself possessed
him, yet I'll speak to him.
FABIAN:
Here he is, here he is. How is't with you, sir? how is't
with you, man?
MALVOLIO:
Go off; I discard you: let me enjoy my private. Go(85)
off.
MARIA:
Lo, how hollow the fiend speaks within him! did not I
tell you? Sir Toby, my lady prays you to have a care of him.
MALVOLIO:
Ah, ha! does she so?
SIR TOBY:
Go to, go to; peace, peace; we must deal gently with(90)
him: let me alone. 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:
La you, an you speak ill of the devil, how he takes it at(95)
heart! Pray God, he be not bewitched!
FABIAN:
Carry his water to the wise woman.
MARIA:
Marry, and it shall be done tomorrow morning, if I live.
My lady would not lose him for more than I'll say.
MALVOLIO:
How now, mistress!(100)
MARIA:
O Lord!
SIR TOBY:
Prithee, hold thy peace; this is not the way: do you not
see you move him? let me alone with him.
FABIAN:
No way but gentleness; gently, gently: the fiend is rough,
and will not be roughly used.(105)
SIR TOBY:
Why, how now, my bawcock? how dost thou,
chuck.
MALVOLIO:
Sir!
SIR TOBY:
Ay, Biddy, come with me. What, man! 'tis not for
gravity to play at cherry-pit with Satan: hang him, foul(110)
collier!
MARIA:
Get him to say his prayers, good Sir Toby, get him to
pray.
MALVOLIO:
My prayers, minx!
MARIA:
No, I warrant you, he will not hear of godliness.(115)
MALVOLIO:
Go, hang yourselves all! you are idle shallow
things: I am not of your element. You shall know more
hereafter.

[Exit.]

SIR TOBY:
Is't possible?
FABIAN:
If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn(120)
it as an improbable fiction.
SIR TOBY:
His very genius hath taken the infection of the
device, man.
MARIA:
Nay, pursue him now; lest the device take air and(125)
taint.
FABIAN:
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.
My niece is already in the belief that he's mad; we may
carry it thus, for our pleasure and his penance, till our(130)
very pastime, tired out of breath, prompt us to have
mercy on him: at which time we will bring the device to
the bar, and crown thee for a finder of madmen. But
see, but see.

[Enter Sir Andrew.]

FABIAN:
More matter for a May morning.(135)
SIR ANDREW:
Here's the challenge, read it. I warrant there's
vinegar and pepper in't.
FABIAN:
Is't so saucy?
SIR ANDREW:
Ay, is't, I warrant him: do but read.
SIR TOBY:
Give me. [Reads]‘Youth, whatsoever thou(140)
art, thou art but a scurvy fellow.’
  • entertain
  • What should I give him?
  • Olivia is admitting how desperate her infatuation with Cesario is. She is willing to buy his love with gifts if she cannot earn it the usual way.
  • to rant; talk deliriously
  • flawed in his mental capacities
  • circulation
  • both a popular saying at the time and the words to a particular folk ballad of the time period
  • sad, mourning
  • Malvolio is referring to Olivia's writing. Two types of handwriting were used during the time period, the more elegant of which was the Roman style, which is similar to the handwriting we use today.
  • Malvolio is insulting Maria by stating that he is superior to her. He compares himself to the beautiful nightingale and Maria to the daw (or jackdaw), which is a crow-like bird. After questioning Maria's boldness in speaking to him, he decides that, because the superior nightingale answers the inferior daw, then it must be all right for him to answer Maria.
  • Heaven help you!
  • It was believed at the time that the midsummer months produced insanity.
  • looked after; cared for
  • be harmed
  • property
  • agrees
  • provokes, rouses
  • a respectable manner
  • in the clothing of a gentleman
  • Malvolio means that he has captured Olivia. Birdlime (or lime) was a sticky substance that was smeared on branches to trap birds.
  • position
  • sticks to, holds tightly
  • a unit of measurement; small amount
  • an expectation
  • holiness
  • the name Legion refers to a powerful demon, representing many demons, mentioned in the New Testament, Mark 5:9.
  • privacy
  • deep and low
  • Look you!
  • “Bring his urine to the wise woman.” It was believed that certain “wise women” were able to diagnose and heal people who were cursed or possessed by demons.
  • would not want to lose him
  • agitate
  • treated
  • good fellow
  • chick (an endearing term)
  • Chicken
  • “Satan should not be playing ‘cherry-pit’ with such a dignified person as Malvolio. Damn the devil, that wicked coal peddler!” The term, foul collier applies to a person who has been turned black by working with coal, and it also refers to the devil, who is usually pictured as being dark-colored. “Cherry-pit” was a children's game in which the players tried to throw cherry pits into a small hole.
  • reckless woman
  • I am not like you
  • spirit
  • scheme
  • become exposed and get ruined
  • a common treatment for insanity during Shakespeare's time
  • keep it going like this
  • an act of self-punishment
  • amusement
  • the courtroom
  • it's filled with bold words
  • pungent
  • assure
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