Belch and Aguecheek - Comic?

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PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO ACT 1, SCENE 5, ACT 2,SCENE 3 AND ACT 2, SCENE 5, CONSIDER THE PARTS PLAYED BY SIR TOBY BELCH AND SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK. ARE THEY SIMPLY COMIC CHARACTERS? Act 1, Scene 5. This is Toby's first scene. It seems hard to view him as anything but comic here. He is portrayed as a stereotypical fat, jolly drunk. The reader assumes he will be funny due to his appearance and the connotations regarding the effects of alcohol. Although Toby has few lines within this scene, he easily brings comedy. Him being drunk in this scene allows Shakespeare to develop his character both positively and negatively through an example of malapropism. He mishears a question asked of him by Olivia and ultimately confuses the word ''lethargy'' with ''lechery.'' Although the result of this is comic, it is also quite a crude joke and is an example of 'bad comedy'. This shows that Toby has a rude, inappropriate side to him. The reader second guesses their first opinion of him and sees a selfish side to him, as he is drunk at his cousins funeral with no regards to other peoples feelings. These are not the expected actions of a character whose sole purpose is to be comic. Act 2, Scene 3. Throughout this scene, Toby continues to show a different side to the funny personality he is assumed to have. There is something unpleasant about him and he is certainly not simply comic although he does provide some comedy. After arriving home from a night of drinking with Andrew, Toby continues to be loud and unruly. When Malvolio comes to tell them to be quiet, Toby becomes rude and patronising. ''Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you?'', Malvolio is able to see that Toby is not as nice and harmless as he likes to seem. He is in fact selfish and disrespectful towards not only his cousin, as he is drunk in her house, but Malvolio too. ''Am I not of her
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