Twelfth Night Act Four – “Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep; If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!”

Twelfth Night Act Four – “Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep;

If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!”

The speed and pace of ‘Twelfth Night’ picks up in Act Four as Feste the clown encounters Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario (Viola when she is disguised as a man) tries to bring him back to Olivia’s house. Sebastian refuses and thinks Feste is mad but then he is accosted by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew who attack him so Sebastian retaliates and Sir Andrew submits but this causes Sir Toby to draw and just when Sebastian and Sir Toby are about to duel, Olivia arrives.

Olivia orders Sir Toby to put down his sword and she dismisses everyone. She then insists that Sebastian (who she thinks is Cesario) to come back to her house. Sebastian agrees to go with Olivia:

“What relish is in this? how runs the stream?

Or I am mad, or else this is a dream:

Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep;

If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep!”

Soon after, back at Olivia’s house, we see what torment Maria, Sir Toby and Feste are going to put the now locked up Malvolio through. Maria gets Feste, the clown, to dress up as the clergyman Sir Topas, and visit Malvolio in his dark prison. Believing Feste is a priest, Malvolio claims that he is not mad but Feste as Sir Topas claims that Malvolio must be mad and filled with the devil because he claims the room is dark when it is filled with light from windows. Malvolio declaresthis is not so and Feste ends this encounter with Malvolio by telling Malvolio that he is mad and that he must remain locked up in darkness. Maria and Sir Toby are pleased with the deception even though Sir Toby wants to end the joke because he knows he has already got on the wrong side of Olivia. Feste is then sent back as both himself and Sir Topas and he has an imaginary conversation. Mavolio clings to his sanity and we start to as an audience, feel sympathy for him and his tenuous grasp of sanity. (Feste as Feste and Feste as Sir Topas) and asks for paper, ink, and light so that he can write to Olivia to explain his predicament and Feste claims does not believe that Malvolio is mad and he says he will help him.

“Nay, I'll ne'er believe a madman till I see his

brains. I will fetch you light and paper and ink.”

In another part of the house, Sebastian is in heaven since the beautiful lady he just met wants to marry him. He wants to search for his friend Antonio to discuss what he should do, but Olivia comes back with a priest, Sebastian sees that circumstances could not be better for a marriage and Sebastian and Olivia leave the stage to take their vows.