'Ultimately, Malvolio is a comic character' to what extent do you agree with this statment?

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

In the story “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, although Benvolio and Mercutio share many differences, they also have similarities. Benvolio and Mercutio have two different personalities. Mercutio is a sort of person that can change feelings at unexpected times, which is shown in the story, as he is called “Mercury”. Benvolio is quite opposite, since he is cautious of his actions, likes prevents anything from causing even more trouble, and is the smarter, educated person. Benvolio shows this when he stood up during the fight, and said to keep peace. Mercutio likes to cause trouble whereas Benvolio, would not. In Act 2, both Benvolio and Mercutio, like to make fun of Romeo’s love, Juliet, and his old, Rosaline. This is shown when, Mercutio said, “The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. - / I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, / By her high forehead, and he scarlet lip, / By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, / And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, / That in thy likeness thou appear to us” (2.1.19-24). Benvolio and Mercutio both knew Romeo had love for Juliet, so they decided to shout filthy things about Rosaline, while drunk, hoping that Romeo would come out, defending himself. This did not work, so they just gave up, and left. Benvolio is more respectful towards people, so I think he would represent a better person in the natural society. Therefore, both Benvolio, and Mercutio, have differences, but one is the better friend.

Other characters in the play strongly dislike Malvolio. When Olivia isn’t around he thinks and acts like he’s the king and that Olivia is his lady. Malvolio had stated, “ My lady bade me tell you, that… she’s nothing allied to your disorder” about Sir Toby (W.S 23). Even when he comes into the scene with other characters, he decides to say, “Besides, she uses me with a more exalted respect than any one else that follows her”(W.S 30).With that he’s saying that Olivia treats him like a king and puts him over top of everyone. The only reason why Olivia had to deal with him is because he is her steward. A reason why I think she only puts up with Malvolio is that he will do anything the she commands. For when Cesario was outside she had said to Malvolio “ Go you, Malvolio: if it be a suit from the count, iam sick, or not at home; what you

Mercutio’s Archetype in Romeo and Juliet Mercutio is a character in “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare in the late 1500’s. It has been a fan-favorite since the 1500’s. Some of the characters can relate too different archetypes. For example, Romeo would be the star cross’d lover archetype because he falls in-love too easily. In William Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet.”

As one of the most complex characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to act as a static catalyst for the death of most of the characters. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s character cleverly as the kind of character that stays in the background, but influences the rest of the cast in the utmost amount. Mercutio’s light and occasionally sardonic humor at inapt times relieves the play from being a complete tragedy and allows the audience a false sense of security before calamity strikes, such as the death of his character. Mercutio also stands as a consistent character to prove that despite the fact that the majority of Shakespeare’s characters are unpredictable and impulsive, there has to be at least one character to steady

Malvolio is a social climber, he feels that if Olivia would love him his status would be higher. But because of

Explain how the names of Benvolio and Mercutio give us insight into their personalities. How are they foils for Tybalt and Romeo, respectively? What character traits do they accentuate/highlight in the other? How do you think the pairing of these characters influences our views of them as individuals? In other words, would the character be who/what they are without their foil? Explain your thoughts.

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.

One of the ways in which Shakespeare could be seen to cast shame upon the audience is through their reaction to the characters’ treatment of Malvolio. On receiving the letter, Malvolio expresses “I thank my stars I am happy (…) Jove and my stars be praised! (…) Jove I thank thee. I will smile, I will do everything that thou wilt have me.” (Act II, Scene V, lines

Although Mercutio is just a secondary character, he is known to be the entertainer of the show. He only appears in four scenes, but his character sets an impact on the play. Mercutio portrayed positive character traits in Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet,” such as being humorous, loyal, and brave, which in turn causes many different outputs in the play.

Malvolio’s lack of self-criticism or self-awareness makes him vulnerable to Maria's plan to ridicule him.

right there on the spot. Feste and Sir Andrew were the main supporters of Malvolio being mad

Yet the atmosphere of the play may render Malvolio’s aspirations less unreasonable than they initially seem. The feast of Twelfth Night, from which the play takes its name, was a time when social hierarchies were turned upside down. That same spirit is alive in Illyria: indeed, Malvolio’s antagonist, Maria, is able to increase her social standing by marrying Sir Toby. But it seems that Maria’s success may be due to her willingness to accept and promote the anarchy that Sir Toby and the others embrace. This Twelfth Night spirit, then, seems to pass by Malvolio, who doesn’t wholeheartedly embrace the upending of order and decorum but rather wants to blur class lines for himself alone.

The Role of Malvolio in Twelfth Night The main storyline in Twelfth Night is love between Cesario, Orsino, Olivia and later on in the play Sebastian. Malvolio’s part in the play is a backdrop situation separate from the main story. He brings a level of both humour and sympathy to the play. Malvolio is one of the main sources of humour in Twelfth Night.

Maria and the conspirators decide to mislead Malvolio into thinking that Olivia is in love with him. Maria decides to lead him on by writing a letter, but means to be from Olivia. This love letter is meant to instruct Malvolio to do actions that Olivia despises. Maria is able to mislead Malvolio because she has the same print and seal as Olivia. Shakespeare is able to trick the characters and create many portrayals of them.