Towards the end of the passage, Fabian utters a phrase that indicates that Shakespeare is enjoying a little joke himself. While the three revel in the ease with which there marvelous deception was executed, Fabian remarks that ‘if this were played upon a stage, I would condemn it as improbable fiction’. For these words to be uttered by an actor on stage is indeed quite humorous!
Certain instances where the three talk among themselves as if Malvolio isn’t present at all, gives an eerily uncanny impression of doctors discussing a patient to sick to understand his illness himself. By doing so they not only make Malvolio appear insignificant and small, but also add to the idea of him being mentally unbalanced. It is perhaps at this point where the amusement of the entire deception seems to be carried a bit far and the cruelty in the situation becomes slightly more evident, if not apparent.
What appears comical and witty to one reader may very well seem cruel and callous to another. It is near impossible to separate the amusing elements in the passage from those which may be deemed spiteful and malicious. The very fact that the three have combined to convince a man that he and his perception of the world is wrong, that he is possessed is quite unsettling. In fact all those instances- (Sir Toby’s ‘gentle treatment’, their constant references to religion and Malvolio’s alleged ‘bewitchedness’ (make him say his prayers)) can be deemed utterly malicious. Keeping in view Malvolio’s earlier malevolent attitude, this can be justified. His humiliation may be richly deserved, but then there is a kind of overkill in Sir Toby and Maria’s decision to lock him away. He seems to be punished cruelly for what are, after all, minor sins and the fact that Sir Toby decides that they will stop tormenting him only when they are ‘tired out of breath’, and not out of mercy or pity indicated that they revel in this cruelty, and indeed, find it amusing.
The plot speeds up in this scene, and the cases of mistaken identity and deception become increasingly complicated. First, we see the hilarious results of Maria’s deception, which bears fruit in Malvolio’s alleged madness. Because he thinks that he shares a secret understanding with Olivia, Malvolio expects her to understand the bizarre things he does and says. Olivia, of course, is bewildered by the change in her normally somber steward, and his apparently illogical responses to her questions make her assume, naturally enough, that he must be out of his mind. She interprets his quotations from the letter as simple insanity: “Why, this is very midsummer madness,” she says after listening to a string of them (III.iv.52). But Malvolio, cut off from reality, willfully ignores these signs that all may not be as he thinks. He fits Olivia’s words to his mistaken understanding of the situation. When she refers to him as “fellow,” for instance, he takes the term to mean that she now thinks more highly of him than she has before (III.iv.57). His earlier egotism and self-regard has become pure, self-centered delusion, in which everything that happens can be interpreted as being favorable to him. As he puts it, “[N]othing that can be can come between me and the full prospect of my hopes” (III.iv.74–75). Malvolio makes a simple mistake—he twists facts to suit his beliefs rather than adapting his beliefs to the facts.
At this point, we realize why Maria’s letter was such a work of genius: in ordering Malvolio to be rude to Sir Toby and the servants, she makes certain that Malvolio will refrain from explaining himself to anyone. Thus, Maria has orchestrated matters such that Malvolio’s behavior will be the justification for the others’ treatment of him as if he were possessed. Sir Toby, with mock-bravery, says that if “Legion himself possessed [Malvolio], yet I’ll speak to him” (III.iv.78–79). Later, Sir Toby and the servants decide to treat Malvolio “gently, gently,” a recommended manner of dealing with people thought to be possessed. Once Malvolio leaves, the three plot to “have him in a dark room and bound”—another common treatment for madmen (III.iv.121). As Sir Toby notes, Olivia already thinks that Malvolio is mad, so they can torture him until they grow tired of it. It is here that we begin to feel pity for Malvolio. His humiliation may be richly deserved, but there is a kind of overkill in Sir Toby and Maria’s decision to lock him away. and our sense that Malvolio is being wronged only increases in Act IV.
Malvolio is convinced—in spite of Olivia’s apparent bewilderment—that he is correct in his surmises and that Olivia is really in love with him. But when Sir Toby, Fabian, and Maria come to see him, they pretend to be certain that he is possessed by the devil. Malvolio, remembering the letter’s advice that he speak scornfully to servants and to Sir Toby, sneers at them and stalks out. Delighted by the turn the events have taken, they decide together to lock Malvolio into a dark room—a frequent treatment for people thought to be possessed by devils or madmen. Sir Toby realizes that since Olivia already thinks Malvolio is crazy, he can do whatever he wants to the unfortunate steward.
