The story takes place in Illyria, a real place warped into fiction. Main character Viola is a young aristocrat, and the protagonist of the play. Viola’s realistic, and ingenious and realizes the danger of being a woman alone in a strange land, impersonates a man, renaming herself Cesario, and goes to work for Duke Orsino, after she finds herself alone after a shipwreck. Her personalities all around charming, and obtains Orsino’s trust within three days through her wit, charm, loyalty, knowledge in music, and conversational skills. She’s also loyal, following Orsino’s orders to win over Lady Olivia for him as Viola is in love with Orsino. Next, Olivia: a prosperous, alluring, and virtuous Illyrian woman. She refuses to return affection towards neither Orsino nor Sir Andrew, insisting it’s due to her brother’s death and the mourning she feels. …show more content…
They both enjoy wallowing in self-pity, and have shallow emotions-shown when they’re love is transferred between characters at fast paces- and are self-indulgent. We’re then introduced to Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, who doesn’t add much to the plot and who’s character isn’t as developed, or rounded, as his sister’s. He seems to be there only to add confusion, and to allow Viola’s true identity to be revealed, allowing Osiro to fall in love with her. Malvolio then enters the play as a self-righteous head servant for Lady Olivia. He has no regard for fun, and frowns upon it entirely. When he becomes the target of a cruel practical joke by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria his character shifts in order to please his love: Lady
For instance, when he finds the love letter that is supposedly written by Olivia, confessing her love for him, and telling him to smile, wear yellow stockings and go cross-gartered, he says, “I will smile, I will do every thing that thou wilt have me.” (2, 5, 165-6). He thinks the letter is from countess Olivia, who he is in love with, and believes that the greatness of being her husband is about to be given to him. Before finding the letter, he wanders around in Olivia’s garden and dreams about himself “To be Count Malvolio!” (2, 5, 32). He imagines how the other characters of the play would serve him, which again shows that Malvolio thinks he stands above everyone. In addition, when Malvolio is hailed by Olivia, he arrives smiling, wearing yellow stockings and cross-gartered, which makes Olivia think he has gone insane: “Why, this is very midsummer madness.” (3, 4, 51). Consequently, in this part of the play Malvolio’s inside does not match his outside. Throughout the play he is a grave character, that detests other persons having fun, so his actions of smiling and wearing strange dress make him look like a madman, which is why he gets locked up in Olivia’s basement. Towards the end, he returns to his initial manner, and declares that he will “be reveng’d on the whole pack of you!”, referring to the characters that tricked him into believing that the letter was
Who is Viola? Who REALLY is Viola? Viola is a very cunning, smart, and interesting character. This is shown in Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night, this book is about three different lovers. The Duke loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario/Viola, and Cesario/Viola loves the Duke. Viola is trying to set up a new life after surviving a shipwreck in which her brother “died.” Viola is a cunning lady with lots of attitude. Viola influences almost every other character as well. She unintentionally tricks both the Duke and Olivia, she confuses Antonia, who believes she is Sebastian (her brother), and she confuses her brother, Sebastian, who believed that she was dead. Viola is someone we can all learn from.
Malvolio is deeply in love with Olivia, whom he is a servant to. He has often received negative signals from her, but he does not pay attention to them. Malvolio receives a note that Maria left for him as a trick and Malvolio quickly believes that it is from Olivia to him. Malvolio is so content with the idea of Olivia finally showing her affection for him that he doesn't question why, in the note, she asks him to act so oddly or hear the snickering of the pranksters watching him.
In the play Viola gets shipwrecked on Illyria and quickly goes to the conclusion that her brother drowned
Malvolio, Sir Andrew and Duke Orsino all try to exploit Olivia’s weakened emotional state, by claiming to love her therefore she will wed them. Olivia tragically just lost her brother and father, therefore she is in a state of emotional vulnerability. Her uncle Sir Andrew describes her states with, “What a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus” (Act 1 Sc. 3 Pg. 15). Hence Olivia is in such a susceptible state, the male characters decide that it is their time to prey upon poor Olivia. Her uncle, Sir Toby decides to send his friend Sir Andrew to comfort her and Orsino sends a representative, Viola, to woo Olivia. Orsino specifically tells Viola to, “Unfold the passion of my love. Surprise her with discourse of my dear faith.” (Act 1 Sc. 5
In Twelfth Night Olivia’s objective as the scene begins is to tease and to taunt this strange man who has come to her home and is giving her servants a hard time. She has people coming to her door to praise her often, but this one is different and because he won’t leave she wants to laugh with Maria and tease him. This objective changes however as the scene progresses. This man Cesario begins to interest Olivia as he struggles to get this message out from his lord. When Cesario begins spouting the poetry of what he would say if he loved Olivia, Olivia completely falls in love with him, then her objective becomes to charm and to learn more about him.
Literature, is certainly the most influential playwright of the English Renaissance. Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in rural northern England, he was the son of a middle class glove maker. Competing against such illustrious company as Christopher Marlowe and Ben Johnson, Shakespeare quickly became one of the most popular playwrights in the city of London, and a favourite of the monarch, the powerful Queen Elizabeth I. Shakespeare wrote thirty-eight plays. "Twelfth Night" was written near the middle of Shakespeare' career, around 1601, and most critics consider it as one of his greatest comedies.
From the difference in character and personality between Viola and Orsino, we can see that Viola is displayed as a rational, witty, yet manipulative woman, who loves deeply and sincerely. This is shown from, “If I did love you in my master’s flame/With such a suff’ring/such a deadly life”, as it implies that Viola’s love towards Orsino, is true, and has depth, and other-centred. This is in comparison to Orsino’s love towards Olivia, displayed in his portrayal of love towards her. This can be seen from, “With adorations, fertile tears/With
In the book twelfth night, most of the characters play games with gender. Viola disguises herself as a man, but then she falls hard in love for Orsino. Since Orsino believes she is a man, though, she can't say her love. Orsino instead loves Olivia, but Olivia doesn't require his feelings, since she loves Cesario (Viola's male disguise). Things aren't quite that simple, of course.
My group and I chose to perform Act 3 scene 3 from Twelfth Night, a relatively short scene involving Antonio and Sebastian. We chose the scene because it would require us to “gender-bend” because we would be playing men. The scene provides insight into Antonio’s dark past. When they walk into town, Sebastian is excited and thrilled to simply be alive, but Antonio does not want to be seen in the town. Antonio used to be a pirate at one point in his life, and it seems that he is on many a hit-list, especially Orsino’s. Earlier, Sebastian had gotten in a shipwreck, and Antonio saved him from the raging depths of the sea. Ultimately, they wash up in Illyria. Finally, it shows a different side of both characters that may not necessarily be shown in the rest of the play.
In the play “Twelfth Night”, Malvolio is a steward for Lady Olivia. He’s very in love with her and only she has to deal with it. On the other hand, Olivia is plainly not in love with him; she is in love with Cesario. He tries everything to try and win her love but he also has a negative attitude towards others. Malvolio’s behavior is unacceptable and other people shouldn’t have to deal with it.
However, while Olivia's marriage to Sebastian has a great deal to do with chance, Orsino made the choice to ask Viola to be his wife, showing us that the play's resolutions also depend on choices and not just on fate. In addition, Malvolio was persecuted by the other characters due to the characters' own choices as well as Malvolio's own choices. Hence, the play has even more to do with choices than it does with
In the later part of the play a different side of him is exposed. Malvolio is Olivia’s steward and his job is to manage Olivia’s house; he is her chief servant. It’s a very responsible job that he takes very seriously. He enjoys telling people what to do.
Malvolio is tricked into thinking the lady of the house is in love with him and does everything he can to please her. Malvolio believes he will be the Duke of the house with servants at his feet and loads of fortunes. Malvolio “pleases” the countess by smiling, cross-gartering, and wearing yellow stockings – all of which are absurd – and Olivia laughs at him for his foolishness. Olivia later feels sorry for Malvolio because he was considered a madman for thinking she was in love with him and partially for that he could move up in the hierarchy. Sebastian, on the other hand, was placed in a great situation.
Through the play each character’s behavior is changed. The biggest change in behavior was that of Malvolio who began to believe in his own delusion. This delusion made him believe that the fair Lady Olivia loved him. His delusional state got him locked up in a shackles and isolated. This state of mind is an effect of love for him. Then the Lady Olivia’s behavior when she is not in love is a melancholy state. She had just lost her brother and her