Looking at Act 2 scene 5 and Act 3 scene 4 consider the role of Malvolio in Twelfth Night in terms of context, humour and whether or not you he deserves our sympathy
Looking at Act 2 scene 5 and Act 3 scene 4 consider the role of Malvolio in Twelfth Night in terms of context, humour and whether or not you he deserves our sympathy
The main storyline in Twelfth Night is love between Cesario, Orsino, Olivia and later on in the play Sebastian. Malvolio's part in the play is a backdrop situation separate from the main story. He brings a level of both humour and sympathy to the play. Malvolio is one of the main sources of humour in Twelfth Night. In the later part of the play a different side of him is exposed.
Malvolio is Olivia's steward and his job is to manage Olivia's house; he is her chief servant. It's a very responsible job that he takes very seriously. He enjoys telling people what to do.
During the course of the play Malvolio can be seen in many different lights. At the start of the play you have a strong distaste for him because of his constant snooping and him being a killjoy. Later in the play its funny to watch him fall for Maria's trick and make a fool of himself in front of the whole household. However, by the end you want to feel sorry for him as the trick goes too far and give out the impression that he is mad.
Malvolio represents the puritan lifestyle. He does not smile or believe in having fun, which is why the trick is played on him in Act 2. This would be very funny to the audience and the characters in the play as they all know what is going on.
Before he even stumbles upon the letter, he is day dreaming of being head of Olivia's house. 'To be Count Malvolio' is just one of the things he says. He is dreaming of being married to Olivia, but the impression we get from the first half of the scene is that he want to marry her for the power and not so much because he loves her. He wants to be more powerful that Sir Toby and Sir Andrew.
The title of the play has not just been chosen at random. 'Twelfth Night' is referring to the twelfth night after Christmas, Epiphany. Today, the Twelfth Night after Christmas means the day we take down the decorations, but back in 1600 when the play was written it had a different meaning. Epiphany was a time for celebrating and partying. People used to have parties on Twelfth Night and it was traditional to play practical jokes at this time. These included tricks such as hiding live birds in an empty pie case, so that they flew away when the startled guests cut open the crusts. It was a mad time full of pranks and confusion, just as in the play. This name, 'Twelfth Night', therefore seems appropriate for this play due to all the confusion and the banter that goes on in the confusing storyline.
In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the word play, the vulgar humour of Sir Toby, stupidity of Sir Andrew, Malvolio's foolishness , and the general confusion caused by Viola's disguise.
Shakespeare used dirty and witty humour in most of his plays but it is perhaps most obvious in Twelfth Night. He used different types of humour to please all of the people who flocked to see his plays. There was always an array of people, and they all needed to be kept interested. There were the peasants that he could entertain ...
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In Twelfth Night we see different types of humour. There is the word play, the vulgar humour of Sir Toby, stupidity of Sir Andrew, Malvolio's foolishness , and the general confusion caused by Viola's disguise.
Shakespeare used dirty and witty humour in most of his plays but it is perhaps most obvious in Twelfth Night. He used different types of humour to please all of the people who flocked to see his plays. There was always an array of people, and they all needed to be kept interested. There were the peasants that he could entertain with the dirty jokes and humour. An example of this is 'this is my lady's hand these be her very C's, her U's and her T's and thus makes she her great P's.' In Shakespeare's time the phrase referred to the female genitals. Of course Malvolio did not understand this joke and it went unnoticed by him, but would have been very funny to both audience and Sir Toby hiding in the bush.
In Act 2 scene 5 the mood is very light hearted and is full of comedy that would have been funny to watch performed on stage. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and their friend Fabian are hidden away as they wait for Malvolio to stumble upon the letter supposedly written by Olivia. Even though they are hidden the audience can still see their reactions and hear their comments, which adds to the exaggerated humour of the scene. The audience is anxious to see what unravels next as they know Maria purposely wrote the letter in order to fool Malvolio.
When Malvolio enters the scene there is instant comedy. Before he even finds the letter he is fantasizing about being married to Olivia. Malvolio is dreaming aloud when he says, ' to be Count Malvolio ' this shows his desperate quest to marry Olivia. We get the impression from some of the things he says that he wants to marry her just for her power not because he loves her. "I command where I adore" why she may command me. I serve her' but this quote shows he is willing to do anything for her for love.
There were also always the higher classes at Shakespeare's plays. These people could be entertained with witty word play. Act 4 Scene 2 is a good example of this. Feste is talking nonsense to Malvolio, to make him think he's mad. For example 'Nothing that is so is so' is just one of the complicated phrases that is said by Feste (Sir Topaz).this is meant to be a parody of the way that philosophers and intellectual people spoke in the time the play was written. The more intellectual people in the audience would understand this joke and so it would not go unnoticed. Act 3 scene 5 is the scene were Malvolio makes a real fool of himself. He has taken the bait, and is now doing everything the letter told him to do. He enters looking ridiculous in his yellow cross-gartered stockings. His constant smiling makes him appear mad, and he continually quotes the letter he found. Olivia thinks he has gone crazy.
During the play Malvolio is badly treated by the other characters. In my opinion this is only through his own doing. Malvolio is seen in the eyes of the whole household as the party pooper. He takes his job very seriously. He is always very arrogant and tries to be manipulative to anyone that he thinks is doing anything they shouldn't. One of the first examples we see of Malvolio being bossy is in Act 1 Scene 5. He insults Feste the clown for his fooling. This is the first time we get a real idea what Malvolio is really like.
Act 2 scene 3 is the best scene in the play to show Malvolio's personality. Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, Feste and Maria are all in the basement in Olivia's estate. The are drinking and singing very loudly. Malvolio goes to investigate what is going on. When he discovers what it is going on he is outraged and starts to shout at Sir Toby, threatening to throw him out. Sir Toby pays no attention to what Malvolio is saying. He and Sir Andrew continue to mock him by singing. In this particular scene, Malvolio's character can be interpreted in two ways.He could be seen as a kill joy or has he just got Olivia's best interests at heart?
In line 105 Malvolio says to Maria, ' she shall know of it'. There could be many reasons for him saying this. He could have been trying to gain the respect of Olivia. The gain of respect could also lead to a gain of power that we later find out later in the play that Malvolio is desperate for. One of the other reasons he could be doing it is because he is just a killjoy. He may not like the way that Sir Toby lives his life and want to try to manipulate it. The whole of this speech has examples of both of Malvolio's sarcasm and his arrogant nature. In Olivia's household he regards himself to be of a higher status than the other servants and they are all aware of it. This is pointed out in line 101 by Sir Toby when he says 'go rub your chain with crumbs'. As Olivia's steward Malvolio wears a chain to show his status as an important member of the household. What Sir Toby is trying to say is regardless of his chain he is still one of them, crumbs being a sign of him being poor and lower class.
However, depending on how you view Malvolio's behaviour here in comparison to later in the play, he could also be seen in a different light. Lines 80 to 85 shows that Malvolio is not just being heartless and a killjoy but does actually consider other peoples opinions and interests. In this case it is Olivia's. It tells us that he has taken onboard what Olivia has said and is following her rules. However, again going back to him being a killjoy and heartless it could also just be him trying to get into Olivia's good books. Similarly he may be trying to gain Olivia's respect for his own personal gain in power.
The prank seems to take a back seat in the play as the viola story unravels as the main plot.
Over the next few scenes Malvolio finds the letter and the prank starts to unwind. Malvolio genuinely does believe that the letter is from Olivia. He seems to drop his beliefs and the puritan way of life instantly, in order to follow the instructions of the letter. This is due to craze for power.
In Act 3 Scene 4, Malvolio appears in front of Olivia smiling and wearing cross gartered stockings. This would have been funny to watch in the theatre. Malvolio starts to make a fool of himself. This is the first time we see Malvolio after he has found the letter. We can tell he has truly fallen for the trick by his sudden change in language. For example ' sweet lady, ho ho! '. This is not the way he would have normally spoken to her. It is less formal and a lot more confronting. This is the initial joke and is quite funny to hear Malvolio make a fool of himself, quoting from the letter, thinking Olivia understands. 'Wilt thou go to bed, Malvolio?' 'To bed! ay, sweet-heart, and I'll come to thee. ' This is just one of the points that Malvolio does this. Olivia is trying to tell Malvolio to go to bed as she thinks he is ill. Malvolio automatically jumps to conclusions and thinks that she is suggesting they have sexual intercourse. However Olivia gets the impression that Malvolio has gone mad. She tells Sir Toby to look after him.
After Malvolio is taken away he is put in a cell. At this point the joke takes a more sinister turn and Feste joins in on it. Act 4 scene 2 is the scene were Malvolio is locked up in the chamber and Feste, or in this scene Sir Topaz comes to mock him. The way he speaks to Malvolio makes him seem as if he is mad,
'Why it hath bay windows transparent as barricadoes, and the clearstores toward the south north are as lustrous as ebony; and yet complainest thou of obstruction?' Sir Topaz is deceiving Malvolio and tricking him into thinking that it is not dark in the prison. This baffles Malvolio and leads to further frustration. He protests that he is not mad, though Feste is doing all he can, under the direction of Sir Toby and Maria to convince Malvolio otherwise.
The last time that we see Malvolio in the play is a rather dramatic time. The final scene is just after the marriages of Olivia and Sebastian, and Orsino and Viola. The whole palace is full of laughter and cheer. Malvolio appears and ruins the mood. He has found out the true story and that he has been part of this clever ruse. He storms round the house shouting 'I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you. this is the last we see of Malvolio in the play. throughout the play you get mixed feelings for Malvolio. At the start it is funny to watch him make a fool of himself but towards the end you start to feel sorry for him because of all that he has been through over the play and the amount of times he has been humiliated.
Malvolio is a strong character in the play. He plays an important part in twelfth Night being the main source of comedy. He is often the centre of attention in the play but not for good reasons. Initially he maybe deserved the trick that was played on him. However when it turns malicious we can see it is severely affecting him, and by the end of the play is screaming he will have "revenge" on the lot of them. Malvolio concludes the play on bad terms, being the only character to end the play without a happy ending.
2214 words
Will Creech
