In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night what does Antonio mean when he says "And grew a twenty years' removed thing"?

Question

This is in Act 5, Scene 1, line 87. Antonio is speaking to Orsino.
Thanks!

Answer 1

He's using hyperbole. He believes that Sebastian has deserted him in his hour of need (he's just been arrested by Orsino's officers). He asks for his purse, which he had given to Sebastian to hold.

But, it's really Viola/Cesario he's talking to, and not Sebastian. Viola has no idea what Antonio is talking about, and Antonio interprets her unwillingness to help as a betrayal.

So, a "twenty years removed thing" is something that has been absent from your experience for so long that you've actually FORGOTTEN it. According to Antonio, Sebastian is treating HIM as such a thing, even though they (Sebastian and Antonio) parted mere hours before.

Answer 2

This scene is when Antonio is telling Orsino about "Sebastian's" (actually Viola's) dismissal of him. He recounts how he saved Sebastian from the sea and put himself in personal danger, only to have Sebastian pretend not to know him when in trouble. In reality, of course, it was Viola who offended Antonio, because she really didn't know him.

Anyway, the point of that line is that Sebastian knew Antonio and grew close to him, but as soon as he was in trouble, he removed himself as if he had never known Antonio.

"And grew a twenty years removed thing
While one would wink..."

In the time it takes the blink, Sebastian changed from a close friend to a stranger you haven't seen in twenty years. He went from his best friend to that guy he saw at his high school reunion in a wink.