Malvolio
Malvolio is the steward of Olivia’s house and is in control of everything that goes on with the servants. He is always looking to make things perfect, and things that are unorthodox, like Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, have to be rid of. ‘”If you can separate yourself and your misdemeanors, you are welcome to the house. If not, and it would please you to take leave of her, she is very willing to bid you farewell.”’ Even though Malvolio says that Olivia would want them to leave if they carried on being loud and rude, I think that he is just saying that because he wants them to leave. The first evidence of Malvolio’s adverse behaviour is his first appearance in the play during which he insults the wit of Feste. “’I marvel your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal”’. By doing this he shows himself to be a person who tries to humiliate people whom he believes are lower than him in every way.
Malvolio’s weakness is his yearn to be of a higher superiority and his strong belief that he will gain it. Maria uses this weakness to create a plan to make a fool of Malvolio in front of Olivia as well as using it as a way to get their revenge. Maria writes a letter to Malvolio from Olivia. In this letter “Olivia” is pouring her heart out to Malvolio. ‘”I may command where I adore, but silence, like a Lucrece knife, with bloodless stroke my heart doth gore. M. O. A. I. doth sway my life.”’ After Malvolio finally realizes that M. O. A. I. stands for Malvolio, he began to think about his status. He fantasizes about becoming more important than he already is, calling himself ‘Count Malvolio’. The letter then goes on to talk about what Malvolio must do in order to show Olivia that he has read the letter. He is given three commands: one is to wear yellow stockings (this is a colour that Olivia hates), the second is to wear the stockings cross gartered (this is a fashion Olivia also hates), lastly he must smile at all times (this last thing is very inappropriate because of Olivia’s brother’s death).
I think that this joke was justifiable because of the way Malvolio had treated them. It was just supposed to put him in his place, so that he would stop thinking himself as very important but treating others like animals.
He says that it’s dishonorable because it may be that, after the long history of fights with the Capulets and Montagues, it would be unforgivable and ‘stupid’ in Mercutio’s eyes to just forgive and forget. This shows how
Using the same satirical techniques, he points out, a little more subtly, that servants, like women, are treated like less than people, when they are people just as good as everybody else. throughout the play we see instances of the mistreatment of servants, such as Vincentio beating Biondello, Petruchio abusing his entire staff, and Lucentio using Tranio as a pawn to help him win over a girl. Tranio even laments about this, saying, “Oh, sir, Lucentio slipped me like his greyhound, which runs himself and catches for his master.” Tranio is comparing himself to a dog to be used at Lucentio’s command in this quote, commenting on how Lucentio may treat him well, but he still does not value him as a person.
Leporello on the other hand , is wimpy , subservient , nervous , and a bit dumb. He is often the butt of Don Giovanni’s jokes , and is always being bossed around. He can be thought of as the comic relief of the opera. In the dinner scene we get a definite feeling of Leporello being a wimpy idiot.
In the play, Olivia has a steward, Malvolio, unpopular with servants, mean, authoritarian, control freak. Malvolio is tricked into believing he is loved by Olivia. Malvolio behaves as if she is in love with him and he is eventually locked up for madness. After reading and reviewing the play, Malvolio’s epiphany moments stood out the most for me. Malvolio, the puritanical, was the head servant in Lady Olivia’s household. Although Malvolio is very efficient, he also very self-righteous, and frowns upon most of the things such as drinking, singing, and fun. He fantasies about marrying his mistress and living higher than his social class.
... Feste uses his ability to judge situations to bide his time and exact the perfect revenge on Malvolio by slipping seamlessly into Sir Toby’s ploy. All of this reveals Feste’s inward character as wise and witty, as opposed to his social repute as an uneducated lower-class fool. Olivia, Sir Toby, and Feste are all vastly different from the way others view them. Their social identities put up guises and put expectations on them to act in a certain way.
Shakespeare cunningly gives the audience an early indication of Benvolio’s personality through his name. Benvolio translated literally means “good-will” or “well wisher” a role he consistently fills, although sometimes unsuccessfully throughout the play, striving to keep himself and others around him out of any conflict. In the very first scene of the play, Benvolio quickly establishes himself as the peacemaker as he tries to stop the fight between the Montague and Capulet servants by saying, “Part fools! Put up your swords, you know not what you do.”(I.i.64-65) Wanting peace he warns them to stop arguing before things evolve into a grave situation. In that statement, Shakespeare references the Gospel of Luke “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), using his skillful use of the written language to allude that Benvolio was taking on a Christ like peacemaker role in the play. Benvolio’s moral convictions do not change over the course of the play. His stance on peace is evident in all three scenes. In Act III, as Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight, Benvolio once again attempts to be the voice of reason, “We talk here in the public haunt of mean: eithe...
His inflated ego has lead him to misinterpret Lady Olivia’s feelings for him-or rather, her lack of feelings. Although he already has the notion that he should end up with the Lady, he is fooled by Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrew, believing Olivia feels the same for him. The tricksters deliberately write a letter indirectly addressed to Malvolio, divulging “Olivia’s” hidden love for the steward. Without giving much thought to the credibility of this discovered letter, Malvolio follows its enclosed instructions, unwittingly earning the real Lady Olivia’s disfavor (2.5.91-195). “This and his continuous disapproval of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew's drinking, earn him their hatred and he quickly becomes their pawn in a complex romantic ruse” (Review at Absolute
Andrew is funny, it is not intentional. His faults include a lack of wit, a
In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio is considered an outcast by almost everyone in the play. He doesn’t act the same way that any of the other characters act, in that he doesn’t participate in any of their activities, he enforces rules that the others could care less about, and he is just overall a socially awkward guy. Malvolio not only claims to adhere to the rules of the household himself, but uses his relations with Olivia to try and help make the others follow the rules as well. This upsets certain characters more than others. For instance Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Maria find his behavior particularly detestable. But Malvolio’s strict coherence to the rules allows him to have a rather high position in Olivia’s household. While Malvolio may be considered a social outcast to most of the characters in the play, Olivia considers Malvolio to be a very trusted steward of her household. For these reasons Malvolio is not only a social outcast, but an outcast that Shakespeare uses to keep people interested in his play.
Malvolio also promises revenge on those who played the trick on him and his last words symbolise parts of the darker side of Illyria: ' I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you' Disguise is the main plot in Twelfth Night and without it the storyline would not have been possible as disguise was needed in order to create the Orsino, Viola, Olivia love triangle. This is the main event in the play which is created by disguise. Disguise is also used to bring in humour and confusion to the plot without which Twelfth Night would not be the notorious and famous play as we know it today.
After Olivia has her very first conversation with Cesario (Viola), where he tries to woo her for Duke Orsino, she immediately falls in love with him. After Cesario leaves her palace, Olivia says to herself ‘Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit do give thee fivefold blazon. Not too fast; soft, soft. Unless the master were the man. How now? Even so quickly may one catch the plague?’ Here Olivia states that Cesario’s external features are what attract her to him. Her metaphor contains a s...
Feste is able to prevent any delusions of grandeur by a reminder that foolishness is a condition common to all mankind whether one is king or servant. It is Malvolio's vanity that convinces Feste to take part in the joke played on the steward. As "Sir Topas", and Malvolio's `prosecutor` Feste attempted to help Malvolio realize that there was "no darkness but ignorance".
something that he would not notice or be able to get out of if he did
Malvolio's entrance to the scene immediately creates comedy as even before he finds the letter we find him fantasizing about being "Count Malvolio", this notion creates humor as it seems that Malvolio has forgot he is merely Olivia's steward not her social equal despite his is conceited self-righteousness. The farce is enhanced by comments made by the onlookers who insult Malvolio, "Pistol him, pistol him!" Sir Andrew makes this comment, as he himself desires Olivia's hand in marriage. Malvolio lets his imagination go wild creating further humor when he imagines that his "kinsman Toby" will approach and curtsy in front of him.
...oth perspectives. They both still being servants are using disguise differently. Malvolio, servant of Olivia and Viola, servant of Orsino, they both have felt love for their masters/boss. They both express it differently, Malvolio loving Olivia uses cheery appearance and Viola loving Orsino hides her love secretly in her disguise. This essay was to prove that disguises and appearance is a symbolic feature for Viola and Malvolio's characters. According to given facts and examples, it was very clear that Viola and Malvolio use disguises as their shield, but they each use it differently.