Look
you now, he’s out of his guard already; unless you laugh and minister occasion
to him, he is gagged.
-Malvolio
Twelfth Night Act I, Scene v, Line 85
Okay, this is a hard one, I’ll give you that. Here’s Malvolio’s whole reply:
three sentences. Wait – ‘reply to what’, you ask? Well, Olivia and Feste the
fool are talking. Then the fool says to Malvolio that whilst Sir Toby (a character in the play who’s not present in this scene) knows that he, the fool, is no
genius, neither would Sir Toby bet that you, Malvolio, are not a fool. Olivia
asks Malvolio what he thinks about that, and that is what Malvolio is replying
to.
Now, here’s his full reply.
I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such
a barren rascal: I saw him put down the other day with an ordinary fool that has
no more brain than a stone.
Look you now, he’s out of his guard
already; unless you laugh and minister occasion to him, he is gagged.
I protest, I take these wise men, that
crow so at these set kind of fools, no better than the fools’ zanies.
Well the first sentence is easy. Malvolio is just saying that he’s surprised
that Oliva gets so much enjoyment out of the fool, a fellow who’s not as bright
as a real fool.
The second sentence, today’s Totally Random Line, is a little tougher.
Malvolio is saying ‘Look at him, he’s caught off his guard already; if you don’t
pay attention to him and laugh at him, he’ll have nothing at all to say.’
Malvolio concludes with the thought that those people who enjoy and
speak highly of fools are no better than fools themselves. This would seem to
be a bit insulting to Olivia, who is Malvolio’s boss. But who am I to say.
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