A Year of Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, Act IV: Scenes 1-3

Tell me you didn’t know that Sebastian would bumble into good fortune… tell me you didn’t know that the mistaken identities wouldn’t result in a clever twist.

Sebastian has stumbled into Olivia’s good graces, but I’m yet to be convinced that this will result in a legitimate “happy” ending.

For one thing, Olivia doesn’t actually know him.. not yet, anyway.  She thinks she does, but that’s part of the mistaken identity bit that the comedy is centering on.  But why is Sebastian assenting to this arrangement? Sure, Olivia may be hot — and rich.  But how does he know what he’s getting into with the girl? And does Olivia not doubt “his” sudden change of heart?

Meanwhile, Malvolio is pushed to his limits by the Fool. Toby is experiencing pangs of remorse — not for what he has done of his own accord, but because he got in trouble with his niece (Olivia).

And where is Viola while all this is happening? Will she hook up with the Duke?

Stay tuned for Act V.

This entry was posted on 2010/01/18 at 10:03 pm and is filed under Twelfth Night. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.