Sir Toby and Sir Andrew Aguecheek are key characters of the comedy in the sub-plot that lies outside the tricking of Malvolio. To show the audience their social positions Shakespeare has written all their lines in prose. Sir Toby is usually very drunk and is witty but he is, as the introduction of the ‘South Bank Shakespeare Collection’ says,
“the companion of fools, not of princes”. Which is only further proved by his best friend Sir Aguecheek, also an entertaining drunk. Aguecheek is a natural fool but most of the comedy comes from the fact that he doesn’t realize it and makes brainless comments. For instance, when Malvolio calls him a foolish knight:
“I knew 'twas I, for many do call me a fool”
He is a dolt and easily tricked which make it easy for others to take advantage of him and his wallet. And the thought that Sir Toby has brought him along to court Olivia is equally amusing. They prove their dim intelligence by lines such as:
Sir To. Does not our lives consist of the four elements?
Sir And. Faith, so they say; but I think it rather consists of eating and drinking
Sir To. Th’ art a scholar; let us therefore eat and drink. Marian, I say! a stoup of wine.
Depending on the director and the way an actor plays his or her character, potentially there is quite a bit of slapstick comedy included as well. But the most prominent types of comedy are mistaken identity and dramatic irony. Throughout the play these two different forms of comedy are constantly bouncing off each other, making the sub-plot even funnier. Mistaken identity is something very familiar in a number of Shakespeare’s plays. It happens in both the main and sub-plot, and mistaken identity is the basis of the scheme that Maria, Sir Aguecheek, and Sir Toby Belch set up at Malvolio’s expense.
The main characters in the sub-plot are Maria, Olivia’s lady-in-waiting, Sir Aguecheek, a very foolish knight, Sir Toby Belch, a good friend of Aguecheek and Olivia’s Uncle, and Malvolio, the steward who is in charge of Olivia's house. Malvolio is Shakespeare’s portrayal of a puritan. A possible character of revenge on Shakespeare’s part, due to his dislike of puritans because of their attitude toward the theatre and all of its aspects. The audience would have picked up on Malvolio’s status, which would have furthered comedic enjoyment. Malvolio is full of self-love, the only type of love it seems he is capable of. The only reason he would ever get married is to better himself in society, and with that thought he is constantly trying to court Olivia, an unlikely and unattainable woman. His self-delusions coupled with the audience’s knowledge of the plan against him make the situation even funnier. Malvolio is, during the period of Twelfth Night (the last day before the holiday celebrations cease), the only one of the characters acting normally. Normal for him though is very strict and serious. He needs to persistently be in total control. In a time when Illyria is full of festivities and the sub plot characters are in high spirits, he relentlessly attempts to make everyone come to their senses and be as they normally would. For this purpose Maria, Sir Aguecheek, and Sir Toby devise a plan to make a fool out of Malvolio and get revenge of previous issues of his pretentiousness.
They do this by writing a letter in Olivia’s handwriting, telling Malvolio that she is desperately in love with him, and to show his love back asks of him to smile and wear yellow cross-gartered stockings.
“Remember who commended thy yellow stockings, and wish’d to see thee ever cross-garter’d.” II v
For a puritan, one who is very straight and strict, wearing yellow stockings is almost unfathomable. Maria writes the letter with every intention of making Malvolio the fool, she knows Olivia despises the color yellow, and she knows smiling or being generally cheerful in any way is difficult for Malvolio. And thus the sub-plot scheme is born.
Act II scene iv deals with the sadness of Orsino not being able to have Olivia. Viola has to listen to everything he’s saying knowing in her heart that she wishes she were the one for him, a fairly gloomy scene. At points in the play when, in the main plot, a love sick war between Olivia who has fallen in love with Viola, and Viola who loves her master, Orsino, all can seem awfully confusing. By having the sub-plot divided amongst main-plot scenes it keeps the play on a more comedic note, not a selfishly love sick one it also gives the play a lighter side for the audience. It also gives the play a sense of time passing, and is the vehicle that keeps the play moving.
A character that is involved in both plots and moves freely between the Duke’s palace and Olivia’s house is Feste (meaning cheery and happy in Latin), the licensed fool, who provides a more melancholic humour to the play. Feste, in the Trevor Nunn film-version of the play is played as much more deep character that had been expected. It shows the side that is able to talk back to authority, because he is just the fool. Originally he, from reading the play, seemed to just be generally cheery and making jokes towards others. Yet in the film version he doesn’t smile nearly as much as a fool would be expected to. It is an excellent representation of how this character can be portrayed in a series of ways. His role in the sub-plot is not very large until IV ii, in which he plays the part of Sir Topaz to further make fun of Malvolio. He mixes with most levels of society, but seems to fit in best with the sub-plot characters, Sir Toby, Aguecheek and Maria; so when they are drinking late at Olivia’s house he accompanies them cheerfully. Feste also brings the use of word-play for instance in III i:
Viola: Dost thou live by thy tabor?
Feste: No, Sir, I live by the church.
Viola: Art thou a churchman?
Feste: No such matter, Sir. I do live by the church, for I do live at my house, and my house doth stand by the church.
Or
Maria: My Lady will hang thee for thy absence.
Feste: Let her hang me: He that is well hanged in this world needs to fear no colours.
Feste, being the licensed fool, uses, more than any other character, word play, above just being one example. His comedy is not only suited for the educated, by means of word play, but the majority of his jokes are bawdy and are very amusing for the entire audience.
Fabian is a minor character in the sub-plot as well. He is aware of the scheme against Malvolio and hides in the bush with Sir Toby, Aguecheek, and Maria when Malvolio finds the letter. He, too, doesn’t like Malvolio’s stern attitude during the festivities, “you know he brought me out o’ favour with my lady about a bear-baiting here” and so to get his revenge goes along with the plan, a natural human instinct.
An important factor to the play in general is the audience. In the audience there are a vast of different social classes. Shakespeare knew this, and he knew to he had to please all of them. Having the sub-plot introduces many more characters that people in the audience can relate to. Not only does Shakespeare play up to the higher class section of the audience with characters like Olivia and Orsino, but to the middle and lower classes with characters such as Fabian and Maria. Shakespeare includes a range of social classes and does this by means of the sub-plot.
The sub-plot, like the main comes together at the end with marriage, the usual ending to a Shakespearean comedy. Two of the conspirators, Sir Toby Belch and Maria get married, which seems logical, they are suit for each other class wise.
The importance of the sub-plot in the play is immeasurable. It makes the play a comedy in every sense of the word. When the main plot is lacking in laughs the sub-plot always comes in to keep the audience absorbed in the play. The sub-plot creates a world that the audience can The characters that move between the two plots make the play more interesting because it intertwines and brings the play together as a whole. The play would have been lost with out it.
