As well as Viola and Olivia, Maria shows her wit and strong-will in the play when she tells Sir Toby off for coming home in the late hours of the night.
‘By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier o’ nights: your cousin, my lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours.’(Act 1, Scene 3, Line 4,5,6)
Her strong character does not let her feel intimidated by Sir Toby, when telling him off, and she openly complains about him bringing Sir Andrew to woo Olivia.
Maria and Olivia also have similar character strength because Olivia is clever enough to determine Cesario’s personality by rejecting Orsino’s ‘groans that thunder love’ (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 252) but telling Cesario to come back to tell her how Orsino takes it. This is cleverness on Olivia’s part because the return of Cesario will help her determine Cesario’s intentions and character and get Cesario to like her in return.
‘Unless, perchance, you come to me again
To tell me how he takes it.’(act 1, Scene 5, Line 278-279)
Similarly, Maria tricks Malvolio by writing a letter to him pretending she is Olivia and asks him to wear a pair of yellow stockings.
‘I will drop in his way some obscure epistle of love;
I can write very much like my lady your niece.’(Act 2, Scene 3, Line 151-152, 155-156)
This shows Maria’s wit and cleverness as she thought of this brilliant revenge by herself. She is not completely vengeful, however, because she doesn’t approve of getting Malvolio sent to prison.
Viola and Maria are in similar situations because they have both fallen in love with someone they think they cannot have. Viola is playing Duke Orsino’s right hand man with the disguise of Cesario and has fallen in love with him. However she cannot uncover who she is by telling him that she likes him. So indirectly she tells him,
‘What kind of woman is’t?
Of your complexion.
She is not worth thee then. What years, i’ faith?’(Act 2, Scene 4, Line 25-27)
Like Viola, Maria also cannot profess her love for Sir Toby as she is afraid he will reject her because of her social standing. This is because Maria is simply a lady in waiting and Sir Toby is rich and is of high social status. In spite of this, they end up getting married at the end of the play,
‘Maria writ the letter at Sir Toby’s great importance,
In recompense whereof he hath married her.’(Act 5, Scene 1, Line 357-359)
And like Maria, at the end of the play, Viola also ends up marrying Orsino.
‘Here is my hand: you shall from this time be
Your master’s mistress.’(Act 5, Scene 1, Line 320-321)
After discovering Viola’s real sexuality he falls for her and soon forgets about Olivia.
Olivia’s strong character is shown, again, at the end of the play, when she proposes to Sebastian rather than him proposing to her. This is quite unusual as the man usually proposes to the woman. However, this does not perturb Olivia, because she still proposes.
‘There, before him,
And underneath that consecrated roof,
Plight me the full assurance of your faith,
That my most jealous and too doubtful soul
May live at peace.’(Act 4, Scene 3, Line 24-28)
The elements of mistaken identity, separated twins and gender-crossing disguises are not uncommon to the Elizabethan times. However, the factor of the women being stronger characters than the men is quite unusual. Rather than the women, pining over someone, Shakespeare chose to have the men play this role. For example, Orsino claims to be in love with Olivia and is quite infatuated with her. This is shown by the opening line, in which he says,
‘If music be the food of love, play on.’(Act 1, Scene 1, Line 1). He then goes on to say,
O when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purged the air of pestilence.’ (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 19-20)
Viola is a stronger character than Sebastian and Orsino because she successfully convinced Orsino that she is a man and even got him to tell all his secrets to her.
‘I have unclasped to thee the book even of my secret soul.’ (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 12-13)
Olivia is a stronger character than Sebastian because she proposed to him.
‘Plight me the full assurance of your faith,’ (Act 4, Scene 3, Line 26)
Maria is a stronger character than Sir Toby and Fabian because she tricks Malvolio by writing him a fake letter, and successfully convinces him that Olivia likes him.
‘I will drop in his way some obscure epistle of love;
I can write very much like my lady your niece.’ (Act 2, Scene 3, Line 151-152, 155-156)
In my opinion, I believe that Shakespeare was a man of morals and did not like the way women were treated in society. I think he, therefore, wrote this play to contradict everything society said about men being stronger than women. This brilliantly executed play, written by William Shakespeare, so long ago, ironically reflects the 21st Century. This is because in modern society women very rarely feel intimidated by men. They’re allowed to study and work.
Personally, I believe that Shakespeare was a brilliantly open minded person and his personality was reflected in his work.
