from the third scene of the first act, we got a little taste of the character Sir Toby Belch. Gathering from the things that he himself said, and the way he reacted to things Maria said, i got a taste of his character, without knowing anything about him. From this scene, my first impression of Sir Toby belch, was that he is a strong believer of male dominance. He’s not what he call a “sensitive” guy, what with him complaining about Olivia grieving for so long, and sending strange drinking buddies to her room too woo her. He’s kind of a man’s man. Drinks too much and is proud of it, and doesn’t like to take shit from others. So what if Maria and olive disapprove of his drinking? He doesn’t care-he knows what’s best. He says things like “He’s a coward and a coistrel that will not drink to my niece till his brains turn o' th' toe like a parish top. What, wench!” basically saying he’ll beat up anyone who doesn’t drink to her- like a man, violence is his first option. He’s a blunt aggressive character, who doesn’t necessarily consider tactics and subtlety. He just straight up told sir Andrew to woo Maria. Very blunt and not exactly polite.

I gathered all this about him from reading between the lines. The words coming out his mouth did not speak for themselves. He or Maria didn’t stand there telling the reader (me) that this man is an arrogant, aggressive blunt and insensitive man. This is something I concluded myself. I imagine a man who looks like a drunk, and doesn’t really care for the opinions of others.