In 'Twelfth Night' Olivia's trusted steward Malvolio, like Sir Andrew, is the 'butt of comedy'.
Malvolio Drama Essay In 'Twelfth Night' Olivia's trusted steward Malvolio, like Sir Andrew, is the 'butt of comedy'. His very name suggests 'ill-will', which echoes his role in the play. Malvolio is an egotistical, "overweening rogue", who is a straight laced, puritanical, social climbing rebuker of others for their anti-social and often sinful behaviour, or as he put it, "misdemeanours". Malvolio's character is summarised excellently by Maria in Act II Scene III: The devil a puritan that he is, or anything, constantly, but a time-pleaser, an affectioned ass that cons state without book and utters it by great swarths; the best persuaded of himself, so crammed, as he thinks with excellencies, that if is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him. The positioning of this speech and its venomous tone is meant, without doubt, to prime the audience, and to turn the audience's neutral feelings towards Malvolio to ones of somewhat unjustified hatred considering the small amount that we have seen of him in the play so far. It is not just the under-plotters that mock Malvolio. His boss, Olivia, also criticizes Malvolio, but this time, due to the difference in status, to his face. She says that he is, "sick of self love." Malvolio's reaction to this statement shows one of three possible things about his character. Either he has enough self control to simply say
Imagine you are directing a production of 'Twelfth Night' with reference to the scenes Act II.V and Act III.IV what notes and advice would you give to the actor playing Malvolio?
Imagine you are directing a production of 'Twelfth Night' with reference to the scenes Act II.V and Act III.IV what notes and advice would you give to the actor playing Malvolio? Dear Actor playing Malvolio in the production of 'Twelfth Night', As you are the one that's going to play the role of the Character Malvolio in the production of 'Twelfth Night', I feel its my responsibility to write to you and give you notes and advice on how you should play the Character Malvolio within this production. Malvolio is a character that creates a range of different responses in our minds, on one hand he is unlovable and making claim to distinction or importance, on the other hand he has our sympathy for the disrespectful way in which he is treated by Sir Toby and Maria. The character Malvolio is a Puritan, a person with strict views about conformity or the conventional standards of moral conduct. In act two scenes five Malvolio picks up a letter and decides Olivia has written it to him. The comedy in this scene comes from Malvolio's interpretation of the letter. The letter contains hints that it refers to Malvolio, but not enough to justify his reaction. Fabian says that Malvolio is the reason that he is out of favour with Olivia, so he would 'exult' if Malvolio were made a fool of. Maria reports how Malvolio has been 'practising behaviour to his own shadow this half- hour'.
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most performed comedies because it is a joyous celebration of romantic love. Do you agree?
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most performed comedies because it is a joyous celebration of romantic love. Do you agree? Twelfth Night is popular due to being a joyous celebration of romantic love. A lot of people would agree with this statement but many would also not agree. In this essay I will be summing up both points of view and ending with a balanced summary and decision. The title of the play is 'Twelfth Night.' This is to do with being the twelfth night of Christmas on which (at the time of the plays production) wealthy households used to have a custom of allowing the jester to run the household. This would mean turning their lives upside-down for a day. The theme of their lives being turned upside-down is one that re-occurs throughout the play. With everyone's lives being turned upside-down everything is a comic mess which makes Twelfth Night funny and comical. The restoration of harmony is when Viola reveals her identity. In this final scene everyone and everything returns to normality. For some people the restoration of harmony is a bad thing and their lives turn back to normality for the worse, but for most it means marriage and happiness with their loving partner. Throughout the play there are many themes, which appear more than once and for different people in different situations. The main and most important theme in Twelfth Night is
The most perceptive characters in Twelfth Night are the best at fooling others. How far would you agree with this statement?
'The most perceptive characters in Twelfth Night are the best at fooling others.' How far would you agree with this statement? The humour in Twelfth Night focuses around the concept of mistaken identity and deception. Viola, in her guise as Cesario, is the cause of much confusion as various characters mistake her for her brother Sebastian; the minor characters spend much of the play pulling a cruel prank on Malvolio. It is intriguing how much Shakespeare tells us about the characters of Twelfth Night by the ways they view and trick each other, and indeed themselves. Orsino has us paying attention from the very start of the play. Within seven lines of the opening, we already know that he seems to be a capricious character, from asking the musician to 'play on' to deciding that 'Enough, no more/'Tis not so sweet as it was before.' The faux finality provided by this couplet makes the reader consider to what extent Orsino means what he says, including his professed love for Olivia. Does Orsino really love Olivia, or is he just enjoying the feeling of being a rich romantic, madly "in love"? The way that Orsino is not able to see what he really is, gives us little hope of his ability to see who he really loves - Viola, which we can see from his rapid, no nonsense redirection of affection - "Let me see you in thy woman's weeds." The fact that Orsino has dropped all the romance and
Discuss the Effects that Arise in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night From Viola’s Disguising Herself as Cesario
Discuss the Effects that Arise in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night From Viola's Disguising Herself as Cesario A large amount of the plot of Twelfth Night results from Viola's disguise and it has great number of unforeseen consequences. The first and possibly the most crucial of these is Olivia's sudden attraction to Viola when she disguises herself as Cesario. This begins when Olivia sees Viola for the first time. As she comes to declare the Duke's love for Olivia in Act 1 Scene 5. At the start of the scene Viola does not realise that she is speaking to Olivia, instead thinking she is addressing a servant. However, it is because of this that Viola says the first thing that may have attracted Olivia to her. She calls Olivia, '...most radiant, exquisite and unmatched beauty.' This is not part of a prepared speech and seemingly directed to a mere servant. It may be this phrase that first softens Olivia's heart towards the boyish Cesario. The probable reason for Viola using this phrasing is that she is trying to charm her way into see Olivia and as girl, knows exactly how they like to addressed. In this scene one of the most prominent effects of Viola's disguise is that it seems that the Boy Cesario can think like a woman. To Olivia, having forsaken men whilst morning her brothers death Viola comes across as extraordinarily sensitive. When Viola confesses Orsino's love for Olivia she
How far do you agree with the view that Twelfth Night is a comedy where tragedy lurks just under the surface?
GCSE English Literature Coursework essay Essay question: How far do you agree with the view that Twelfth Night is a comedy where tragedy lurks just under the surface? Although there is little speculation as to whether or not Twelfth Night is a comedy when watching or reading the play, the majority regard the play as a comedy and not a tragedy. Purely because of the many funny scenarios that occur throughout the play, and because of the structure of the play which fits a pattern with other comedies written by Shakespeare. This structure may include: mistaken identities, separation and unification, male friendship, a clever servant, heightened tensions often within a family and multiple plots. Many of Shakespeare's comedies contain most if not all of these elements. In Twelfth Night these elements are clearly apparent which will be explored in our search to answer the question: whether Twelfth Night is a comedy where tragedy lurks just under the surface? Twelfth Night would have undoubtedly been regarded as a comedy in the Elizabethan theatre. Shakespeare obviously intends for it to be perceived as a comedy and not to be taken seriously as the subtitle suggests "What You Will", meaning the audience can perceive the play how they like. Its name "Twelfth Night" has nothing to do with the play but was named after the Twelfth Night holiday and was to be performed as part of
How does Shakespeare resolve the problems he creates in the play "Twelfth Night"?
How does Shakespeare resolve the problems he creates in the play? In The play "Twelfth Night" Shakespeare resolves the problems he creates in the play In a variety of ways. Twelfth Night is a traditional Shakespearean comedy, full of confusion, disguised identity and a ending where most of the main characters marry one another these includes...Olivia, Sebastain, Sir Toby and Maria end up marrying, Orsino, Viola Although the date is unknown when the play was written it was first preferred in 1602. It is not really what we call comedy in relation to what we call comedy today. At the time it would have been consider as a comedy because the kinds of things it was about. Viola is one of the main characters in the play and her problems start at the very beginning. She is ship wrecked; she wants to hide away from being recognized and needs money. Shakespeare solves this problem for her straight away by sending her to work as a servant for Orison. Act 1 Scene2 she asks the sea captain for help "Conceal me what I am, and be my aid. For such disguise as haply shall become the form of my intent, ill serve this duke." She faces the next problem almost straight away Orsino gets Cesario to go to Olivia and get her to go out with him but Fancied by Olivia although she is really a woman a woman, In Act 2 Scene 2 she says to Olivia: "For she did speak In starts distractedly she loves
Which is the most important aspect of love demonstrated in the play Twelfth Night?
Which is the most important aspect of love demonstrated in the play Twelfth Night? In the play Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, there are many different types of love conveyed; courtly, unrequited, sibling, plutonic, romantic and self love. All of these different aspects help build up the structure of the play as they are highlighted by at least one pair of characters. Out of the numerous types, self love and unrequited love are the two expressed the most, in the comedy side as well as the romantic. Self love is slightly more important because, in most cases, self love needs to be in existence for unrequited to be initiated. Self love is defined as "selfishness, self-indulgence". Two excellent examples of this are Orsino and Olivia. Although Orsino's can be closely connected with courtly and unrequited, there is more of a self love aspect to it. Orsino's self love is conveyed to the audience by showing him lounging around with lots of servants going about, running his errands for him. He is very opinionated about his love for Olivia claming "Mine is as hungry as the sea, and can digest as much". He is also very chauvinistic believing a man's love to be stronger than a woman's "As love doth give my heart; no woman's heart so big, could hold so much; they lack attention". Another example of self love is Olivia. Olivia is so wrapped up in herself that, for
Twelfth night - Viola has often been identified as one of Shakespeare's mostrewarding female roles for an actor, what attractive qualitiesdo you find in her character?
Katie Lambert 10S1 Twelfth night essay Viola has often been identified as one of Shakespeare's most rewarding female roles for an actor, what attractive qualities do you find in her character? In considering some of Violas key speeches what advice would you give to an actor? Viola as a main character is the most deceitful; she tricks everybody into believing she's a man, but as well as being most deceitful she is also the most honest and sincere. So what are her attractive qualities? Why does she appeal to us as an audience? In this essay I will be looking at Viola and her appealing qualities as well as the way in which I believe she should be acted. In many ways Viola represents true love, love that is not self-seeking but self-sacrificing, throughout the play she remains true to Orsino, trusting him completely "To do you rest, a thousand deaths would die" she would die for him and willingly. Many people would agree that any person who could feel like that is stereotypically shallow and petty, both traits people despise. She carries out orders unquestioningly to "woo" Olivia, when she herself knows she is wooing the woman that will be Orsino wife "who'evr I woo, myself would be his wife" when it is she that wishes to be in that place. She wants him to be happy and in giving him that happiness, her happiness she is left alone, is that not self-sacrificing? Out of
How do your feelings change towards Malvolio during the course of the play?
How do your feelings change towards Malvolio during the course of the play? Malvolio was a very important member in Olivia's household. Being the steward he was responsible for a lot of things in the house. He was a conscientious and efficient steward who Olivia cared much about. '' I would not have him miscarry for the half of my dowry '' ( Act 3, Scene 4, Line 62-62 ) Malvolio's service and his judgement were valued by Olivia. '' if it be a suit from the Count, I'm sick, or not at home - what you will do dismiss it '' ( Act 1, Scene 5, Line 98 ) We first met Malvolio in Act 1, Scene 5 when Feste was trying to prove to Olivia that she was the fool for mourning for her brother when she knew that his soul was in heaven. Olivia asked for Malvolio's opinion on Feste. Malvolio was critical, bitter and sarcastic in his response. He replied as if he was looking forward to Feste's death. '' Yes, and shall do till the pangs of death shake him '' ( Act 1, Scene 5, Line 67 ) He referred Feste as a ' barren rascal ' and totally put him down. He didn't actually speak directly to Feste, he talked bad of Feste right in front of him, as if he didn't existed. Malvolio's comments on him were scornful. He said Feste needed an audience or he'd have nothing to say. This in fact is very true, actors need audience to complete their performance or their act would be totally