Feste

Play

Twelfth Night

Summary

Feste is Olivia's licensed fool and the wisest character in the play. Unlike Malvolio, whom he calls "a kind of puritan," Feste knows that wisdom and foolery are interchangeable. A professional jester, singer, and wordplay artist, he floats freely between Olivia's house and Orsino's court, observing all with detached, melancholy intelligence. His songs — especially the haunting "What is love? 'Tis not hereafter" and the rain-song finale "When that I was and a little tiny boy" — give the comedy its undercurrent of transience and loss.

Notable Quotations

"What is love? 'Tis not hereafter; / Present mirth hath present laughter." *(II.iii)*

"The rain it raineth every day." *(V.i)*

"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." *(I.v)*

"I wear not motley in my brain." *(I.v)*

Cross-references

• Twelfth Night — the play
• Comedies — genre
• character_olivia — his mistress
• character_viola — who recognizes his wisdom beneath the foolery
• character_malvolio — whom he torments as Sir Topas and who despises fools
• character_sir_toby — fellow reveler and midnight companion