The essence of Twelfth Night

The world of Twelfth Night is one of comedy and comic excess, and among all of the characters in the play, it is the drunken, misbehaving and prankish Sir Toby Belch who epitomizes its humorous nature. The plot against Malvolio is, to an extent, a jocular undoing of a negative character, an authority figure without power intent upon silencing Sir Toby. The humor here is amplified by the degree to which Malvolio comes to see himself as Olivia's equal. Thus, in the phony letter he receives, Malvolio emphasizes the words, "Some are (born) great, some (achieve) greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em" (II, v.ll.144-145). No matter how he slices it, Malvolio comes to the opinion that he, a mere steward, is somehow great or deserves to become great by virtue of his pomposity. The audience is in on the joke from the start so that Malvolio's reading of the letter is entertaining in itself and magnifies the humor of his ultimate demise when Olivia's behavior makes it plain that Malvolio is not great, but deluded. In addition to the comic moments of mistaken identity that arise in the course of Twelfth Night, there are many funny bits in the play that stand on their own. In the first scene of Act III, the clown Feste is asked by Cesario if he is a musician who "lives by" playing the tabor. He replies that he "lives by the church." When the disguised Viola then asks "Are thou a churchman?" Feste answers: "No such matter sir. I do live by the church; for I do live at my house, and my house doth stand by a church" (III, I, ll.1-6). Along with Sir Toby, Andrew, and Maria, Feste is one of several characters in Twelfth Night who engages in comic wordplay, some of it on purpose and some of it unwittingly. After learning of Olivia's love for Cesario, the disguised Viola says to the countess at the end of Act III, scene ii:

I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth, And that no woman has, nor never none Shall mistress be of it, save I alone. And so adieu, good madam, never more Will I my master's tears to you deplore. (III, i., ll.158-162)