Twelfth Night is written by William Shakespeare. It was named after a Christian feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on the 6th January (12 days after Christmas.) Twelfth Night is a comedy and a very entertaining play, surrounding the character Malvolio, who is very impolite and disrespectful to the rest of the characters. As a result to this they decide to trick him, but however it gets out of hand when they decide to lock him up and claim that he is mad. Malvolio then stands as an unpopular steward and a vulgar character. He is more expressive about what he says than being witty but he is more self-important and big-headed. Malvolio brings both humour and sympathy to the play, and as a result he is the main character that brings the humour to the play. Malvolio is the steward of Olivia’s (countess) household, and thinks that he is powerful enough to get married to Olivia who is way powerful than him. Being a steward is a very sensible job, which he takes seriously. However being in that position he is powerful than the other servants, and bosses them around but that’s acceptable but however being impolite to Sir Toby (who is the uncle of Olivia and therefore in charge when Olivia is absent), is not acceptable. The reason why Malvolio is rude to Sir Toby is because of various reasons. The first one being is that, that’s who he is, and he can’t help being rude and stubborn. The second reason is that he thinks it is fine to act in this manner because he has been given a little bit if power, by Olivia; he goes and abuses this by using it in the wrong way. He is very organised and likes to take charge of everything and everyone. The social hierarchy was used in the Elizabethan times; to show the power, status, and wealth of a ...
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...s him as a comforter, but he takes the wrong idea of everything Olivia says to him.
Overall I don’t believe that Malvolio should be the character that everyone dislikes, but instead it should be Olivia. The reason for this is that in Act 1 Scene5, Viola come to inform Olivia that Orsino, (who is at the same standard as Olivia, and is the Duke of Illyria) is attracted to her, she says, “Good madam, let me see your face” and to this Olivia’s response is, “...Look you, sir, such one I was this present. Is’t not well done?” Here, Olivia acts vain, because she says, ‘I know I’m pretty, I look like a picture.’ Malvolio is just attracted to her, but why wouldn’t he be; she is richer than him, but to make her like him, he makes the other characters hate him. On the whole Malvolio is overconfident about everything and therefore says these things that are inappropriate.
This is harsh because Malvolio is older and does not know better. Lastly, since Maria is planning on writing the letters from Olivia’s point of view, she decides to play with it a little bit. In the
His inflated ego has lead him to misinterpret Lady Olivia’s feelings for him-or rather, her lack of feelings. Although he already has the notion that he should end up with the Lady, he is fooled by Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrew, believing Olivia feels the same for him. The tricksters deliberately write a letter indirectly addressed to Malvolio, divulging “Olivia’s” hidden love for the steward. Without giving much thought to the credibility of this discovered letter, Malvolio follows its enclosed instructions, unwittingly earning the real Lady Olivia’s disfavor (2.5.91-195). “This and his continuous disapproval of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew's drinking, earn him their hatred and he quickly becomes their pawn in a complex romantic ruse” (Review at Absolute
People are not always whom they appear to be. Whether it’s that fierce tattooed muscle man or that sweet elderly lady smiling from a few seats away, what is perceived is not always what is true. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night portrays many a character whose identities do not align with their inner character. Olivia’s polite ladylike demeanour, Sir Toby’s guise of nobility, and Feste’s job as a fool all demonstrate how social identities don’t always align with inner character.
In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio is considered an outcast by almost everyone in the play. He doesn’t act the same way that any of the other characters act, in that he doesn’t participate in any of their activities, he enforces rules that the others could care less about, and he is just overall a socially awkward guy. Malvolio not only claims to adhere to the rules of the household himself, but uses his relations with Olivia to try and help make the others follow the rules as well. This upsets certain characters more than others. For instance Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Maria find his behavior particularly detestable. But Malvolio’s strict coherence to the rules allows him to have a rather high position in Olivia’s household. While Malvolio may be considered a social outcast to most of the characters in the play, Olivia considers Malvolio to be a very trusted steward of her household. For these reasons Malvolio is not only a social outcast, but an outcast that Shakespeare uses to keep people interested in his play.
Twelfth Night, written by Shakespeare between the years of 1599 and 1601 (“Shakespeare-Online”), is easily one of his most well-known plays. A year after the assumed date of publication, on February the 2nd of 1602, Twelfth Night was performed for the first time (“William-Shakespeare)”. The location of the production is thought to have taken place in the Middle Temple, which was one of four law schools within London that were known as the Inns of Court (“Shakespeare-Online”). Though some would classify Twelfth Night as generic, it is laced with a sharp sense of humor and controversial concerns that can easily be applied to the issues of present day. Many of these issues, such as marriage, gender identity, gender, homosexuality, and social ambition, are relevant in today’s society, making them easy to relate to.
One of the reasons that none of the characters seemed to get along with Malvolio was because of his strict adherence to the rules. For characters like Sir Toby and Maria, this was considered especially (outcast-like) behavior because of their blatant disregard for the rules. Nancy Lindheim supports this point in her article by stating, “Malvolio alone acts with a moral severity that angers most other members of the household and is inimical (not friendly) to comedy itself.” (Lindheim 700) In this quote she is stressing the fact that Malvolio tends to act more morally than the other characters. This is seen in act 2 scene 3 of the play. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria are all having a good time, drinking and speaking very loud when Malvolio comes in and informs them that they are not showing respect to Olivia by being so rowdy in her house this late at night. Sir Toby then tells Malvolio to go hang himself. From this example we can see that very early on in the play there are some characters that really do not like Malvolio at all. Things only get worse after this point in the play.
In the play, Olivia has a steward, Malvolio, unpopular with servants, mean, authoritarian, control freak. Malvolio is tricked into believing he is loved by Olivia. Malvolio behaves as if she is in love with him and he is eventually locked up for madness. After reading and reviewing the play, Malvolio’s epiphany moments stood out the most for me. Malvolio, the puritanical, was the head servant in Lady Olivia’s household. Although Malvolio is very efficient, he also very self-righteous, and frowns upon most of the things such as drinking, singing, and fun. He fantasies about marrying his mistress and living higher than his social class.
Although Viola might be able to relate to Olivia's grief at first, her love for Orsino is so great that she cannot understand why Olivia would deny him. When Olivia expresses affectio...
After Olivia has her very first conversation with Cesario (Viola), where he tries to woo her for Duke Orsino, she immediately falls in love with him. After Cesario leaves her palace, Olivia says to herself ‘Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast; soft, soft. Unless the master were the man. How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?’ Here Olivia states that Cesario’s external features are what attract her to him. Her metaphor contains a s...
The antagonist of Twelfth Night is Sir Toby Belch because he tries to control Olivia’s life. Even though some may consider him a partier and jokester, he is also kind of a jerk. First he takes advantage of his nieces and Sir Andrew’s wealth. Sir Toby also wants Olivia to marry Sir Andrew so he can have more money for himself. He seeks revenge upon Malvolio by writing a phony love letter convincing Malvolio to perform hideous acts for Olivia’s love. Sir Toby knows Olivia will not put up with such acts and Malvolio was sent to the dark room for his insanity.
Shakespeare uses a play on words and symbols. that the jester is smarter than the rich and educated people he works with for. Twelfth Night, like all Shakespearean comedies, is largely about social concerns. The social messages on Twelfth Night are largely about that no one should be judged on appearance as they can be deceptive and the importance of self awareness or the humour in lack of.
In Twelfth Night the relationships are anything but romantic. Shakespeare writes from the male point of view which implies an un-easy split between love and physical charm. In Twelfth night the romance is falsely produced by selfish desire. Duke Orsino and Viola stand out from the other relationships. By questioning the relationships between the other couples, Shakespeare highlights the true love between Viola and Orsino and the fake relationship of Malvolio and Olivia which is truly based on Malvolio’s desire of a higher status , despite his status and his personality , Malvolio tries to impress Olivia by dressing up in ridiculous clothes , which does far from his aim , and repulses Olivia.
Twelfth Night or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies. It has been performed hundreds of times and adapted into a number of modern films. The main plot of the play follows Viola, a girl who is rescued from a shipwreck and enters into the service of the Duke Orsino disguised as a man. Rising quickly in his estimation, Viola begins delivering messages of love on his behalf to Olivia, a noble woman who has no interest in Orsino’s advances. Over the course of the play Olivia falls in love with the disguised Viola, Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, who supposedly died in the shipwreck, returns. Following Sebastian’s return the twins are mistaken for each other, leading to both misunderstanding and marriage in the final scenes of the play. Alongside the main plot of Twelfth Night is an almost equally prominent subplot involving Malvolio, a servant of Olivia, who falls in love with her and who falls prey to a prank planned by the other members of the household who despise his abhorrence of fun. In the article “The Design of Twelfth Night” by L.G. Salingar, Salingar examines the plot and structure of the play and addresses the significance of the subplot. The purpose of this essay is to examine both evidence from the play and articles from other authors, with a focus on Salingar, who have written on the subject in order to determine the purpose of the subplot. In his article, Salingar comes to the conclusion that the purpose of the subplot is to provide a comic mirror of the main plot while amplifying the main themes of delusion, misrule and festivity. Salingar presents a solid argument, however he has neglected another lesser but significant element of the sub-plot which illustrate...
...oth perspectives. They both still being servants are using disguise differently. Malvolio, servant of Olivia and Viola, servant of Orsino, they both have felt love for their masters/boss. They both express it differently, Malvolio loving Olivia uses cheery appearance and Viola loving Orsino hides her love secretly in her disguise. This essay was to prove that disguises and appearance is a symbolic feature for Viola and Malvolio's characters. According to given facts and examples, it was very clear that Viola and Malvolio use disguises as their shield, but they each use it differently.
Mistaken identity and disguise are important aspects of comedy in Twelfth Night that stand at the forefront of the play’s comedy. Not only are mistaken identities and disguise evident within the main plot of the play but also in various other situations. Sexual confusion amongst characters, subversion of gender roles and farcical elements through stagecraft all effectively contribute to the dramatic comedy genre. However, it can be suggested that certain elements of Twelfth Night are not interpreted to be purely comedic; Shakespeare has incorporated serious and controversial subjects such as the idea of genuine love, the patriarchy of the time and the cruel gulling of Malvolio. Therefore, disguise and mistaken identity are not solely for the purpose of comedy and it could be inferred that it even borders on the genre of tragedy.