Chapter 13 of 25 · 3'26"
Malvolio finds the letter Maria planted and reads it as a love note from Olivia. He works the puzzle over letter by letter, then speaks the play's famous line: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." By the end he resolves to be proud.
❝ Monologue · 18 lines Malvolio Reads the Greatness Letter
❝ Monologue · 6 lines Malvolio Dreams of Greatness
Hidden in the garden, Sir Toby and his friends watch Malvolio pick up Maria's forged letter. He puzzles out the anagram until the letters spell his own name, decides Olivia loves him, and reads the great line about some being born great and some having greatness thrust upon them. The letter tells him to wear yellow stockings and be proud.
The joke is that Malvolio is clever in exactly the wrong direction. He spots that the handwriting does not match, but instead of doubting the letter he bends the letters until they fit his name, telling himself he is not 'fooling' himself. The forged advice — reject a kinsman, be surly to servants, dress oddly — is written to make him look ridiculous, and he reads every word as flattery. Even the famous line about greatness works against him: he hears 'some have greatness thrust upon them' and assumes it means him. Pride makes him the perfect victim: the more he convinces himself Olivia loves him, the more foolish he becomes, while the hidden watchers get the show they wanted.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“And some have greatness thrust upon them.”
Thrust upon makes greatness something done to you, not earned, so luck and absurdity share one verb.
literary
“But be not afraid of greatness.”
A bare imperative sounds like wisdom, which is exactly why it works on a man already hungry for praise.
literary
“I do not now fool myself to let the imagination jade me.”
He vows he is not fooling himself in the very sentence that proves he is, a perfect self-indictment.
literary
“In my stars, I am above thee.”
Astrology as a crown: social climbing dressed up as fate.
literary
“The cur is excellent at faults.”
Excellence at faults: cruelty recast as a skill, and the irony lands.
Informal
"If this fall into thy hand, revolve. In my stars, I am above thee. But be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. And some have greatness thrust upon them. Thy fates open their hands. Let thy blood and spirit embrace them. And to inure thyself to what thou art like to be, cast thy humble slough and appear fresh. Be opposite with a kinsman, surly with servants. Let thy tongue tang arguments of state. Put thyself into the trick of singularity." She thus advises thee that sighs for thee. "Remember who commanded thy yellow stockings and wish to see thee ever cross-gartered. I say, remember. Go to, thou art made if thou desires to be so. If not, let me see thee a steward still, the fellow of servants and not worthy to touch fortune's fingers. Farewell, she that would alter services with thee, the fortunate unhappy."
I will be proud. I will read politic authors. I will baffle Sir Toby. I will wash off gross acquaintance. I... I... I... I will be point-device the very man. I do not now fool myself to let the imagination jade me.
Up next · 14a corrupter of wordsThe scene: Feste Spars With Viola About WordsMaria wrote it as a prank. She forges Olivia's handwriting and leaves it in Malvolio's path, with hints meant to make him act foolishly and become a public joke.
The letter's anagram letters spell his name, and its praise flatters him. Because he wants to believe it, he ignores that the handwriting is wrong and treats every odd instruction as a sign of love.
It means some people have greatness forced on them rather than earning it. Malvolio reads the line as a promise about his own future.
It tells him to be proud and surly, to dress in yellow stockings cross-gartered, and to put on 'the trick of singularity.' Each instruction is designed to make him look absurd.
Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian hide in the garden and watch the whole thing, looking forward to the trick they have set up with Maria.
