The Gentleman's Duel - The Twelfth Night
The gentleman’s duel is an arrangement between two people where they engage in combat with matched weapons. This practice was particularly common during the 17th and 18th centuries, where the opponents faced each other in the event where one of the two parties had offended the other. The two parties would duel although it was most likely that both would survive in the end, as it was mostly considered a symbol of risking one’s life to restore honour to both parties.
In The Twelfth Night, Viola, who is disguised as a man who goes by the name Cesario, has to face Sir Andrew in a duel, and before the duel Sir Toby Belch gives Sir Andrew advice by saying “so soon as ever thou seest him, draw; and, as thou drawest swear horrible; for it comes to pass oft that a terrible oath, with a swaggering accent sharply twanged off, gives manhood more approbation than ever proof itself would have earned him” This suggests that it is a show of masculinity and honour. This is fortified by the segment of speech “…for his honour's sake, have one bout with you…” uttered by Sir Toby Belch.
Although the intentions of having a duel aren’t necessarily to kill the opponent, this play has evidence where one of the two men might not make it out alive, as the letter from Sir Andrew said “…and God have mercy upon one of our souls! He may have mercy upon mine; but my hope is better, and so look to thyself,” implying that Viola might actually die in duel. However, towards the end of the extract the possible deaths are more in question as Sir Toby Belch says to Sir Andrew “…he will not hurt you.”
According to Wikipedia, this practice was limited to only the upper classes during the 17th century, and this fact is substantiated by the fact that Sir Andrew and Sir Tony are both knights who know the code of duel.
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