| Ay, sir; I have them at my fingers’ ends: marry, now I let go of your hand, I am barren | -Act 1 scene 3-to Sir Andrew-end of a section with sexual banter and bawdy humour-double entendree with ‘barren’; reference to Andrew’s impotence, of jokes-Maria is always ready to make a joke; ‘what you will’ attitude of play |
| Peace, you rogue, no more o’ that | -Act 1 scene 5-to Feste, who has just insulted Sir Toby-could be referencing her affections for Toby; protective of his name-could also be protecting her lady’s name |
| Go shake your ears | -Act 2 scene 3-after Malvolio has left, to him-proverbial-reflects theme of role reversal; mistress of a lady is insulting her lady’s steward (i.e. someone of higher social ranking) |
| For Monseiur Malvolio, let me alone with him | -Act 2 scene 3-vocative is mocking Malvolio’s self-importance-introduces the ‘yellow stocking plot’; plotting is an archetypal Shakespearean plot device – not usually executed by a servant! reflects theme of role reversal |
| it is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him; and on that vice in him will my revenge find notable cause to work | -Act 2 scene 3-about Malvolio-presents M as pretentious and gives audience more reason to dislike him – further establishing schadenfreud against him-the plan to prey on Malvolio’s insecurities is quite darkly comic (audience reactions) |
| I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of love … I can write very like my lady your niece | -Act 2 scene 3-about Malvolio-theme of disguise-forgery was punishable by law – introducing theme of transgression-the letter prank parallels and mocks the carefully scripted love letters than Orsino sends to Olivia via Cesario (“it is excellently well penned”, “’tis poetical” 1,5) |
| ‘Ass’ I doubt not | -Act 2 scene 3-in response to Andrew’s “And your horse now would make him an ass”-punning on homonym of ‘as’ and ‘ass’ – as i do not doubt / an ass, certainly-subtly insulting Andrew ‘(you) ass, i doubt not’-her character is sort of mean, even to those she is around a lot |
| He has been yonder i’the sun practising behaviour to his own shadow this half hour | -Act 2 scene 5-to Toby, Andrew, Fabian; about Malvolio-further indication of Malvolio’s “self-love” (1,5)-subtle mockery of upper classes and their workforce; if there is nothing for a steward to do, he shall talk to himself and daydream – does anyone work in this world at all?-theme of role reversal; day dreaming is not a Puritan way to pass time – even the ‘comic villain’ fits the theme of role reversal-possibly even disguise -M doesn’t know anyone is watching him; disguising himself to not care at all but when alone, dreams of climbing the social ladder |
| here comes the trout that must be caught with tickling | -Act 2 scene 5-Maria changes the animal metaphor from bears (“To anger him we’ll have the bear again”) to fish-trout tickling works because the trout goes into a trance and can then be thrown onto dry land – they will trance Malvolio with dreams of the future and then suffocate him of any hope of it coming true-‘must’ modal verb suggests the only way to fool Malvolio is to entrance him with unrealistic ideas of his future, revealing Malvolio’s character to be easily gullible (?) |
| if you desire the spleen, and will laugh yourselves into stitches, follow me | -Act 3 scene 2-to Toby and Fabian, about Malvolio’s state-motivation for tricking him; cruel and unjust-suggestion that they would stop after they’ve had their laugh at him – this doesn’t happen (because of his reaction? “i am not of your element”?) |
| Most villainously: like a pedant that keeps the school i’th’ church | -Act 3 scene 2-answering Toby “and cross-gartered?”-the allusion confirms Malvolio’s fashion is very outdated – he wouldn’t know this as a Puritan; cruel joke-ironic that she would describe his style as villainous – their prank is somewhat evil |
| I know my lady will strike him: if she do, he’ll smile and take’t for a great favour | -Act 3 scene 2-about Malvolio-highly unlikely that Olivia would strike Malvolio, but this allows Maria to pun on ‘favour’, which means three things: act of kindness, token of love, or sexual concession-her confidence in knowing Olivia will hit him suggests their relationship isn’t very deep at all and she serves merely her role – this contrasts with the relationship between Orsino and Cesario |
| He is sure possessed, madam | -Act 3 scene 4-to Olivia, about Malvolio-very serious accusation in contemporary times; demonic possession wasn’t taken lightly – reflects topsy turvy nature of play and festival; link to “how hollow the fiend speaks within him”-Maria would know the repercussions for someone possessed; she is being cruel to both Malvolio (cost him his life, possibly) and Olivia (her brother has just died and she is now the matriarch of her household – doubt she wants to be dealing with demonic possession)-unless she is aware that Olivia won’t take serious action against Malvolio, because he “suits well for a servant of [Olivia’s] needs” i.e. she can’t afford to let him go |
| the man is tainted in ‘s wits | -Act 3 scene 4-to Olivia, about Malvolio-schadenfreud humour-Shakespeare wrote a lot about mental illnesses – Macbeth “full o’ scorpions is my mind”; the ‘to be or not to be’ speech in Hamlet sees Hamlet contemplate his life; King Lear’s descent into madness – but it was mostly in tragedies; in 12N Shakespeare uses mental illness as a comedic device and asks the audience not to sympathise |
| Lo, how hollow the fiend speaks within him | -Act 3 scene 4-dramatic irony-‘fiend’ is synonymous with ‘devil’ – he has been demonised by Maria and Toby; they are the fiends here-continuation of mockery, even after they have had their main chuckle – verging on cruelty for the kindest of elizabethan audience |
| get him to say his prayers, good Sir Toby, get him to pray | -Act 3 scene 4-mockery of religion-vocative ‘good’ ironic – Toby as a volatile and cruel character, nothing he has done has been ‘good’ |
| you may have very fit occasion for’t; he is now in some commerce with my lady, and will by and by depart | -Act 3 scene 4-implication here that Maria’s role in the gang is not just the brains, but the undercover spy, as it were-subverting the role of a lady’s maid by conferring with those that disrupt her lady’s well-being (“Will it ever be thus”? 4,1) and acting in a way that is sure to upset her lady (“What is the matter with thee?” 3,4) |
| I prithee, put on this gown and this beard: make him believe thou art Sir Topas the curate; do it quickly | -Act 4 scene 2-to Feste, about Malvolio-foregrounded use of disguise is a key comedic technique, extending schadenfreud – using the licensed fool to perpetuate this (letting him show off his acting skills)-theme of disguise – link to Viola’s use of clothing (“he went still in this fashion, colour, ornament, for him I imitate” 3,4)-Maria is a direct tormentor of Malvolio, always devising new ways to inflict suffering on him-‘topaz’ is a rock with a tendency to fracture easily – implication that Feste’s disguise isn’t a very good one, indeed his supposed priest’s opinion of Pythagoras was false-topaz is also a rock that cured lunacy, according to English superstition – would Malvolio make this connection? |
Twelfth Night key quotes – Maria
July 3, 2019