Adding to the humour of the comedy, Feste, dresses up as Sir Topaz, the curate and visits the imprisoned Malvolio with Maria and Sir Toby. There he uses his humour to abuse Malvolio who is still unaware that he is actually talking to the clown rather than to the real Sir Topas. Feste (disguised as Sir Topaz) calls Malvolio a "lunatic”,"Satan" and confuses him by wittingly making him a fool. Throughout the play, Malvolio has always been the person who intentionally spoils the pleasure of other people. He is Feste's worst nightmare in the play, but in the end is triumphed over by Feste.
Maria, Olivia's companion is another person who seems enthusiastic in playing pranks on other people. In Twelfth Night, she plays the unsuspecting role of a behind the scene fool that gives ideas to Feste, Sir Andrew & Sir Toby to assist her in her plans. In two incidents, she remains quiet while her plans are carried out by either the Knights or the Clown.
Part of the humour that lies in this comedy is that Maria's pranks are harsh & cruel, using love and power to attack Malvolio, steward of Olivia, who is ".... sick of self love". For this, Malvolio's greed for power ends up getting himself locked up in a dark cell and is accused of She also prepares Feste to disguise as Sir Topaz. This is seen in the quote: "Nay, I prithee put on this gown and this beard; make him believe thou are Sir Topas the curate; do it quickly..." Combined with other fools, Maria helps make Twelfth Night a hilariously funny comedy.
Lastly, Sir Toby Belch is another fool in Twelfth Night. His role is helping "on the game of make-believe". Always convincing & encouraging the rich Sir Andrew Aguecheek that he has a chance of winning Lady Olivia's love. He is similar to Feste, except he plays the role of a knight and is Olivia's kinsman. His role is similar to a fool because he depicts many pranks of a fool. For example in Act II scene iii, while he was drunk he sings along with Feste when Malvolio barges in to shut them up. Whenever there is a prank, Maria invites Sir Toby to participate. One such prank was to assist Maria's fake letter to make Malvolio think Olivia is in love with him. Sir Toby's make-believe scheme works convincingly on Malvolio. Another prank was to accompany the disguised Feste into the dark cell where Malvolio was imprisoned. This accompaniment was probably to assure Malvolio that the real Sir Topaz is visiting him. Yet it is another make-believe scheme of Sir Toby.
He was a bit of a loner, as he did not really have anyone to talk to. It was if he had a much broader view of all the happenings in the play. For example he was the only one that realised that Cesario wasn’t a man but he was a Woman (Viola).
In Twelfth Night, the fools are the ones that control the comedy and humour in the play. They assist in the make believe game and fool around with characters who "evade reality or rather realize a dream". In Twelfth Night, Feste, Maria and Sir Toby are the fools that make the comedy work in many senses. They create the confusion through humour and it all works out in the end to make William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night a really funny Elizabethan play.
