Actual Quote:
“If this were played upon a stage now,
I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.”
In Current Language:
If I witnessed these events played on a stage, I would rate the fiction as unrealistic.
Suggestions For Use: Colorful way to express incredulity at what is happening under your eyes, directly or at a distance.
What Happens in the Actual Play:
Malvolio, Olivia’s butler, is secretly in love with his employer. Other characters in the play trick him into believing that his feelings are reciprocated. One of the pranksters forges a letter to Malvolio, supposedly from Olivia, suggesting that she loves him and that, as a signal that he reciprocates her love, he should wear yellow stockings and smile all the time.
Malvolio does as the letter suggests, but Olivia thinks that he has gone mad and has him locked up. On seeing some of Malvolio’s ridiculous gesturing, a character called Fabio believes that, even as fiction, the plot would be unrealistic. Continue reading