“In nature, there's no blemish but the mind.”
Why it's great
The line moves deformity from the body to the mind, a compact defence of anyone judged by looks.
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literary
Use it yourself
In nature there is no blemish but the mind that mocks it.
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Antonio Is Arrested, Viola Hopes, Explained
Twelfth Night · 2012
Chapter 20 of 25 · 3'05"
Antonio is seized in the street and pleads for the youth he saved, unaware he is defending Sebastian in disguise. Viola hears her brother's name and dares to hope: "Prove true, imagination." Meanwhile Sir Andrew, called a coward, swears he will go and beat the boy.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:52
❝ Monologue · 5 lines Antonio Defends the Youth He Saved
50s - 0:59–1:38
Viola Hopes Sebastian Is Alive
39s
Antonio Is Arrested, Viola Hopes, explained
What happens
Antonio is arrested and, still loyal, argues that the youth he rescued is honorable — though he is really defending Sebastian, not the disguised Viola. Overhearing the name Sebastian, Viola privately hopes her brother is alive: "Prove true, imagination." The scene also includes Sir Andrew, mocked as a coward, deciding to challenge the boy after all.
What's really going on
The scene quietly stacks two kinds of confusion. Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian, so his loyalty lands on the wrong twin — yet his words are true, and Viola hears them: 'In nature, there's no blemish but the mind.' For her, the error becomes hope. When he names Sebastian, she lets herself believe her brother lives, and the famous line follows — 'Prove true, imagination.' The play lets identity be both a trap and a gift: the same resemblance that gets Antonio arrested also gives Viola back a brother. The rest of the scene plays the mix for comedy, as the cowardly Sir Andrew is mocked as 'more a coward than a hare,' and Viola brushes off the man who cannot tell her from her twin.
Key lines & what they mean
- “In nature, there's no blemish but the mind.”
- Antonio's moral claim: nature itself makes nothing ugly; the only true disfigurement is a bad mind.
- “Oh if it prove, tempests are kind and salt waves fresh in love.”
- Viola's hope: if her brother is alive, then even the storm and salt sea that separated them were kind, because they led to love.
- “Nothing that is so is so.”
- A line about confusion: things that clearly are true are being denied, as when someone won't admit who is standing in front of them.
- “None can be called deformed but the unkind.”
- Antonio's companion proverb: only the cruel, not the ugly, deserve to be called deformed.
- “I do not know you, nor I am not sent to you by my lady to bid you come speak with her.”
- Viola flatly denies knowing the man who insists he recognizes her, deepening his confusion.
Theme
- Identity — Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian, and the same resemblance both arrests him and renews Viola's hope.
- Family love — Hearing Sebastian's name, Viola lets herself hope her lost twin is alive.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
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Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“Oh if it prove, tempests are kind and salt waves fresh in love.”
Why it's great
If the hope comes true, even storms turn gentle, because love remakes the whole weather.
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literary
Use it yourself
If it prove true, the long nights are kind and every hard wave fresh.
“Nothing that is so is so.”
Why it's great
By piling up is, the line denies that the obvious reading of anything is the true one.
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literary
Use it yourself
The report looks official, but nothing that is so is so.
“None can be called deformed but the unkind.”
Why it's great
Ugliness relocated from body to character: a maxim that flips the standard.
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literary
Use it yourself
None can be called deformed but the unkind, no matter the mirror.
“I do not know you, nor I am not sent to you by my lady to bid you come speak with her.”
Why it's great
Stacked negations pile up denial, and the tangle betrays the panic.
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Informal
Use it yourself
I do not know you, nor am I sent to you by anyone at all.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Antonio's betrayed speech
But, oh, how vile an idol proves this god. Thou hast, Sebastian, done good feature shame. In nature, there's no blemish but the mind. None can be called deformed but the unkind. Virtue is beauty, but the beauty beauteous evil are empty trunks o'erflourished by the devil.
Betrayal turns into moral argument, and the restraint makes the hurt land harder.
Up next · 21be well rid ofThe scene: Feste Torments Malvolio in the DarkTakeaways
What you walk away with- No blemish but the mind locates ugliness in character
- The jaws of death means the very brink of dying
- Vent my folly means to pour out your foolishness
- A paltry boy is a worthless, low fellow
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is Antonio arrested?
He is seized in the street because he once fought against the Duke's galleys at sea, so he has enemies in the city. He walks in danger, as he warned Sebastian.
Why does Antonio defend Cesario?
He thinks Cesario is Sebastian, the youth he saved from the sea. Loyal and mistaken, he argues that the young man is honorable and begs the officers to spare him.
Why does Viola hope after hearing Antonio?
Antonio names Sebastian, so Viola realizes her twin may still be alive. She says 'Prove true, imagination' and reasons that her brother's likeness is why she can pass as a man.
What does 'the jaws of death' mean?
It means the threat of death, pictured as a gaping mouth. Antonio says he snatched the youth 'one half out of the jaws of death' during the shipwreck.
Why is Sir Andrew called a coward?
He talks about fighting but never follows through. The others call him 'a very dishonest paltry boy and more a coward than a hare,' and joke he is religious in his cowardice.