Resumo de Malvolio's Humiliation; Twelfth Night

Malvolio is a broken man at the end of the play, stripped of pride and dignity. Discussion on whether the treatment of him by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria and Feste was justified.Maria, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Feste [the pranksters] plot an elaborate trick at Malvolio's expense. Maria writes a letter in Lady Olivia's handwriting confessing that Malvolio's unrequited love for her is mutual, requesting him to wear ?yellow stockings' and ?cross-garters'. As this is so unusual for Malvolio's sombre character, it causes his arrest for being insane. The prank's consequences are- he makes an open romantic attempt toward Olivia shattering his fantasies, is imprisoned and degraded. Arguably his ill manor towards the pranksters gave them all clear justifiable motives. The actual letter Maria writes is intelligently accurate showing the extreme effect it has. It is concise to Malvolio's character and fantasies, for example ?lips do not move' is suiting to Malvolio's austere character and realistic to the secret love Olivia could have for him, due to their class difference. The extremity of emotion in the letter is parallel to Malvolio's endearment of Olivia's false love, in ?bloodless stroke' used to describe this love. Antithetical associations between ?love' and ?blood', emphasise this the strong emotions, targeting Malvolio's stern character.Shakespeare uses the character Malvolio to build sympathy from the audience. As the prank progresses, Malvolio's deep personal feelings toward Olivia are manipulated. Arguably this sub-plot is an integral feature of the play, as it conveys the characterisation both of the pranksters and Malvolio. In perspective, the pranksters- Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, are acting in continuity with their role in the play. However, Feste is a victim of personal vendetta from Malvolio due to their antithetical characters-Feste's role as the ?witty fool,' and Malvolio's role as the ?foolish wit'. Maria, on the other hand, has to prove her intelligence as a working class woman, the prank successfully gains her enough respect to marry out of her class to Sir Toby, chaotically gaining respect from both the pranksters and the audience. However, this element fundamentally questions, whether the impression of Malvolio in act 2 scene 3, is a justification for the vindictive prank that prevails. Malvolio pledges revenge on the group, disrupting the denouement at the end when the hidden identities of the play are solved. This is a commonly used technique by Shakespeare to appeal to the audience social conscience, which is one of the many factors placing him ahead of his time. In act5 scene1, Malvolio's ?lady pray you' speech, uses a distorted rhythm that does not quite fit into iambic pentameter, this shows his broken love. Sir Toby's motives early on in the play are reinstated with Malvolio's feelings toward his niece. Sir Toby, however, encourages Sir Andrew to show similar feelings. Perhaps this is due to the fact Malvolio is not, as a steward, in the sociological class status of Olivia.. Arguably Maria is sociologically justified to the role of mastermind in the prank. She is a working class woman in the strong Elizabethan hierarchal system and needs to gain status and respect from her peers. She achieves this with her handwriting and wit writing the letter in ?we can hardly make distinction between our hands'. Amongst the consequences she marries Sir Toby, improving her sociological status, thus a reward. Malvolio goes to the extent of threatening Maria's position in ?she shall know of it,' by telling Olivia her boss, about the fooling ?by this hand.' Malvolio is showing her he is serious, in continuity with his pre prank character, but does not foresee the repercussions in his offensive treatment of Maria. Malvolio's dramaturgy is an emotionless, anti-social character. During the denouement of the play Malvolio pledges revenge, making a public spectacle, which shows he is ang to the joyful reunions of Viola-Orisino, Sebastian-Olivia, and Sir Toby-Maria. While Malvolio's character is emotionally destroyed, there is marriage, love and happiness. Although Olivia and Orsino, the two sociologically dominant characters do not condone the prank, Malvolio indiscriminately feels that they all have ?wronged' him, in describing the group as a ?pack'. The word ?pack' depicts Malvolio's characteristic encirclement by the group with animalistic connotations, conveying his weakness and dishevelled pride. In an Elizabethan audience there would have been- ?Sir Toby's' on the seats, ?Lady Olivias' and ?Duke Orisinos' on high seats and ?Marias' in the stands. There are no ?Malvolilos' in an Elizabethan audience, until he is destroyed by the prank, only then, can people relate to Malvolio on an emotional level.Malvolio's is discriminated against by the prankster's lack of understanding for his sombre and actually inoffensive religion. This can be understood on a modern parallel by the way modern, western media has negatively depicted the ?Islamic' faith. Shakespeare disobeys these prejudices depicting the Puritan as human and fragile, showing more insight and maturity than most of our modern media.On an explicit view the prank is not justified by Malvolio's initial impression, yet implicitly the prank is very necessary, to serve place in the format of a great ?tragic comedy'- a character must be destroyed for voyeur satisfaction. Interestingly when he is imprisoned, ceasing to be Olivia's ?sombre' ?steward,' she stops her ?seven year mourning' and finds love, first with Cesario then Sebastian. The prank is harsh but very necessary to the development of the play.

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