In William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio is considered an outcast by everyone else in the play except Olivia. He doesn’t act the same way that any of the other characters act, and he seems to be a real stickler for the rules, which upsets certain characters more than others. But it is this strict coherence to the rules that allows Malvolio to have such a high position in Olivia’s household. While Malvolio may be considered an outcast to most of the characters in the play, Olivia shows concern for Malvolio and his well-being. One of the reasons that none of the characters seemed to get along with Malvolio was because of his strict adherence to the rules. For characters like Sir Toby and Maria, this was considered especially (outcast-like) behavior because of their blatant disregard for the rules. Nancy Lindheim supports this point in her article by stating, “Malvolio alone acts with a moral severity that angers most other members of the household and is inimical (not friendly) to comedy itself.” (Lindheim 700) In this quote she is stressing the fact that Malvolio tends to act more morally than the other characters. This is seen in act 2 scene 3 of the play. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria are all having a good time, drinking and speaking very loud when Malvolio comes in and informs them that they are not showing respect to Olivia by being so rowdy in her house this late at night. Sir Toby then tells Malvolio to go hang himself. From this example we can see that very early on in the play there are some characters that really do not like Malvolio at all. Things only get worse after this point in the play. Maria and Sir Toby are spiteful towards Malvolio for spoiling their fun. Malvolio however, was simply trying to keep ... ... middle of paper ... ...-246. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. Lindheim, Nancy "Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night." University of Toronto Quarterly: A Canadian Journal of the Humanities 76.2 (2007): 679-713. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. Marciano, Lisa "The Serious Comedy of Twelfth Night: Dark Didacticism in Illyria." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 56.1 (2003): 3-19. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. William, Shakespeare Twelfth Night. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 1079-1139. Winston, Jessica "A Mirror for Magistrates and Public Political Discourse in Elizabethan England." Studies in Philology 101 (2004): 381-400. MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
so the feud between the families would not get out of hand. Due to the tension, the lovers take their own lives and the families are left. heartbroken. Act 3, Scene 1 is so important in the play because until The key events of the scene unfold, the play is portrayed as a romantic love story, but as the scene draws to an end, the atmosphere is a lot darker and it actually develops into a tragedy. At the start of Act 3, Scene 1, Benvolio desperately tries to avoid an argument with the Capulets.
Benvolio, in contrast to Tybalt, is a more peaceful person who can manage his angers and hate. He, I believe, is meant to be seen as some sort of mediator: “I pray the, good Mercutio, let’s retire. The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl, For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.” (Shakespeare, page 116).
His attempts to flirt with Maria by showing how clever he is fail when Sir
Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. "Twelfth Night, or What You Will". William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford: Clarendon P, 1998.
Night." eNotes to Twelfth Night. Seattle: Enotes.com LLC, October 2002. Ed. Penny Satoris. 20 February 2005 .
Lindheim, Nancy. "Rethinking Sexuality and Class in Twelfth Night." University of Toronto Quarterly 76.2 (2007): n. pag. Web.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama. N.p.: Rice University, 1982. 223-38. Vol. 22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Bradbrook, M. C. "Robert Armin and Twelfth Night." Twelfth Night: A Casebook. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1972. 222-43.
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".
7- J.M. Lothian and T.W. Craik, "In troduction," The Arden Shakespeare: Twelfth Night , ed. Lothian and Craik (New York: Routledge, 1991) lvi.
the play its funny to watch him fall for Maria’s trick and make a fool
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night Or, What You Will. New York, New York: New American Library, 1998. Print.
Logan, Thad Jenkins. "Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 Spring 1982: 223-238. Print.
In the epistle of the play Ben Jonson states “it being the office of a comic poet to imitate justice.” It can be said that this is shown in the ending and that it is just and in structure as all the characters are punished in some way for their avarice and the “innocent” characters Bonario and Celia who in a way provide a contrast to the immoral selfishness, are set free and Celia is given back with three times her dowry money to her father. However there are unresolved issues left at the end of the play concerning these characters. One point of view would be that Celia and Bonario were secondary characters in the play used as virtuous characters to provide a distinction between the corruption and greed of Volpone. Mosca, Corvino, Corbaccio and Voltore, consequently making the problems concerning them as unimportant in context with the punishment or “justice” served by Jonson to Volpone. But then it is important to bear in mind that as these two characters were so inherently good-natured that the reputation of them and lack of resolution can be regarded as disturbing.