William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a play in which we watch several characters develop throughout the show. One character in particular, however, does not at first glance appear to undergo any serious character development. Sir Toby Belch appears to be a drunken mess throughout Twelfth Night. I believe however, that Shakespeare subtly hinted at a major change in Sir Toby’s character that takes place after his last scene on stage. I believe that Sir Toby switches to the lifestyle of a sober man after his last appearance on stage. This evident through both the developing relationship between Maria and Toby and the moment at which alcohol is seen by Toby as the cause of several problems in his life.

Throughout the play Toby is seen as a drunk and an oaf. This appearance seems to conceal the fact that Feste gives a very revealing statement to Maria concerning Toby. At first glance, this comment appears to be nothing more than the response of the quick wit that Feste often utilizes. He states that “Apt, in good faith, very apt. Well, go thy way. If Sir Toby/ would leave drinking thou wert as witty a piece of Eve’s flesh/ as any in Illyria” (Twelfth Night, 1.5.23-5). This text is far more crucial than the audience is at first led to believe. First off, it has a double meaning. The first is that a sober Toby is just as witty as Maria. When looking at this, it may seem that Feste is claiming this as an insult against Maria’s engagement in banter. But this meaning also implies that Feste at one point knew a side of Toby the audience never sees, a Toby that does not drink. If this is true then it only strengthens the likelihood that Toby can go sober after his last scene on stage.

The second implication of Feste’s comment is even more critical to my theory. Feste hints that a sober Toby would be a good match for Maria, romantically. Of course, towards the end of the play Fabian states that “Maria writ/ the letter, at Sir Toby’s great importance,/ in recompense whereof he hath married her” (5.1.351-2). The fact that Feste’s prediction comes true leads me to two conclusions. The first is that his statement was more than just a passing quote in a conversation of witty banter and should be treated as such. The second conclusion draws on the first; because this quote is more than just witty banter, the idea of an abstemious Toby should be taken seriously. I believe that Feste specifically mentioning sobriety as a prerequisite to the relationship is very telling of the relationship that Maria and Toby will have off the stage.

Building upon this information, we now have a new angle in which to view the interactions between Toby and Maria. For example, going back to the first time they appear on stage together Maria says to Toby “ay, but you must confine yourself within the modest/ limits of order” (1.3.6-7) and “that quaffing and drinking will undo you” (1.3.11). These specific quotes and their relation to my thesis rely upon how the actors deliver these lines. If Maria’s voice inflection in this scene is one of compassion and caring rather than one of anger and spite, the audience will have a much different understanding of Maria and Toby’s relationship. Without a performance present, one would think the reader is free to make these types of decisions by themselves. It appears to me, however, that imbedded stage directions dictate actions of the former nature. One example of this comes from the second act where Toby states “She’s a beagle true bred, and one that adores me. What/ o’ that?” (2.3.158-9). This suggests two things. The first is that Toby is not only a drunk, but a delusional drunk who believes things that are not so. The second is that Maria, whether purposefully or unable to conceal it, is showing signs of affection to Toby. Given the ending of the play, this leads me conclude that the latter possibility is the most likely scenario. And if Maria is displaying signs of affection, how would these signs manifest? I believe it is through the way in which she takes care of and looks after Toby.

This specific analysis of relationship between Toby and Maria is important to my main thesis for several reasons. If Maria and Toby are more intimate and caring in their interactions, more validity is given to Feste’s statement on the two. By this I mean that if Maria acts warmly towards Toby, as the text suggests, Feste cannot be accused of deceiving her or the audience. It is this stacking of credibility that further qualifies his idea that it would be a sober Toby who would court her. Further, Toby’s feelings towards Maria appear to mirror hers when he states “I could marry that wench for this device” (2.5.158). This is the second time that the possibility of marriage between the two is brought up and at least the third time that a relationship is hinted at between them. The point of this is that these statements cannot just be overlooked as comedic value. Each of these statements seems to qualify each other and therefore qualify Feste’s original statement.

It is not just this relationship that points towards a sober Toby. In fact, his last time on stage provides critical evidence that he is done with alcoholism. Toby, looking for medical help, requests a surgeon only to find out that the surgeon has passed out from drinking. In what looks like nothing more than a moment of irony Toby states “then he’s a rogue, and a passy-measures pavan. I hate/ a drunken rogue” (5.1.193-4). However, when looked at deeper, this appears to be a true statement and one of self-loathing. This self loathing is further shown just a couple lines later when Toby states “will you help—an ass-head, and a coxcomb, and a knave; a thin faced knave, a gull” (5.1.198-9)? These lines might at first seem to be nothing more than the drunken mumblings of a concussed man designed to create a comedic sense of irony. However, given the circumstances, it appears that it is also a moment of serious character development. As this is the close of the play, different story lines have to be tied up. Therefore, it makes sense that Toby would learn some lesson and that his hatred of drunken rogues has more to do with his development than it does with the audience’s reaction.

The reason I feel this is the critical moment of Toby’s character development is because it’s the one point in the play where all his current problems are the result of alcohol. The surgeon was missing and unable to provide care to Toby’s wounds because he was drunk. The reason Toby was wounded in the first place was because of a drunken brawl. To takes things further, Andrew states that “here comes Sir/ Toby, halting. You shall hear more; but if he had not been/ in drink he would have tickled you othergates than he did” (5.1.185-87). While this quote does not necessarily imply that a sober Toby would have won the fight, it does imply that the drinking is the scapegoat for the loss. Therefore, in the final scene, Toby now has three problems that he has attributed to alcohol. This coupled with the Toby’s self loathing statements before his final exit off the stage shows some character development, at the very least a reassessment on the value of drinking. Now when re-examining this scene with my theory in mind, is it really a surprise that Toby immediately marries Maria. It appears to me that this trinity of alcohol related problems is what finally drove Toby to marry Maria and complete Feste’s statement. Although Fabian states that Toby married Maria because she wrote the letter of Malvolio’s demise he also incorrectly states that “most freely I confess myself and Toby/ set this device against Malvolio here” (5.1.348-9) making Fabian unreliable. Therefore, given the past statements and actions of Maria, Toby, and Feste I believe that it is Toby’s development that caused the wedding. At most, the Malvolio incident was just a result of Toby and Maria’s relationship, not the cause of it.

All of these points work together in a way that solidifies my main argument. Toby states that Maria is rather fond of him, which is confirmed by their marriage in the end. The fact that this is confirmed means that Maria acts in a flirtatious way that is obvious to Toby, and thus the audience. These flirtatious attitudes, along with Maria’s insistence that Toby stop drinking, qualify Feste’s prediction that it would be a sober Toby that marries Maria. Toby, after having going through bad experiences with alcohol, swears his hatred of drunks in a self-loathing manner. Immediately after experiencing this self growth he marries Maria. Therefore I believe that my thesis holds and that Sir Toby is a sober man after his last scene on stage.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays, The Sonnets, Second Edition eds. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, & Katherine Eisaman Maus. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.