Twelfth Night By Olivia Viola Essay

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.

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.

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

Although Viola faced a lot of confusion and conflicts she was equipped to handle this because she was mostly causing it by cross dressing and lying about who she truly was. But, Maria, Sir Toby and Sir Andres, servants to Olivia, all decided to play practical jokes on Molvolio. By giving Molvolio a note and disguising it to look like Olivia’s hand writing, they caused Molvolio to make a fool of himself. The note left him directions to behave and dress a certain, this caused ignominious Molvolio to become confused. By being deceitful and conspiring, Sir Toby, Maria, and Sir Andrews colors shined through. Not to mention, Molvolio’s true self became evident after misidentifying the letter. Molvolio became arrogant and was filled with self-importance, but when things became clear and Molvolio discovered the note was not written from Olivia he became embarrassed. He could not move forward, forgive and forget, so he left. This is how misidentification can cause conflicts and cause character’s true selves to shine

Within the letter written by Maria, he receives instruction to complete tasks that will “please” Olivia such as wearing yellow tights and smiling often. However, Olivia despises these actions, for she is in mourning over her deceased relatives. Once Malvolio carries out these deeds in attempt to win the love of his Lady, he appears to be mad and causes Olivia to throw him in jail. She expresses her concern by proclaiming, “Let some of my people have a special care of him. I/ would not have him miscarry for the half of my/ dowry,” (3.4.67-69). Through the orders from Olivia to look after Malvolio, it is shown that his love-stricken actions have made him appear crazy. Also, because Lady Olivia expresses how much she values his work in the household, Malvolio’s confidence in himself increases, for he attempts to exert power over his arrestors and believes his captivity is all part of Olivia’s plan. Malvolio’s actions carried out for the sole purpose of love blind him to how he appears to those of the household and causes him to be thrown in jail because of accusations that he has become

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

Though Viola’s character may not have had mendacious intent when disguising herself, Viola has to continue maintaining her disguise which causes many complications throughout the play. For example, the introduction of her twin brother, Sebastian, which causes many problems of mistaken identity between the two especially amongst the twins with each thinking the other has passed. In Act 3, Scene 4, Antonio says, “This youth that you see here. I snatch'd one half out of the jaws of death,”(3.4.359-360) after confusing Viola dressed as Cesario for Sebastian thinking him to be disrespectful and forgetting him after having saved his life. Nevertheless, these complications are crucial to the development of the plot and reaches climactic points in the play which grabs the spectators’ attention and piques their interest.

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.

The reason for Olivia’s confusion is Malvolio is usually an arrogant and impulsive character who never displays any signs of liveliness, seeing him portray light-hearted behaviour is unusual to the other characters. Malvolio’s unusual behaviour in this scene adds to the topsi turviness of the play. This scene shows the prank unfolding and Malvolio’s naivety. Here he can either be seen as a legitimate comic target which the audience dislike because of his attempt to become a part of the upper class; or he can be seen as a victim which the audience sympathise with because he has become the victim of a cruel prank which he has no idea about. Nevertheless, in this scene he is portrayed as a comic target as he thinks that he can marry someone who is above him in the

With every good story, there must be reason to the madness. With every great story, the audience is left to question their own thoughts over time. But what really makes a story great? Is it love and good will throughout where in the end nearly everyone is happy and all is well? Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, or What You Will is an example of exactly this happy ending story. Or is it the taboo and transgressions of a story’s characters that make it great? Such as in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet; the deceitful actions of betrayal, death and incestuous behavior of the characters certainly leave the audience asking question far after the play has ended. What is the meaning? (Beha BR18) The characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet are very diverse in personality and in their roles. Herein lie the questions: How do the characters differ and how do their roles impact others and ultimately affect the play?

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.

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

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

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.