Twelfth Night. A play which embraces illusion, deception, love, and pure madness! It is written by one of the most influential writers in all of English Literature. Shakespeare. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most well-recognised works. Casted in the late Elizabethan era, Twelfth Night includes a minor character named Malvolio. Based on the way, Shakespeare created his name; my first impressions of Malvolio were, evil and sinister based on the prefix ‘mal’.
At the start of this play, Malvolio is presented as a selfish and self-obsessed man, who has a very high expectation of himself. This is also believed by Olivia, who is Malvolio’s mistress. Olivia is of a higher status and she comments Malvolio to be “sick with self-love.” ANALYSIS. Also it is an early indication of how the plot
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Malvolio begins to question whether the love letter was written for him. The dialogue “it did come to his great hands" implies the factor of self-obsession as he refers to greatness to describe him. In addition, Malvolio says “his” which was a term usually regarded for royalty and superiority. It is believed, in the 1601s, it was more appropriate to use “thy” for a more informal and causal use. Therefore Malvolio, who is only a steward, is brave enough to believe he more significant than the other characters creates irony. Shakespeare has applied this because he wanted Malvolio to represent a certain part of the society. He wanted a character that would summarise the views of society to the audience in a clear way. A puritan was a name given to someone who believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God. Their ultimate accomplishment was to purify the Church of England and to redeem one’s soul from a sinful condition. In twelfth night, Malvolio is often compared to as a puritan. Malvolio’s style would have not been a surprise for Elizabethan audience, as Puritans started to become
The Puritans were a fearful, strict, and highly religious group. The Puritans feared the worst things to happen to themselves and to the community. By fearing many things, they were well prepared. They took extreme caution in everything that they did.
Melisa Pierre-Louis Professor Brett English 10 December 2nd, 2016 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Annotated essay. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedy that contains a lot of aspects. They communicate in one way or another to the audience, depending on how we (the audience) analyze what Shakespeare is trying to convey.
True love is a concept perceived as achievable by many and a myth to some. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio’s purpose is to foreshadow an important aspect of the play, be a foil for Romeo, and lead to the woeful turning point of the comedy turned tragedy. Mercutio is used to foreshadow Romeo and Juliet’s tragic fate. After being stabbed by Tybalt under Romeo’s arm, Mercutio manages to tell Romeo that he wishes a “plague curse both your families” (III,1,94). After Mercutio’s death, only tragedy ensues- Tybalt dies, Romeo is banished, the Friar does not deliver a message, and Romeo and Juliet end their lives.
With the Puritans having strict religious beliefs about the devil and God, it gave them strong feelings about the ways in which women impacted their community. Along with their religious beliefs, their society had certain beliefs about women and the way they should act which led them to suspect anything out of the “norm” as a sign of the devil. While some of this could be on women and the way we speak, the Puritans already had such strong feelings toward the vulnerable mind of women that it wouldn’t matter. The women were represented by weakness in nearly every aspect a person can be judged on and this thought of them as the weaker vessel is what ultimately led to them being accused and persecuted more than men during the Salem Witch
By negatively depicting the Puritans with his depressing diction, Hawthorne establishes a scornful tone that highlights the Puritan’s
“Turn thee, Benvolio! Look upon thy death”. (1.1.60) This statement uttered by Tybalt is a threat to benvolio one of Romeo’s best and most trusted friends in Verona. And when you threaten someone's best friend you are hateful of them and all associates of this person.
When Olivia is first entertained by the Fool, she recognizes that “[Malvolio] [is] sick of self-love,” revealing Malvolio’s arrogance (Twelfth Night 1.5, 89-92). This arrogance is linked to his Christian self-righteousness when Maria describes him as “a puritan...an affectioned ass…[that] persuaded of himself,...that it is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him, (TN 2.3, 145-150). Thus, Maria identifies that Malvolio’s self-love is tied up in his piousness, and that he uses his moral superiority as justification for his high opinion of himself. Malvolio takes this pride and sense of superiority further by desiring to be “Count Malvolio,” and imagining Sir Toby “curts[ying]” to him, indicating not only his desire for prestige and power, but his belief that Sir Toby is physically lower than himself because of his “drunkenness,”(TN 2.5, 34, 60-73). Malvolio thus uses his Puritanism as fuel for his actions and desires, imagining himself to be morally superior to Sir Toby and therefore more entitled to a higher social position.
”(Shakespeare 2.5, ll. 143-146). Malvolio sees these four letters and automatically thinks it means his name because each of those letters are in his name. With him believing that this letter is directed at him, he reads it and it is said to be from Olivia and she confessing her love towards Malvolio. Then, he follows the instructions in the letter and completely embarrasses himself just to win over Olivia.
Malvolio in Twelfth Night plays a pivotal role in examining the nuances of sanity. His encounter with Sir Topas, reinforces the ideas of delusions, while bringing to light the contradictions between the perceptions of sanity versus the reality of it. Although Malvolio seemingly appears to have a tragic ending, we find that he exits the play with something far more valuable than he originally had anticipated. The encounter between Malvolio and Sir Topas not only defines the turning point for Malvolio in the play, but also sheds some light on the difference between, madness and sanity.
He becomes comic but by accident.” (On the character of Malvolio). This is part of the comedy of it. Going back to the train wreck analogy, we know that there is nothing that can prevent what is about to happen. Malvolio is head over heels for Olivia, almost to the point where it’s creepy.
Narcissism in Twelfth Night A Freudian study of Twelfth Night An essential element of William Shakespeare 's comedy Twelfth Night is the theme of self-love i.e. vanity and narcissism. Shakespeare likely set Twelfth Night 's action to occur January 5 and 6, the Eve of Epiphany and the day of Epiphany. During the course of these two days, all of the most important characters experience epiphanies, revelatory moments in which they recognize truths concerning themselves, their vanities and narcissism.
In the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare showed how the lies and the jealousy of others can ruin a relationship . Throughout the history of this play people have understood it as a “triad of nobility,purity, and villainy.” A literary critic, Michael Andrews noted the significance of the handkerchief that was used in the play. “Othello tells Desdemona that the handkerchief is a love-controlling talisman his mother received from an Egyptian "charmer.” The gift that Desdemona receives is used to represent a symbol of Othello’s love.
In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the theme portrayed throughout the play by Malvolio is foolishness and folly. Malvolio is the head servant for Olivia’s family and the type of guy who is always drinking, but since he is also always looking for trouble, he is also considered a party-pooper. He thinks very highly of himself and is always criticizing others, sure that he is right.
The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, functions as an evaluation of Puritan ideas, customs, and culture during the 17th century. Through this evaluation, we can get a good idea of what core values and beliefs the Puritans possessed, as well as the actions they take in cases of adversity brought about by “sinners”. Some Puritan virtues created stark divisions between groups of people, some of which led to discrimination under certain circumstances. One of the most prominent of these is the treatment and standards of men and women, a concept that surfaced during some of the major points in The Scarlet Letter. The divisions that were created by Puritan standards of men and women played a great role in shaping the plot of The Scarlet Letter, determining the fate of many of the characters.
The first instance which supports the notion that a lapse of communication is responsible for the unsuccessful nature of heterosexual relationships is the case of Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia’s relationship. Both start the play preoccupied with their own concerns, Orsino is worried about finding love, specifically with Olivia, meanwhile she is busy mourning the death of her brother by refusing to marry anyone for seven years. However, it is Orsino’s obsession with seeking love and how he goes about pursuing Olivia that best exemplifies the problematic nature of a male and female’s relationship. Orsino opened the play by saying of love, “Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken and so die” (1.1.1-3), essentially saying that he so badly craves the feeling being in love gives him, that he would like in so great a quantity that it would end his life.