Meredith Muirhead

ENGL 115

Professor McFeeley

28 September 2020

Shakespeare’s ​Twelfth Night​ is full of many comedic twists and turns, and every character

has their own tumultuous experiences. Sebastian, the twin brother of main character Viola, is no

exception to this. In Act 4, Sebastian ponders whether or not he is insane in a very contradictory

soliloquy. Throughout this soliloquy, he uses words such as “yet,” “though,” and “but.” These

words negate whatever ideas he may express before using them, revealing just how wild his

inner conflict is over this idea of being insane, or “mad.”

Sebastian’s reason for thinking he may be mad is the reason that Olivia, a woman

whom he has just met, is showering him with gifts and wants to marry him. Olivia has fallen for

Cesario, whom she thinks is just a messenger boy, but Cesario is actually Viola in male disguise.

Upon seeing Sebastian, Olivia believes that he is Cesario. Sebastian has been unknowingly

thrown into his twin sister’s situation, and he is bewildered by everything happening. Because of

this, Sebastian believes that he could possibly be mad, but he also thinks that everyone else

around him is mad and that he is perfectly sane. However, even though he is confused, he is

delighted that Olivia, a beautiful woman, is so in love with him that he agrees to marry her.

Throughout this soliloquy, the idea of “madness” is continually toyed with, and it is the

reason for all of his self-contradictions. For example, in the third and fourth lines, Sebastian says,

“And though ‘tis wonder that enwraps me thus,/’Tis not madness.” (4.3.3-4.3.4) By this, he
means that he might be struck by the wonder of the situation, but he does not think he is the mad

one. Rather, he views himself as being caught in something wonderful, and everyone around him

is just mad. However, in line 10, he ponders whether or not this is just some sort of mistake-he

says, “...this may be some error, but no madness.” (4.3.10) At this point, he is denying any

madness altogether, and he is considering this whole situation to be just some big

misunderstanding. This thought lasts him until lines 13 to 16, at which point he decides that

either he or Olivia could be the mad one. He says, “...I am ready to distrust mine eyes,/And

wrangle with my reason that persuades me/To any other trust but that I am mad-/Or that the

lady’s mad.” (4.3.13-4.3.16) Following this, he contradicts the idea that Olivia is mad, in that she

is in charge of a whole household. In the final lines, he does not come to a conclusion as to

whether or not he is mad, or if Olivia is mad, or if everyone or no one is mad. This reveals just

how confused he is, but it also reveals that he is going to go along with whatever is happening

around him.

Shakespeare connects these contradictory thoughts with the words “but” and “yet”

throughout the soliloquy. The frequency with which he uses these words demonstrates just how

quickly Sebastian keeps reevaluating his situation. Overall, this wild inner conflict over

“madness” is well captured by Shakespeare’s prose in this particular soliloquy.