Kept in a dark house, visited by the priest, First told me, thou wast mad; then cam'st in smiling, Of thine own cause. Fab. Good madam, hear me speak; And let no quarrel, nor no brawl to come, Upon some stubborn and uncourteous parts Oli. Alas, poor fool! how have they baffled thee! Clo. Why, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them. I was one, sir, in this interlude; one sir Topas, sir, but that's all one:--By the Lord, fool, I am not mad;-But do you remember? Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal? an you smile not, he's gagg'd: And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. (1) Fool. (2) Importunacy. (3) Cheated. Mal. I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you. [Exit. Oli. He hath been most notoriously abus'd. Duke. Pursue him, and entreat him to peace :He hath not told us of the captain yet; When that is known, and golden time convents,1 A solemn combination shall be made Of our dear souls-Meantime, sweet sister, We will not part from hence. Cesario, come; For so you shall be, while you are a man; But, when in other habits you are seen, Orsino's mistress, and his fancy's queen. [Exeunt. SONG. Clo. When that I was and a little tiny boy, But when I came to man's estate, But when I came, alas! to wive, But when I came unto my bed, (1) Shall serve. This play is in the graver part elegant and easy, and in some of the lighter scenes exquisitely humorous. Ague-cheek is drawn with great propriety, but his character is, in a great measure, that of natural fatuity, and is therefore not the proper prey of a satirist. The soliloquy of Malvolio is truly comic; he is betrayed to ridicule merely by his pride. The marriage of Olivia, and the succeeding perplexity, though well enough contrived to divert on the stage, wants credibility, and fails to produce the proper instruction required in the drama, as it exhibits no just picture of life. JOHNSON, 1 Vincentio, duke of Vienna. Angelo, lord deputy in the duke's absence. Escalus, an ancient lord, joined with Angelo in the deputation. Claudio, a young gentleman. Lucio, a fantastic. Two other like gentlemen. Varrius, a gentleman, servant to the duke. Elbow, a simple constable. Clown, servant to Mrs. Over-done. Barnardine, a dissolute prisoner. Isabella, sister to Claudio. Mistress Over-done, a bawd. Lords, gentlemen, guards, officers, and other at tendants. Scene, Vienna. |