Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare
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Character Analysis: Malvolio
Malvolio is Olivia’s steward (i.e. head servant). He’s obnoxious and uppity and never misses an opportunity to criticise others, putting down Feste’s fooling, Sir Toby’s partying, and basically anything even slightly fun. Because of this, pretty much everyone hates him. Maria describes him as “a kind of puritan,” which was a religious group known for opposing cross-dressing, theatre, rowdiness and most forms of entertainment. Although Malvolio is not actually identified as a Puritan, his alignment with them casts him as an easy villain to theatre-going audiences, and an embodiment of rules and social order. Thus, as he is humiliated by Sir Toby (our ‘Lord of Misrule’ figure), the social order that he symbolises is likewise turned over to “madness.”
But Sir Toby’s fun does end, and as Malvolio vows to be “revenged on the whole pack of you” it is symbolically implied that social convention will rise again and punish those who partook of the misrule with too much gusto. Indeed, by the time he makes his threat, that ‘return’ has already begun.
However, Malvolio is not quite a perfect incarnation of social norms, as he is also a social climber. His wish to marry Olivia is not driven by love, but rather by aspirations to wear fancy clothes, boss around the servants, and have the rank to give Sir Toby a good dressing-down. In a world strictly divided by class, his coveting of Olivia’s power goes against what would be considered ‘proper’. So, ironically, even as his being locked in darkness and made fun of symbolises the height of misrule’s triumph over propriety, it simultaneously punishes his hubris and entrenches the class system.
Personally, I think the trick that is played on Malvolio went a little too far. In fact many modern productions and audiences make Malvolio a sympathetic character. Sure, he’s an uptight party-pooper, but locking him in a dark house for days on end, making him question his own sanity, and probably losing him his job seem disproportionate to the crime. It is even compared to bear-baiting by Sir Toby (“we’ll have the bear again; and we will fool him [Malvolio/the bear] black and blue”), a sport which is objectively awful and condemned by the lady Olivia. Nevertheless, the audience is encouraged to laugh at Malvolio’s humiliation, and usually does. This, then, implicates us in the maltreatment, and Shakespeare thus forces us to question our own morality. Is the sheer cruelty of treating a person like a madman worth our entertainment?
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Twelfth Night
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Count Orsino is infatuated with the Countess Olivia, who refuses his suit.
Viola is washed ashore after a shipwreck, her twin brother presumed drowned. She disguises herself as a man in order to serve in Orsino’s court. As ‘Cesario’, Viola quickly gains favour and is sent by Orsino to woo Olivia on his behalf. Viola does so reluctantly, having fallen in love with Orsino herself.
Olivia then falls in love with ‘Cesario’, forming a classic love triangle. Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, is alive! A Captain called Antonio rescued him from the shipwreck. Sebastion looks exactly like his sister, who he assumes has drowned. Antonio cannot walk openly as he is a wanted man, so they arrange to meet up later.
Olivia’s uncle Sir Toby Belch and the incompetent knight Sir Andrew Ague, a suitor to Olivia, spend their days in drunken rowdiness at her court, sometimes joined by Olivia’s gentlewoman Maria, to the disdain of the steward Malvolio. He rebukes all three for some late-night revelry. In revenge, Maria forges a letter which convinces Malvolio that Olivia loves him, and that he should carry out various ridiculous actions if he loves her in return.
Viola/Cesario is sent again to Olivia, where the Countess confesses her love. Upset that Olivia shows more favour to Cesario than to himself, Sir Andrew challenges Viola/Cesario to a duel. Antonio, mistaking Viola for her brother, steps in to fight on ‘Sebastian’s’ behalf. As he is dragged away by police, Antonio is upset that Viola does not recognise him. Viola begins to suspect that her brother is alive and leaves. Spurred on by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew follows to continue the fight.
Malvolio approaches Olivia, enacting the absurd instructions of Maria’s forged love-letter. Olivia assumes he has gone mad and leaves him with Maria and Sir Toby, who delight in pretending he is possessed by Satan, and lock him up.
Sir Andrew fights Sebastian, believing him to be Cesario, and Olivia rushes to intervene. She begs forgiveness from Sebastian, also taking him for Cesario, who is at once confused and delighted by her tenderness, and agrees to marry her.
Finally, Orsino decides to visit Olivia himself, with Cesario/Viola tagging along. When Olivia rejects him again Orsino threatens to kill Cesario, despite his own strong affections for the page, suspecting her to be in love with ‘him’. Dismayed at Viola/Cesario’s willingness to die for the Count, Olivia reveals that they are married, to Viola’s bafflement.
Sebastian enters. Everyone is amazed to see the identical Viola and Sebastion together, and they are overjoyed to have found one another. Orsino realises that Viola loves him, and agrees to marry her.
Malvolio arrives with the letter, which Olivia reveals was written by Maria (now married to Sir Toby), and he vows to be revenged.
The play is riddled with appearances from the fool Feste, who ends the play with a song about growing through life’s stages, the chaos of human experience, and the hope that the audience enjoyed the play.
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