A bit of comedy from Twelfth Night

It’s been awhile since I posted a passage here at Bites of Bard. So today I thought I’d post one of my favorite comic scenes in all of Shakespeare. This is the scene from Twelfth Night, when the pompous Malvolio is taken in by a practical joke perpetrated by Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria. It’s a bit longer than most passages I share here, but well worth reading for its comic value.

Image from Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive

Malvolio. By my life, this is my lady’s hand these be her
very C’s, her U’s and her T’s and thus makes she her
great P’s. It is, in contempt of question, her hand.

Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Her C’s, her U’s and her T’s: why that?

Malvolio. [Reads] ‘To the unknown beloved, this, and my good
wishes:’ — her very phrases! By your leave, wax.
Soft! and the impressure her Lucrece, with which she
uses to seal: ’tis my lady. To whom should this be?

Fabian. This wins him, liver and all.

Malvolio. [Reads]
Jove knows I love: But who?
Lips, do not move;
No man must know.
‘No man must know.’ What follows? the numbers
altered! ‘No man must know:’ if this should be
thee, Malvolio?

Sir Toby Belch. Marry, hang thee, brock!

Malvolio. [Reads]
I may command where I adore;
But silence, like a Lucrece knife,
With bloodless stroke my heart doth gore:
M, O, A, I…