Duke Orsino and the Countess Olivia are somewhat static (unchanging) and flat (two- dimensional) throughout most of the play. They need to be so, for they underscore the theme regarding fate. Fate solves their problems just as it does so for Viola. However, both characters do have some lines of fine poetry in the comedy. Toward the beginning of the play, Orsino expresses the state of the unrequited lover in quite eloquent terms; and Orsino’s exchange with Cesario regarding constancy (in Act II) makes for a sparkling debate. Olivia gets some even finer lines, for she does go through a change (dynamic quality). Olivia breaks her promise regarding her position to mourn for seven years for the death of her brother, and her doing so surprises herself most of all. Her reaction to this change within herself and her confusion provides some splendid yet comical lines.
The character who receives the most attention by critics in this play is Feste. He is certainly one of the best fools in Renaissance drama. He is not only wise, witty, clever, and funny, but he is also philosophical. He subtly provides a running commentary on the major characters of the play. Perhaps readers could even view him as the mouthpiece for Shakespeare. In a play where most of the characters are running amok like mad, drunken revelers, Shakespeare’s clown is the only one who acts sanely and rationally. Shakespeare wants the members of his audience to ask themselves just what is a fool and why do they laugh at him. Of course, we laugh at fools because we see ourselves in them. Perhaps the one negative with Feste is the complexity of his language. The clever Feste creates his own philosophy and expresses himself occasionally with the most convoluted or difficult expressions (for example, the line about calamity and the cuckold in Act I, Scene 5). Although these expressions are not mere nonsense (as some critics suggest), members of an audience hearing them for the first time will not catch the subtlety of meaning – not even members of the Renaissance audience. Hearing them spoken quickly in this fast-placed play, the lines do come across as nonsense. However, such difficulty is not really a concern for any audience. The play moves so rapidly that nonsense in dialogue serves as a fitting complement to the nonsense of the actions.
Every comedy needs a good villain that the audience can laugh at as well as jeer. Malvolio fits perfectly in that role. He is an anti-comic force. He is the spirit of ill-will. His Puritanical qualities make him not only a splendid villain, but also an enemy of the theater and drama. Malvolio, like all genuine Puritans (who wanted to close down the theaters in London), does not believe in fun and recreation. He is too serious in this often unserious play. Even the Countess, in the midst of her mourning, finds Malvolio to be overly harsh and severe. Standing in front of an audience who has come for funny, foolish drama, Malvolio will not find any sympathy when he makes his harsh comments about fools. Thus, when Malvolio is accused of madness and, as punishment, is locked in a dark room, the audience will not shed a tear for him. They will see the poetic justice of it. The audience, like Sir Toby, wants to revel and enjoy themselves. They do not want a somber spirit dampening their good cheer. Malvolio, then, is a symbol of sobriety and excessive gravity and Puritanical fanaticism. The audience thus applauds the suppression of these negative attributes more so than the punishment of an actual person. Malvolio is a symbol more than a character.
Sir Toby has often been compared, severely and unjustly, to Falstaff, the anti-heroic companion to Prince Hal in the Henry IV history plays. Many critics regard Falstaff as one of Shakespeare greatest characters. Indeed, Sir Toby and Falstaff do share several qualities; and such a similarity invites the comparison. Both are impoverished knights who take advantage of others and freeload off of everyone they can. Both men are fat and enjoy drinking and eating excessively. Both men display a clever wit on occasion. However, there are also differences between the characters. Sir Toby is not as clever as Falstaff: his wit is purposely set to be inferior of that of Feste and even that of Maria. There is also more goodness and less of the rascal in Sir Toby. Moreover, Sir Toby also has a definite symbolic role in the play. He is the drunken spirit of carnival. He represents god cheer and merriment. He is, in a sense, the topsy-turvy king of fools. His role is purposely set to be in direct contrast to that represented by Malvolio. Thus, Sir Toby’s role in drama is quite different from that of Falstaff. Falstaff is the clown or comic relief in what are otherwise serious history plays. Sir Toby’s purpose is not to dominate the comedy but rather to stand as an iconic symbol and to set the background for all of the irrationally comic behavior in which all of the other characters participate. Feste is the witty clown of this play; but Sir Toby is the Carnival King, the emblem of the carnivalesque atmosphere.