In this case Malvolio was not wrong because bear baiting was cruel.
Maria liked Toby and usually attended his disruptive parties. She also did not like Puritans, his bossiness and because he thought too much of himself and that everyone loved him:
“… It is his ground of faith that all that look on him love him.”
Due to this Maria comes up with a plan to play a trick on Malvolio and make him look silly in front of Olivia and hopefully get him dismissed. Maria knew that Malvolio loved Olivia and wanted to be an important person. So Maria wrote a letter to Malvolio making her handwriting look like Olivia’s handwriting and sealing it with Olivia’s seal. In the letter it told Malvolio to do silly things to prove his love for Olivia. Maria dropped the letter in Malvolio’s path so that he would find it and read it.
Malvolio did find the letter and read it thinking it was from Olivia.
“This is my lady’s handwriting. This is how she does her C’s, her U’s and her T’s.”
Maria wrote, “I command where I adore.” Malvolio, reading this, assumed that the letter meant him. ”Why, she may command me.” After came “M O A I.” Malvolio changed this so that it related to him:
“To crush this a little, it would bow to me.”
In the letter it told Malvolio to wear yellow stockings, cross garters and to smile to impress Olivia. Olivia hated the colour yellow, cross garters and she was in mourning so smiling was inappropriate. The letter talks about greatness and that:
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness trusted upon them.”
Malvolio thought this was him, as he would become great if he married Olivia. Near to the end it mentions the word “steward,” and Malvolio is now convinced it means him. The letter went on to say that Olivia loved him. Malvolio, after reading the letter vowed to do everything the letter said.
Malvolio goes to see Olivia wearing yellow stockings and cross gartered. Olivia is puzzled by Malvolio’s behaviour and cannot understand what he is talking about.
“Why, how dost thou, man?”
Olivia asks Malvolio if wants to go to bed, she means to rest. Malvolio thinks that she means together:
“To bed! Ay, sweetheart, and I’ll come to thee.”
Olivia is horrified and thinks that he is mad:
“Why, this is midsummer madness.”
Malvolio constantly refers to the letter, which Olivia has no idea what he is talking about.
“Remember who praised your yellow stockings.”
Olivia asks Malvolio to be looked after by Sir Toby. This shows that Olivia cares for Malvolio’s welfare.
“… Let this fellow be looked to. Where’s my cousin Toby?”
Malvolio, as it says in the letter, is rude to the servants, in this case Maria:
“Yes; nightingales answer daws.”
When Malvolio is sent to Sir Toby, Sir Toby decides to take the trick further. As he is already thought to be mad Toby decides to have him locked in a dark room and tied up.
Feste dresses as Sir Topaz the priest and teases and taunts Malvolio to try and convince him that he is mad, saying that the room is not dark:
“Why, it hath bay windows transparent as barricades.”
Feste keeps calling Malvolio a lunatic:
“… Who comes to visit Malvolio the lunatic?”
All the time throughout their conversation Feste keeps trying to convince Malvolio he is mad. Feste asks Malvolio what he thinks about Pythagoras’s theory that when you die you come back as an animal. Malvolio answers that he does not believe this. Feste tells Malvolio that he must agree with the theory before he considers Malvolio sane:
“Thou shalt hold the opinion of Pythagoras ere I will allow of thy wits.”
Sir Toby decides by now that the trick has gone far enough and decides to set Malvolio free.
Malvolio comes out in a pathetic and desperate state. When Malvolio is released he blames Olivia for tricking him and having him locked in a dark room.
“Madam, you have done me wrong, notorious wrong.”
Olivia knowing nothing of the letter does not understand why he accuses her for having him locked up. Malvolio gives her the letter and he finds out about the trick that was played upon him as Olivia recognises the handwriting as Maria’s. Fabian comes forward and tells them of their trick that they played.
I think that Malvolio does deserve some sympathy. Malvolio broke up their parties and complained at their loudness because they were often late at night; this is fair point to make. Malvolio is also a Puritan and his religion tells him that you should not drink or have fun, he is only doing what he believes is right. He should not have tried to force his beliefs on to other people though. Malvolio should not have threatened Sir Toby as he had more of a right to be there as he is family. Malvolio is only one of Olivia’s staff. Maria’s and Sir Andrew’s disliking of Malvolio is mainly due to Sir Toby disliking Malvolio. He has not done anything to them apart from break up a few of their parties and tell them not to be so loud sometimes. Also, Olivia did not want people around her being loud and having parties as she is in mourning.
Fabian did not like Malvolio because he reported him for bear baiting. Bear baiting is very cruel so Malvolio had a right to inform Olivia of this, as he knew that she would strongly disapprove of this.
Malvolio was very rude to Feste though and he took Malvolio’s comments of how uneducated his jokes were to heart. This was said in front of Olivia whom he liked and made a lot of money out of. Malvolio could have thought that Olivia wanted Feste to go away as she had just been to her brother’s funeral and was very upset.
From this I do think that Malvolio deserves some sympathy. He should not have been treated the way he was. He did not do anything that was wrong and none of the others were friendly to him anyway. Most of the things that he did, he did for Olivia, like stopping the parties and keeping the noise down.
By Lee Baldwin
