Twelfth Night - A commentary on the end of Act V Scene 1

Explore the significance of this extract in relation to the comedy of the play as a whole. Include relevant analysis of Shakespeare’s dramatic methods.

This extract from the end of Act Five Scene One effectively demonstrates how, in Shakespeare’s world of romantic comedy, the elaborate sophistication and wit of courtly life is never far removed from the more commonplace realm of everyday concerns, with its more realistic humour. With the dramatic entrance of the misanthropic 'madman', Malvolio, we return to this everyday world which also has its playful light-heartedness and wit. Significantly, the comedy from this world can also be barbed and bitter. However, the audience will recognize that life is a mixture of the sweet and the bitter and, if the character of Malvolio contrasts with the comic spirit of the play as a whole, it is because his no-nonsense, puritanical attitude to life cannot exist without the "cakes and ale" or ordinary pleasures that we all like to indulge in.

The bitter-sweet nature of comedy as well as the righting of the ‘wrongs’, both directed towards and perpetrated by Malvolio, are enfolded with consummate skill in this passage. Malvolio instantly upbraids Olivia for the “notorious wrong” that has been inflicted on him. This reminds the audience of the language of injury uttered by Malvolio from his prison cell in Act Four Scene Two and it also echoes the slights against Olivia, Orsino and Antonio in the first half of Act Five Scene 1. In the prison, Malvolio had been placed “in hideous darkness” and there may be some people in the audience who might sympathize with his assertion that “never was man thus wronged”. There are elements of cruelty in the comedy. Fabian appears as an appeaser in this scene, who wishes neither “quarrel nor…brawl” to “Taint the condition of this present hour”. He contends that the “sportful malice” was carried out merely to “pluck on” or provoke laughter rather than revenge. In claiming thus to be justified in their plot to humiliate Malvolio, there is a case for arguing that Fabian and all the plotters are being ingenuous; surely revenge involves circumstances which are dark and serious and not generally something to be laughed off in this manner. However, we have only to consider Feste’s mimicking of Malvolio’s dismissive comment: “Madam, why laugh at such a barren rascal; an’ you smile not, he’s gagged”, referring to an altercation between the two of them in Act One Scene Five, to determine that there is ample justification for the way Malvolio has been treated. Malvolio himself is clearly capable of being cruel and abusive. Therefore, Fabian has every justification for concluding that the injuries are “justly weigh’d/That have on both sides pass’d”.

There is no doubt that this desire for retribution is a result of the plotters’ attempts to thwart Malvolio’s ambition to rise above himself and enter the aristocratic world of his mistress. In the extract he speaks in blank verse for the first time in the play, confirming his social pretensions. Even before he is duped by Maria’s forged letter in Act Two Scene Five, the “overweening rogue” (in Sir Toby’s words) is dreaming about the pleasures and powers that he would have if he were married to Olivia. He imagines himself a count, “in my branched velvet gown”, summoning Sir Toby, bidding him “amend [his] drunkenness” and scolding him for fritting away his time with Sir Andrew. He is clearly disdainful of “the lighter people” and wishes to gain power over them by climbing above them socially. He demonstrates clearly in his asides before picking up the forged letter that he holds a number of grudges and is evidently pretentious. It is little wonder, therefore, that the hilarious trick is hatched to deflate his overweening egotism and reaffirm the established power structure of the household, where servants know their place. Thus the status quo in Illyria which existed at the beginning of the play is preserved, although, of course, this does not occur without a considerable amount of criticism of that social order.

The character who is placed most felicitously to perform this role of commentator and critic is Feste. Although he is often treated like a common servant, Shakespeare endows him with a superior intelligence and mastery with words that allows him to rise above his social status and point out the folly of others around him. Foolishness as well as madness feature prominently throughout the play. In this extract, Olivia exclaims, “Alas, poor fool, how they have baffled thee!”, referring to Malvolio. However, it takes the true jester and alchemist with words, Feste, to truly characterize Malvolio. During his speech in the extract, he not only mimics Malvolio’s insult from Act One Scene Five, but also reminds us of the imprisoned Malvolio’s desperate assertion, “By the Lord, fool, I am not mad” from the ‘prison scene’ of Act Four Scene Two. The scene is a skillfully realized blend of low broad humour and elaborate wisdom. At the end of a pseudo sermon during which Feste/Sir Topas weaves Latin phrases with bogus academic nonsense, Malvolio is condemned to “remain…in darkness”. Significantly, Malvolio was in the darkness of prison because it reflected his ignorance. Shakespeare is here allowing Feste to step outside the comedy, in order to make a serious philosophical point and to remind Feste that the world can be a serious place. Even when released, as he is in this scene, it might be said that he is still in a mental prison because he is completely unforgiving, lacks self-knowledge and has a false idea of himself.

As there is very little development in the character of Malvolio, it can be assumed that, if there is any lingering sympathy for him at the beginning of the extract, it probably disappears with his vindictive valedictory line, “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you”. But even after his berating of the whole household, the tender-hearted Olivia does accept that, “He hath been most notoriously abused”. However, in Scene Five of the first act, she clearly took the clown’s side during an exchange with Malvolio, when the latter, in an attempt to disparage the Fool, was conspicuously defeated by Feste’s superior wit. Feste’s success here in his verbal duel with the humourless steward in important in the development of the plot, as it encourages the audience - with a delightful feeling of schadenfreude - to be favourably disposed to the conspirators as they plot against Malvolio.

Immediately following Olivia’s compassionate statement at the end of the extract, Orsino is quick to restore harmony: “Pursue him, and entreat him to a peace”. Although this is benevolent and considerate of the Duke, he also has an underlying motive – for Malvolio’s co-operation is required to release the sea captain, who is in possession of Viola’s original clothes. Although evidently a plot device, it will not escape the audience’s notice that there is a glaring irony in the imprisoning of the sea captain by Malvolio, which reduces our sympathy for sympathy for him even more.

We have, therefore, in this passage, been treated to a range of comedy – glorious wit, caustic and bitter humour, schadenfreude and mocking irony. Although Malvolio is isolated and excluded from the gaiety and harmony of the final festivities, there is justice in the way he has been treated, which restores harmony to the play. With the unmasking of the plotters, many of the final unresolved issues are brought to light. Shakespeare reminds us in both the bitter exit of austere and hypocritical steward and by the sweetness of the imminent nuptials that we should not forget that life is a mixture of gaiety and seriousness. It is fitting that, a short while after this extract, Feste should regale us with a reminder that “the rain…raineth every day”, implying that in all our various social spheres, we are exposed to the elements equally. We will be affected by “the wind and the rain”, which may blow us towards happiness or drench us in bitterness.