Orsino’s servant interrupts the Duke’s imaginative musings. The servant, appropriately named Valentine, has just returned from the estate of the Countess Olivia. Valentine had gone there to deliver the Duke’s message of love to the Countess. But Countess Olivia refused to see him. In fact, she refuses to see anybody for the next seven years:
The element itself till seven years’ heat Shall not behold her face at ample view.
(25-26)
The word element refers to the sky. The Countess Olivia refuses to go outside without wearing a veil for the next seven years. She intends to keep her face covered because she is in mourning over the death of her brother. So great are her feelings of sadness that she plans to express her feelings in daily tears (“eye- offending brine”).
Although Countess Olivia is described as being warm-hearted and sensitive, the careful reader should also note that she is as mad as Orsino. Mourning the loss of a loved one is natural, but pledging to mourn for seven years is excessive and obsessive. Olivia is now a young woman of marriageable age and is in the full bloom of her beauty. If she persists in mourning for seven years and in refusing to see men in all of that time, she will be squandering her youth and beauty. In seven years time she will no longer be so young (especially given Renaissance standards). Although the life of her brother had been important to her, Olivia needs to realize that she should not give up her own life because of him. Her life is also important.
Thus, in both the characters of Orsino and Olivia, Shakespeare reveals the conflict of Reason vs. Emotion. In cases where the emotion is extremely intense, reason loses the conflict. It does not matter whether the emotion is love (as in Orsino’s case) or sadness (as in Olivia’s case) or any other emotion. The person experiencing the excessive emotion will become irrational, obsessive, and mad.
When Orsino hears about Olivia’s refusal to see him or anyone else, the irrational but hopeful Duke interprets the news in a positive manner (beginning at line 32). Orsino explains that if Olivia has this much devotion and love for her brother, then, when she finds a man to become her husband, she will be even more devoted and loving. Orsino firmly thinks, or hopes, that Cupid’s arrow of love (“the rich golden shaft”: line 34) will cause Olivia to push away all other emotions and think only about the man in her life. Of course, Orsino already feels the effect of such an arrow on himself. He can only think about Olivia, and he hopes that soon Olivia will only think about him.
A curious line in this passage is the one where Orsino expresses that the affections or emotions reside in the “liver, brain, and heart” (line 36). Although today people commonly suggest that emotions are connected to the heart, during the Renaissance the view was more complicated. Thoughts (including thoughts of love) come from the brain, feelings (like love) come from the heart, but passions or intense emotions come from the liver. Shakespeare, through the character of Orsino, thus expresses that love is an emotion in which all of the relevant organs of the body become involved and united to produce a single, overpowering effect.
The second scene is more important in terms of plot than in terms of theme. A ship has crashed just off the coast of Illyria, and some survivors have swum to shore. Among them is a lady named Viola as well as the Captain of the ship.
Viola is worried about her twin brother Sebastian, who was on the ship with her. Viola fears that her brother has drowned and that his soul now rests in “Elysium” (line 3). Viola is speaking metaphorically. Although Elysium specifically refers to the pleasant paradise-like part of the underworld in Roman mythology, Viola simply uses the word as a substitute for Heaven. The word choice contributes to the old-fashioned, once-upon-a-time feel of the play.
The Captain tries to cheer Viola and tells her that he saw her brother tie himself to the fallen mast of the ship. The Captain adds that he saw the mast and Sebastian floating off away from the ship and that Sebastian was still alive at that time. The Captain uses a simile to describe Sebastian riding on the mast: he was “like Arion on the dolphin’s back” (14). In Greek mythology Arion was a musician who was about to be murdered when he was traveling aboard a ship. Arion jumped overboard, and a dolphin carried him to safety. This simile also contributes to the mythic or fairy-tale quality of the play. More importantly, the simile also gives Viola hope. Since Arion survived, perhaps Sebastian did so as well.
The Captain informs Viola that they are now standing in Illyria and that Illyria is ruled by Duke Orsino. He adds that Orsino is in love with the Countess Olivia, but that Olivia rejects him because she is in mourning over the loss of her brother.
Viola responds with the following:
Oh that I served that lady, And might not be delivered to the world
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow, What my estate is. (37-40)
Viola realizes that she is in a somewhat dangerous position. As a single lady without her brother or any other escort, she may not be safe. When she hears that Olivia is mourning the death her brother, Viola believes that Olivia may be a sympathetic ally. Viola, after all, has also lost a brother. The word delivered (in line 38) means revealed. Viola does not wish to reveal that she is a lady of high estate. A single woman who is a commoner stands a much better chance of passing by in a strange country unnoticed and unbothered. The word mellow is used here to mean ready. Viola feels that when the time is right, when it is safe to do so, then she will reveal to others that she is a lady. But until that time, she wants to disguise herself so that she will be safe.
Unfortunately for Viola, the Captain tells her that the Countess refuses to see visitors of any sort. Viola will not be able to see Olivia, let alone ask her for employment as her servant.
But Viola does not give up. She still plans to disguise herself, but she will seek employment with the Duke instead:
I’ll serve this duke. Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him.
(51-52)
Viola is asking the Captain to help her disguise herself as a eunuch. A eunuch is a male who has been castrated. Castration was often a common practice in olden times with young boys who were fine singers. Castrating (cutting off) their sexual organs would prevent their voices from changing, from becoming deeper, when they reached the age of puberty. Viola is well aware that being disguised as a male will make it easier for her to find some kind of work and that telling others that she is a eunuch will explain why her voice is not very deep. Besides, as Viola tells the Captain, she has a fine singing voice; and so she hopes to work as a musician for the duke.
The Captain agrees to help Viola with the disguise and pledges not to reveal her secret to anyone.
The third scene of the play is set at the estate of the Countess Olivia. Living at her house is her uncle, Sir Toby Belch. Although Sir Toby is an aristocrat, he is a poor one; and he is also drunk on most occasions. In fact, a director may ask the actor portraying Sir Toby to act as if he is drunk throughout the entire course of the play. Sir Toby is arrogant, pompous, and self-serving. He represents those poor aristocrats of Shakespeare’s own time. Such aristocrats would never be expected to work. If they did not have money, they would take it from their relatives. If their relatives refused to give them money, then such aristocrats would “borrow” money and goods from the commoners with no intention of ever paying them back. Since the unjust laws of the time also sided with the aristocrats, the commoners who were robbed by them had little help. There was not much they could do.
Although Sir Toby represents this negative aspect of society, he is not entirely a negative character. He is witty and clever, and his dialogue contributes much to the humor of the play. As already suggested earlier, Sir Toby is the Carnivalesque King of the Fools. He represents mayhem and disorder. He represents the breaking of the rules. He symbolizes the power of emotion over reason. Sir Toby is the obvious symbol of foolhardy behavior, but his subjects in this kingdom of fools (including Orsino and Olivia) are every bit as foolish as their king.
At the beginning of the scene, Olivia’s servant Maria is warning Sir Toby to be quiet. The time is very late at night, and Toby would have just entered in a noisy and drunken manner. Maria informs Sir Toby that the Countess is not pleased by his raucous behavior.
The careful reader should pay particular attention to the character of Maria. She is also a witty and clever individual. In fact, she has even more wit and more cleverness than Sir Toby. Shakespeare, who was not an aristocrat himself, time and again reveals that wit and cleverness are not necessary qualities of just aristocrats. In fact, some aristocrats are quite foolish and witless (as in the case of Sir Andrew in this play) while the most clever and thoughtful characters in Shakespeare’s plays are often commoners. More importantly, because Maria is a witty character, her dialogue with Sir Toby is all the more delightful.
The use of word play and wit begins early in the scene. When Maria tells Sir Toby that he should “confine” or control his behavior, the drunken knight responds with the following:
Confine? I’ll confine myself no finer than I am.
(8)
The word finer has a double meaning: (1) it suggests Sir Toby’s waist line, for he is a fat knight, and (2) it also suggests a fine manner of dress. Thus, Sir Toby then proceeds to explain that he will not change his behavior or his weight or his manner of dress. He likes himself just the way he is, and nothing is ever going to change him.
Sir Toby, being poor, hopes to take advantage of his niece’s wealth by convincing her to marry his companion, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Sir Toby has Sir Andrew in his control, and he knows that if he can convince Olivia to marry Sir Andrew, then Sir Toby will be able to freeload at her house and to take advantage of Olivia’s generosity for the remainder of his days.
Sir Toby may be clever in some instances, but his cleverness definitely has its limits. Sir Andrew is not only a poor specimen of a knight, but he is also a poor specimen of a man. He is cowardly and foolish. Despite being distraught over the death of her brother, the Countess Olivia will never be so reckless and thoughtless that she would marry Sir Andrew. Sir Toby’s plan will never succeed.
The use of comic names was conventional during the Renaissance. A belch is a burp, a common occurrence of someone who drinks too much. But the word also could mean to erupt violently, suggesting that Sir Toby may be somewhat hotheaded. An ague is a fever, and so ague-cheek may describe Sir Andrew’s pale complexion. Someone who has an ague or fever also frequently shakes and shivers, which the cowardly Sir Andrew would do when he is attacked.
Maria also readily recognizes Sir Andrew as a fool. Sir Toby attempts to defend Sir Andrew:
He’s as tall a man as any’s in Illyria. (16)
Although Sir Toby means brave and worthy by the word tall and although Maria knows that this is what Sir Toby means, she responds by suggesting that Sir Andrew is merely tall in height and has no other positive qualities. Sir Toby knows that Sir Andrew is cowardly and foolish, but he is surprised that Maria has so quickly found this out as well. Yet Sir Toby continues to defend Sir Andrew, for he desperately wants to trick Olivia into marrying him. Sir Toby tells Maria that Sir Andrew can speak several foreign languages (this is soon revealed to the audience to be a lie) and that Sir Andrew has “all the good gifts of nature” (23). Maria responds with some word play of her own:
He hath indeed almost natural, for besides that he’s a fool, he’s a great quarreler. (24-25)
Maria plays on the word nature by suggesting that Sir Andrew is a “natural,” which, during the Renaissance, meant fool or idiot. Maria also plays off of the expression “gift of nature”: Maria explains that because Sir Andrew likes to argue but because he is also a coward, he will soon have the “gift of a grave” (line 27). She means that his argumentative nature will get him into trouble and that someone will eventually kill him because of it. The stubborn Sir Toby continues to defend Sir Andrew, but Maria is too clever to believe anything that the fat knight says. The audience soon discovers that Maria is correct when Sir Andrew enters (at line 37). Sir Andrew not only does not only know any foreign languages, but he also has a great deal of difficulty with English. Sir Andrew addresses Maria as shrew, which is an extremely poor word choice. Sir Andrew thinks it is a term of affection, but Maria – as well as everyone in Shakespeare’s audience – knows that it is a term for nasty, ill-tempered women. The word shrew literally refers to a vicious rodent-like animal. Sir Andrew also misunderstands when Sir Toby tells Sir Andrew to accost (to greet) Maria properly because she is the Countess Olivia’s attendant. But the oafish Sir Andrew thinks that the word refers to her name: “Good Mistress Accost” (line 44).
As Sir Andrew attempts to converse with Maria, she responds with several jokes that infers that he is a fool. However, Sir Andrew is such a fool that he does not understand any of them. For example, as Sir Andrew holds Maria’s hand, he asks her if she has many jests or jokes. She responds with the following:
Ay. Sir, I have them at my fingers’ ends. Marry, now I let go your hand I am barren. (66-67)
The expression “at my fingers’ ends” means that they are readily and quickly available. Yet, the expression also literally refers to Sir Andrew, who is at the ends of her fingers. Thus, Maria implies that Sir Andrew is a jest. Of course, when she lets go of Sir Andrew’s hand, she no longer has the jest at the ends of her fingers. So, she is barren or empty of jests.
Sir Andrew’s lack of skill in foreign languages also becomes apparent at this time. Sir Andrew, realizing that being a suitor to the Countess seems to be hopeless, tells Sir Toby that he will leave tomorrow. Sir Toby responds by asking “Pourquoi?” (line 77: pourquoi is the French word for why). Sir Andrew exclaims that he wishes he had studied foreign languages (referred to as tongues in line 79). Sir Toby then takes the occasion to make a few jokes of his own:
SIR ANDREW O, had I but followed the arts!
SIR TOBY Then hadst thou had an excellent head of hair.
SIR ANDREW Why, would that have mended my hair?