At this point, Feste enters with Malvolio's letter, written as proof of his sanity. Olivia tells him to read it aloud, and he does, in an affected voice that makes everyone laugh. Olivia then gives the letter to Fabian to read. She is not truly convinced that Malvolio is all that mad. When he enters, he brings Maria's "love note" with him. Olivia instantly recognizes the handwriting as being Maria's. Thus she begins to reconstruct the intricacies of the practical joke that her servants have played on Malvolio. She declares that Malvolio shall be both plaintiff and judge of his own case against the pranksters.
Recounting all of the secret plottings which have taken place, Fabian confesses his and Sir Toby's roles in their attempt to take revenge on Malvolio. He also confesses that it was Sir Toby who persuaded Maria to write the forged love note, and that, "in recompense," he has married her. Olivia expresses pity for Malvolio; he has been "most notoriously abused," and then in lines of stately blank verse, Count Orsino ends the play by turning to Viola and telling her that while she seemed very dear to him once as a man, she is now his "mistress and fancy queen." Everyone exits, and Feste is left onstage.
He sings one last song, one of the most philosophical jester's songs in all of Shakespeare's plays. It tells of the development of men, focusing on the various stages of their lives, and putting all of the serious matters of the life of men into the dramatic context of this comedy — whose purpose is, after all, only to "please."
