Chapter 16 of 25 · 3'23"
Maria and Fabian lead the others off to enjoy their handiwork: Malvolio in yellow stockings, grinning over a letter that was written to ruin him. "If you desire the spleen and will laugh yourself into stitches, follow me." Elsewhere, Antonio catches up with Sebastian, but won't walk openly, having enemies in the city.
Fabian Leads the Others to Watch Malvolio
❝ Monologue · 6 lines Antonio and Sebastian Reunite
Maria's group hurries off to watch Malvolio, who has obeyed their forged letter: yellow stockings, cross-garters, and a smug grin. Fabian says he has trailed him 'like his murderer.' In another street, Antonio finds Sebastian and explains he dare not walk the city openly, because of a past sea fight against the Duke's galleys.
The scene has two halves that never touch. The first is pure comedy of humiliation: Maria and Fabian can barely contain themselves at the sight of Malvolio strutting in his ridiculous outfit, still certain the letter is real. 'If you desire the spleen and will laugh yourself into stitches, follow me,' Fabian says, inviting the audience in on the joke. The second half is the opposite mood, a reunion full of devotion: Antonio has followed Sebastian out of love and jealousy, but stays wary because he has enemies here. The play cuts between prank and fidelity without a transition, and both rest on the same idea — love and malice both make people act against their own interest.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“If you desire the spleen and will laugh yourself into stitches, follow me.”
An invitation to a prank, framed as a cure for your mood and a promise to leave you gasping.
literary
“My kind Antonino, I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”
Three thanks in a row turn a plain reply into a vow of gratitude that will not end.
literary
“For Andrew, if he were opened and you find so much blood in his liver as will clog the foot of a flea, I'll eat the rest of the anatomy.”
He measures Andrew's courage with a flea's foot, then offers to eat what is left of the man.
Informal
“I have dogged him like his murderer.”
Dogging him like his murderer: a sinister simile for a prank, and the picture is complete.
Informal
“I think oxen and wainropes cannot hale them together.”
Oxen and ropes cannot drag them together: a rustic image for an impossible match.
Informal
I could not stay behind you. Might desire, more sharp than filed steel did spur me forth. And not all love to see you, though so much as might have drawn one to a longer voyage. But jealousy what might befall your travel being skilless in these parts, which to a stranger unguided and unfriended, often prove rough and unhospitable. My willing love the rather by these arguments of fear set forth in your pursuit.
Up next · 17midsummer madnessThe scene: Malvolio Appears in Yellow StockingsThe forged letter tells him Olivia wants to see him cross-gartered in yellow stockings, so he obeys. The outfit is designed to make him look absurd.
Maria, who forged Olivia's handwriting as a prank. Fabian says Malvolio 'obeys every point of the letter' they planted to betray him.
He has enemies there after fighting against the Duke's galleys at sea. He tells Sebastian he cannot walk the streets without danger.
Out of love and worry. He says his willing love drove him, and jealousy about what might befall an unguided stranger in these parts.
It means to laugh so hard that you get a stitch — a sharp pain in your side. Fabian uses it to invite the others to watch Malvolio make a fool of himself.
