Malvolio’s self deceit is not the only example of deceit and humour in ‘the letter plot.’ Maria, Sir Toby and Fabian are deceiving both Malvolio and Olivia by writing the letter. The language they use while hiding from Malvolio
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contributes to the audience’s amusement. For example, Maria says ‘Lie thou there, for here comes the trout that must be caught with a tickling.’
Comparing the letter to a trout about to be caught makes Malvolio seem even more foolish as Maria predicts exactly what Malvolio does: catches Maria’s ‘trout’ and falls perfectly into their trap. While Malvolio is reading the letter, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian have to hide. To make the scene more comical, I would have the three men almost being caught by Malvolio but not quite. The language they use suggests this how the scene was intended to be staged: throughout the scene, Fabian asks for ‘peace’, suggesting they are being too loud and Malvolio will hear them. The staging of this scene can contribute greatly to the enjoyment of the audience: in the production of ‘Twelfth Night’ I saw, Sir Toby and sir Andrew dressed up as women to disguise themselves from Malvolio which added great amusement to the scene.
Sir Toby’s language is particularly funny as the audience can see sir Toby is angry at Malvolio but cannot do anything about it because he is hidden. His angry outbursts also increases the dramatic tension as the audience wonders whether he will be heard by Malvolio:
‘Out scab!’
‘Nay, patience, or we break the sinews of our plot’
When the letter plot is finally revealed to Malvolio, in the last act of the play, the disguise and deceit involved also makes very funny theatre. Malvolio's disguise to Olivia of yellow stockings and cross garters is funny as Malvolio has fallen for the letter-trap and now look stupid in front of his mistress and not just the mischievous Toby, Andrew and Fabian. An Elizabethan audience would find Malvolio's disguise particularly funny because he has been presented as a ‘stereotype’ puritan, ie: Shakespeare has taken characteristics
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from puritans of the time and exaggerated them to create Malvolio. As a puritan, Malvolio would always be wearing black, so the yellow stockings as a complete contrast to the black would amuse the audience. Puritans would not have gone to the theatre so Shakespeare created Malvolio, knowing that his audience would be free to laugh at him. The language between Malvolio and Olivia when he reveals himself to her is also very funny: for example, Malvolio takes Olivia's recommendation to lie down as a sexual invitation:
‘Wilt thou go to bed Malvolio’
‘To bed? Ay sweetheart and I’ll come to thee’
Maria also compares Malvolio's smiling face to a map of the west Indies, which stresses Malvolio's foolishness for carrying out the instructions of the letter so enthusiastically: ‘he does obey every point of the letter that I dropped to betray him. He does smile his face into more lines than is in the new map of the Indies.’
Feste deceiving Malvolio that he is mad also has a comic effect as whatever Malvolio says, Feste in his disguise as Sir Topas he says into the words of a mad man. For example, Feste manages to twist Malvolios words so he says ebony is transparent and lustrous (bright). Malvolio's confusion and frustration turns everything would make the audience laugh, as they all know he’s not really mad. The language Feste uses is comical as it makes fun of scolars in Shakespeare's time. For example, he imitates the language they would have used: ‘that that is, is’
Although this scene is comical, it also raises the question of whether Malvolio deserves to be treated as a mad man. He is presented as someone who thinks he is more important than he actually is but his actions could not be described as evil. Another puzzling aspect of this scene is that Feste dresses up as Sir Topas, even though Malvolio cannot see him. I think this is
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Shakespeare's way of telling the audience not to judge everything by what they see. This message is also shown in Violas disguise as Cesario: just because she looks like a man doesn’t mean she is one.
Another scene written deliberately to make the audience laugh, as well with the scenes involved with the letter plot is the ‘duel between Sir Andrew and Viola. Both have been deceived that the other is stronger, resulting in an amusing meeting. The language Sir Toby and Fabian use to describe sir Andrew is funny because their descriptions are exactly what the audience knows Andrew is not!
‘He is indeed sir, the most skilful, bloody and fatal opposite that you could possibly have found in any part of Ilyria’
The repeated adjectives used here (skilful, bloody, fatal) invite the audience to picture such a person and contrast it with Sir Andrew! The staging of the duel can heighten the fear Viola and Andrew have of each other and cause great amusement. For example in the production I saw, Viola and Andrew had to be carried by Fabian and Toby in their attempt to try to force them to fight. Unlike other duels in Shakespeare plays, (eg: the duel between Tibolt and Romeo in ‘Romeo and Juliet’) the audience knows no one is going to get hurt in this scene and can concentrate on the humour instead. The fact that they are fighting for no reason is funny, as the audience knows sir Andrew will never marry Olivia so challenging Cesario to a duel is a waste of time. Also he is competing with someone who will also never marry Olivia, as Cesario is a woman!
Sir Andrew and sir Toby are both very comical characters who add to the humour of the play. Sir Toby deceiving sir Andrew that he will marry Oilvia is funny because it shows how idiotic Andrew is: when sir Toby is persuading Andrew to stay, Andrew never questions him and believes his obvious lies:
‘She’ll not match above her degree, neither in estate, years or wit.’
By presenting Sir Andrew alongside sir Toby and Maria, Shakespeare is highlighting his foolishness. He does not understand sir Toby and Maria's wit and has to ask Maria ‘What is your metaphor?’ The language Sir Andrew uses often invites the audience to feel sorry for him. For example, when Malvolio is reading the forged letter, Sir Andrew simply agrees with everything that sir Toby says and does not give his own opinions. This may make the audience pity his foolishness:
‘I could marry this wench for this device’
‘So could I too.
‘And ask no other dowry with her but such another jest’
‘Nor I neither’
‘Wilt thou set thy foot o’ my neck?’
‘Or mine either’
‘To the gates of tartar, thou most excellent devil of wit!’
‘Ill make one too.’
Sir Andrews’s constant repetitions may make the audience feel sorry for him and ask whether he deserves to be deceived into thinking Olivia will marry him? His foolishness is not his fault, after all.
Although sir Toby may be criticised for deceiving Sir Andrew, he is also deceiving himself that he can act in a drunken way. However his drunkenness does contribute to the humour of the play eg: when he confuses the word ‘lethargy’ with ‘lechery’. His self-deceit seems to be allowed in Olivia's household- an Elizabethan audience may view Sir Toby as having the same characteristics as a ‘Lord of Misrule’: someone who behaves inappropriately at a time of festivity. They would recognise, therefore, that his behaviour is supposed to be enjoyed and contribute to the overall good nature of the play, rather than be frowned upon.
A 21st century audience is also invited to enjoy sir Toby’s drunkenness because in the world of Illyria, nothing should be taken too seriously. In ‘real life’ Sir Toby wouldn’t be put up with but the play celebrates chaos to harmony
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and is make-believe to the audience: this is shown in the imagery of the language used. Eg: when Orsino compares love to a ‘disease’ or when viola compares disguise to a ‘monster’. At the end of the play, Feste reminds us that the play is not real and that everyone is acting. The actors will ‘strive to please you everyday.’ The play is called ‘Twelfth Night or what you will’, which is further evidence Sir Toby is not supposed to be taken seriously as it is saying ‘make what you like of the play because it has no real consequences’.
As well as Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, Feste is also a comical character and his disguise as a fool, when he is actually very clever, contributes greatly to the humour, as it allows him to use intelligent word play to make fun of other characters, particularly Sir Andrew and Malvolio. His witty word play contrasts greatly with Sir Andrews’s stupidity and Malvolio's seriousness, making their characteristics more amusing. For example, he mocks Sir Andrew by saying ‘it’s better to be a witty fool than a foolish wit.’
Word play was much more important in Elizabethan times than it is now because they didn’t have all the visual entertainment we have nowadays, such as cinemas and televisions. They would be more alert for Feste's word play and may find it more amusing. Throughout the play he twists words so they are more entertaining, eg: with viola
‘I live by the church’
‘Art thou a churchman?’
‘I do live by the church; for I do live at my house and my house doth stand by the church’
I think Feste’s disguise as a fool is another example of Shakespheare telling us we shouldn’t judge people by what we see.
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Humour in ‘Twelfth Night’ takes too forms. I have already investigated the scenes, which have been written with the intention to make the audience laugh, eg: the letter plot. There are also scenes, which are not intended to make the audience laugh but are humorous because the audience can see the funny side to the situation. For example, Violas disguise as Cesario causes many humorous moments throughout the play. These scenes are usually connected to dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the characters on stage. For example, when Orsino tell Ceasrio she has the features of a woman: the audience may not find the scene funny but the dramatic irony adds excitement and anticipation. For an Elizabethan audience, the irony is heightened because Cesario would have been a male, playing a female, playing a male! Viola’s reaction to Orsino's comments could highlight the comical side of the situation, for example does she look happy or scared her cover was almost blown? In the production I saw, Viola winked at the audience, which made the play seem more like a live performance, as there was a chance for interaction between the audience and the actors.
Orsino, himself could also be seen as a comical character and his self-deceit that he loves Olivia could be humorous to the audience as he has foolish attitudes towards women. He thinks that if he waits long enough, Olivia will fall in love with him. The language he uses contributes to his foolishness and self-indulgent love:
‘Away before me to sweet beds of flowers: love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers’
The rhyme of ‘bowers’ and flowers’ draws attention to these particular lines and invites the audience to imagine Orsino lying in a bed of flowers and to laugh at his self-indulgence. He thinks that if Olivia can love her brother so much, she will definitely fall in love with him: ‘O she that hath a heart of that fine frame, to pay this debt of love but to a brother, How will she love, when the rich golden shaft, hath killed the flock of all affections else.’
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He also thinks that women cannot love as intently as men do. When talking about love he says his love is:
‘As hungry as the sea,
And can digest as much. Make no compare
Between that love a woman can bear me’
The rhyme of ‘sea’ with ‘me’ reminds the audience of Orsino's self-indulgence and raises the issue that Orsino is being unreasonable towards Olivia and whether he deserves to be punished for being so self-obsessed. Orsino may be compared to Romeo in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. At the beginning of both plays they are obsessively in love with someone but by the end of the play they have realised that their love was artificial. However, Romeo was a very young man, whereas Orsino is not so the audience may feel Orsino should know better than to be so self-indulgent.
Olivia is similar to Orsino with her self-deceit that she must mourn her brother everyday for seven years. Like Orsino her actions are humours because they are ridiculous: this would be apparent to an Elizabethan audience, especially, as they would recognise that Olivia would be too old to marry after seven years:
‘And water once a day her chamber round, with eye-offending brine’
Shakespeare uses the word ‘brine’ here, (saltwater) which is reflected later on in the play when Viola looses her brother in the sea (saltwater.) This pattern highlights Olivia's foolishness as it invites the audience to compare Viola’s
sensible reaction to her brothers death to Olivias self-indulgent one. The difference between this humour and the humour the audience experiences with Malvolio and the letter plot is that unlike Malvolio, Olivia hasn’t been presented as someone the audience is not supposed to like. For example, she doesn’t get angry with Feste calling her a fool for mourning her brother and shows the audience that in contrast to Malvolio, she is prepared to laugh
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at herself and not take everything so seriously. Because of this presentation, the audience is less likely openly laugh at her self-deceit.
Another humours situation, involving Olivia’s deceit is when she falls in love with Casario. The audience may find it amusing that she has vowed to mourn her brother but then falls in love with the first young ‘man’ she sees! However this scene is not designed to make the audience laugh as Casario and Olivia talk in rhyming couplets. In general, verse is used for the more serious scenes of the play (scenes involved with love) while prose are used during scenes that are supposed to be funny. (Sir Andrew and sir Toby always talk in prose) The rhymes Viola and Olivia use emphasise the intense feelings they have:
‘I love thee so that, maugre all thy pride,
Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide’
The rhyme brings attention to the fact that Olivia's situation with Orsino has been reversed and she can’t hide her feelings: not only is she in love she is pleading to Cesario. The rhyme of ‘youth’ with ‘truth’ in Cesrios reply, reminds the audience of Cesarios true gender and draws attention to the humour of the situation- Olivia has fallen in love with a woman:
‘by innocence I swear, and by my youth,
I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth.’
The major theme in Twelfth Night is the love triangle between Viola, Orsino and Olivia. However I think that the comedy, particularly when associated with disguise and deceit, is the most effective device at making the play as enjoyable and memorable as possible.