In Twelfth Night, a play written by William Shakespeare, morals are a highlighted part of each character’s temperament. In the play, some characters - for example, Malvolio, have weak morals, they are treated poorly. An imperative part of a personality is one’s morals; morals isolate people from being obedient and disobedient. There are four humours that the characters’ are categorised into, they include: phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric, and sanguineous. The characters who represent three of the humours are Sir Toby Belch, who is sanguineous, Duke Orsino, who is choleric, and Malvolio, who is melancholic. In contrast to Duke Orsino and Malvolio’s anxious demeanour, Sir Toby displays a more extemporaneous outlook on life. …show more content…
The Duke is unpredictable, for instance, when the Duke learned that Cesario is Viola, a girl, and he immediately fell in love with her. Moments early the Duke threatened to murder Cesario for Olivia’s love. The Duke is persistent, for four acts of the play the Duke’s love for Olivia was intense. He refused to stop loving her as much as she resisted. “Once more, Cesario, Get thee to yond same sovereign cruelty” (II.iii. 80-81). Finally, the Duke is domineering. He tried to convince everyone that Olivia could love him. Not only did the Duke disregard his employee’s guidance to forget Olivia, he forced his opinion onto them. For example, Cesario told the Duke that he should refrain from his continuous attempts to make advances on Olivia. After the Duke made a speech that reinforced that he loved Olivia and that she could not comprehend that she loves him. The Duke’s behaviour is unorthodox, comparable to Malvolio’s surreal …show more content…
Structure is appreciated by Malvolio, a rigid man, he not only embraces the rules, but inhabits them. For the rules, Malvolio’s flexibility is rare. For example, Malvolio criticised Maria, Feste, Fabian, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Sir Toby for being noisy. Malvolio threatened to punish Maria since in theory he is Maria’s superior. Along with Malvolio’s obsession for the rules he does not know how to conduct himself with others. For example, when Malvolio reads the letter which he presumed Olivia wrote, but in actuality Maria wrote it. Malvolio is a megalomaniac and perhaps his desire to obtain control distracted him. Nonetheless, he should have known that this atypical behaviour would not charm Olivia. The letter told Malvolio to: wear yellow stockings, he wore them cross-gartered, he must act discourteous towards noblemen and servants. Malvolio is unsociable, he retains various unpleasant qualities, but one that made him so odious is his arrogance. Malvolio is arrogant, for instance, when Malvolio insulted Feste, his intelligence, and his job. “I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal. I saw him put down the other day with an ordinary fool that has no more brain than a stone” (I.v. 79-81). Feste could not achieve Malvolio’s unattainable standards, so Malvolio thinks he is superior to Feste, since Feste is a jester. Malvolio has multiple traits that can be categorised into the melancholic
Olivia’s own cousin, Sir Toby, also has a secret side that doesn’t align with his social identity. Sir Toby is supposed to be a honourable high...
During the weeks leading up to matrimony, Olivia fell madly in love with Cesario, who though looks and sounds just like Sebastian, is truly Viola dressed as a man. Sebastian does not realize this as he meets Olivia for the first time. He is amazed that a woman of her statue and beauty would feel so strong for him and he wastes no time.... ... middle of paper ...
The reading of the letter creates comedy the requests are outrageous. Malvolio is told to wear yellow cross-gartered stockings "to be opposite with kinsman, surly with servants" and to constantly smile. The thought of this is hilarious considering that Malvolio is a strict puritan and is very malice towards others.
The plot deepens as Cesario proceeds to woo Olivia for the Duke. It is only the second time that Cesario appears at Olivia’s home when Olivia openly declares her love for Cesario. Throughout this time, Sir Andrew has been nursing a hope to win Olivia’s love. When he plans to give up hope of her love, Sir Toby suggests that Sir Andrew fight with Cesario to impress Olivia. Cesario, however, refuses to fight. At the same time, Viola’s brother, Sebastian, who is also shipwrecked, makes his way to safe lodging in Illyria with Antonio the sea captain. After the fight between Cesario and Sir Andrew begins, Antonio intervenes to save Cesario, whom he takes for Sebastian. But the Duke’s officers promptly arrest Antonio for a past offense. Then, Olivia later comes upon Sir Andrew and Sebastian bickering at her home. Olivia, thinking Sebastian is Cesario, leads Sebastian to marriage in a nearby chapel. Finally, Cesario inevitably reveals that he is Viola and Sebastian recognizes her as his sister. The Duke reciprocates Viola’s love offerings and proposes to her. Olivia assures Malvolio...
Finally, Olivia officially tells Viola (Caesario) that she loves him after Viola delivers another message to Olivia. Olivia tells Caesario that she has been in love with him ever since she first saw him, and that she cannot hold it anymore. She cares not about what her society would think about her for falling in love with a person not from her class. The reader knows that Viola is not interested at all in Olivia since she is in love with Orsino. Lady Olivia’s love for Caesario illustrates a universal truth about life that when someone is in love, he/she will do whatever it takes to show the other person that they love them. They are willing to sacrifice everything they’ve got for their love. In this case, Olivia is sacrificing her social status and reputation.
Viola, as Cesario, manages to win the favour of Orsino He truly believes that she is a he. Orsino, still convinced of my majesty, believes that he can win the love of a woman, via a proxy. By having Viola merely read the words he has prepared, he thinks that Olivia will fall immediately in love with him. But while Orsino had his head in the clouds about his love, Viola is attempting to conceal from him, her love for him.
To conclude, though Twelfth Night’s main plot revolves around melancholic romance, what truly makes it a comedy is the erratic mood set by sub-plots to recall that of the festival with the same name. In the play, both Maria and Malvolio, servants to Olivia, show great aspirations to rise high above their social classes. However, Maria, being much more in-synch with the offbeat mood of the household, succeeds easily in marrying a nobleman, while Malvolio, stiff and pompous, just fails miserably. The conclusion to the play, which is contrary to what viewers would ever hope to happen in their real lives, succeeds in bringing enjoyment to all the lower-class people who watched it. Although the play includes many clever paradoxes, it is first and foremost a play created to entertain servants on their fun-filled rare day off.
Honors 102 2/11/18 In Twelfth Night, Malvolio’s controlling personality and dislike for merrymaking ultimately make him the product of humiliation for Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrew. While the other characters punish him for entertainment, Sir Toby does so out of his desire to sustain his disorderly way of living. Sir Toby and his companions punish Malvolio justly with the forged letter as payback for the ill-treatment he inflicts on them, however
Feste is able to prevent any delusions of grandeur by a reminder that foolishness is a condition common to all mankind whether one is king or servant. It is Malvolio's vanity that convinces Feste to take part in the joke played on the steward. As "Sir Topas", and Malvolio's `prosecutor` Feste attempted to help Malvolio realize that there was "no darkness but ignorance".
...wants to return to her proper position. Her disguise ;nevertheless, prevents her to do so. As the duke's servant, Viola has the freedom to speak about love , but as Viola she couldn't expose this love to him
As surprising as it may seem, Feste is one of the smartest characters in the play despite his title. Throughout the play, Feste makes amusing comments and provides entertainment for all of the other characters, but especially proves there are other characters which fit the stereotype of a fool better than
common existence and non-influential social class. Further, Mosca resents being Volpone's support system and setting up his wealthy well-wishers for swindlings. Mosca is (at best) praised for being a "fine devil" (5.3.46). Also, as a parasite, Mosca f
Alan S. Downer writes, “Feste ‘exposes’ the Duke as he had earlier with Olivia. By mocking them both, he points out that their lovers are sentimental and foolish” (121). Feste presents Orsino to the audience as a man that is temperamental, unstable, and easily changeable to prevent the audience from feeling misplaced sympathy for
Love however, is the source of much confusion and complication in another of Shakespeare’s comedies, Twelfth Night. Men and women were seen as very different from each other at the time the play was written, they were therefore also treated in very different ways. Because of this Viola conceals her identity and adopts the role of a man, in order to better her safety whilst being alone on the island, and to get a job at Count Orsino’s court. In the play Shakespeare uses the gender confusion he has created from obscuring characters identities to explore the limits of female power and control within courtship, and their dominance within society. Violas frustration surrounding her inability to express her feelings to the Count because she is a woman is an example of the limiting rules of courtship which were upheld at the time. (Aside) ‘yet, a barful strife! Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife.’ Here she is already expressing her anxiety and emotion at being a woman, and having to keep her emotions hidden from those around her. She longs to be able to express her love as a man could, and in her disguise as Cesario she finds an opportunity to vent her feelings for the Count, but concealed as his words and towards Olivia. Viola is unaware of how her words may sound to Olivia because she is aware of their gender boundaries however Olivia isn’t and soon falls for Cesario. Because Olivia is a Lady and head of the household, and especially how she lacks a father figure, she has a lot more freedom in courtship. Duisinberre comments on this saying, ‘...Viola and Beatrice are women set free from their fathers, and their voice is that of the adult world.’ This is seen when Olivia immediately takes the dominant role in her and Cesarios relat...
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.