Sir Toby Belch In Twelth Night Essay

Sir toby's pratical joking has a vicious edge: he forces two unwilling combatants to a duel in 3., and he also pushes Maria's plot against Malvolio to a new extreme, gloating, 'we'll have him ina dark room and bound... we may carry it thus for our pleasure' (3.4). This course is criticised in his owm fear of reprimand in 4.2 and by the efforts of Olivia and Orsino to mitigate Mavolio's humiliation in 5.1. Mor3eover Sir Toby's final departure is ugly; he curses Sir Andrew as 'an ass-head' and a 'coxcomb anda knave, a thin-faced knave. a gull!' (5.1). After his own scheme to humiliate his friend has resulted in both of them being beaten by Sebastian.

                                  Sir Toby Belch is somewhat unpleasant traits offer a parallel in the sub-plot to the problemativ elements of the main plot. As a result, some critics who view Twelth Night as an ironic social satire regard Sir Toby as a vulgar parasite, a hunger-on in   his household of his niece, concerned only with his debauched existence.   Sir Toby attitudes towards Sir Andrew and Olivia corroborate his theory somewhat, but it is surely too extreme. The knight is made to submit to his niece's anger at his ways -'ungracious wretch...Out of my sight! Rudesby, be gone!' Olivia shouts in (4.1) - but on the other hand, the playwright permits him satisfaction at the defeat of Malvolio. While he is not present at the final scene of recognisation and reconciliation, he marries Maia, the delightful, as is reported in (5.1) again in paralleling developments in the main plots. Sir Toby, through he has his faults,is basically a symbol of the values of humour and jojous living and is therefore a representative of the triumphant spirit of Comedy.