Chapter 19 of 25 · 2'42"
Fabian and Toby describe Andrew's opponent as a monster, feeding a duel Andrew never wanted. "He is indeed... the most skillful, bloody, and fatal opposite," they claim, while Andrew panics: "I'll not meddle with him." The scene is a machine for turning vanity into sheer terror.
❝ Monologue · 8 lines Toby Terrifies Sir Andrew
On Olivia's grounds, Toby and Fabian work on Sir Andrew, describing the man he is supposed to fight as the most deadly opponent in Illyria. They claim he has been a fencer to the Sophy. Terrified, Andrew tries to back out. Meanwhile, Viola — the other half of the duel — is just as frightened, but must keep up the appearance of a man.
The joke of the duel is that both men are cowards, and the scene is built on that symmetry. Toby and Fabian inflate Cesario into a legend — a fencer to the Sophy, 'the most skillful, bloody, and fatal opposite' — purely to enjoy Andrew's panic. Andrew, meanwhile, wants only to be talked out of it; his real line, 'I'll not meddle with him,' is the most honest sentence in the scene. The comedy also carries a satiric edge: knights who boast of honour are revealed as frightened, and the one who actually shows dignity is the disguised woman they think is a soft young man. Viola's aside, 'how much I lack of a man,' lets the audience in on the double truth: she is not a man, and she is braver than either of them.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“I am one that would rather go with sir priest than sir knight.”
By choosing the priest over the knight, he admits fear without ever saying the word.
literary
“A little thing would make me tell them how much I lack of a man.”
He admits that one small push would make him confess how unmanly he feels, which is both comic and honest.
literary
“And on the answer, he pays you as surely as your feet hit the ground they step on.”
The simile makes his counter-attack sound as certain as a foot meeting the ground.
literary
“I know the youth is incensed against you, even to a mortal arbitrament, but nothing of the circumstance more.”
Mortal arbitrament inflates the quarrel, and the disclaimer keeps an exit open.
literary
“He is indeed, sir, the most skillful, bloody, and fatal opposite that you could possibly have found in any part of Illyria.”
Three escalating adjectives inflate a rival into legend: intimidation as rhetoric.
literary
Why, man, he's a very devil. I have not seen such a firago. I had a pass with him... rapier scabbard and all. And he gives me the stuck in with such a mortal motion that it is inevitable. And on the answer, he pays you as surely as your feet hit the ground they step on. They say he's been fencer to the Sophy. A pox on't. I'll not meddle with him.
Up next · 20prove trueThe scene: Antonio Is Arrested, Viola HopesThey are gulling him for their own amusement. By inflating his opponent into a deadly swordsman, they enjoy his panic and push him toward a duel he cannot handle.
He is trapped by his own challenge and his oath. He tries to back out and offer his horse to be excused, but Toby and Fabian keep pressing him.
It is an old curse meaning 'a plague on it' — roughly 'to hell with it.' Andrew uses it to express disgust and dread at the whole situation.
She is a disguised woman who has never fought, and the man she is supposed to duel is said to be a deadly swordsman. She must hide her fear to keep up the disguise.
Viola's aside admits she is not a man and lacks a man's courage. It is a private joke to the audience about her disguise during the duel scene.
