After reading a Midsummer Night’s Dream, I didn’t believe that Shakespeare’s plays could get any wilder, but he proved me wrong in a Twelfth Night. A big aspect of a Midsummer Night’s Dream was illusion and trickery. This was conveyed through the “magic” potions that caused the main characters to fall in love with each other. They essentially were trapped within their own mind and succumbed to their emotional desires (Even if they were directed to the wrong person). In Twelfth Night, the characters used what was already in their heads (Or just their emotions in general) to perpetuate their feelings and create a false sense of reality. Shakespeare uses imagination to not only to emphasize character traits, but to cause chaos and get the reader thinking about what might happen next.
Let’s begin with arguably the most “imaginative” person in the entire play, Malvolio. Even before he received the fake letter from Maria, he was seen talking to himself about his love for Olivia. “What should I think on’t?” (p.1940, line 20). “To be Count Malvolio.” (p.1940, line 30). It’s interesting to note that he mentioned how Maria once told him that Olivia cared for him. This affection was most likely just a courtesy and she only meant it in a friendly way. However, Malvolio imagined that it could possibly have a more romantic meaning. He even describes an imaginary scene in which he talks down to Sir Toby and Sir Andrew after gaining a higher societal rank than them. The pinnacle of his delusions came to fruition when he first picked up the fake letter. Maria ingeniously crafted the letter in a way that resembled Olivia’s penmanship and style of writing. The best part was that it didn’t say who the letter was addressed to until it was opened. The initials “M.O.A.I.” were similar enough to Malvolio’s name (even though the following letters were mixed up) that it prompted him to think the letter was meant for him. Before the letter was even opened, Malvolio was imagining that him and Olivia were married. Maria played on Malvolio’s feelings and used his own arrogance against him.
It took me a while to realize this, but in the same way Malvolio dreams about being with Olivia, Olivia imagines herself being with Cesario (Viola in disguise). When the class was talking about Malvolio, it was mentioned that he is cocky and pretty crazy for fantasizing about being with Olivia. It’s odd that little attention is paid to the fact that Olivia is essentially doing the same thing with Cesario. In their first encounter, Cesario literally rejects the ring Olivia sends to her. “After the last enchantment you did here, A ring in chase of you. / So did I abuse / Myself, my servant, and I fear me you.” (p.1946, line 104). First off, Cesario’s words were never meant to “enchant” her to begin with. Second, I believe that with all these men craving her affection, she was just upset at the idea that someone rejected her. Cesario literally tells Olivia that she is deceiving her to some extent, but Olivia continues to proclaim her love. What’s crazier was that they met only once, but Olivia already has marriage in mind. This can be seen at the end of Act 4 when she shows up out of nowhere with a priest.
I like the connection you made between AMND and Twelfth Night. Shakespeare does not just meld reality and fiction as a career, but also as he writes plays he makes this blending a theme by giving power to magic and costumes. In a way Shakespeare holds a mirror up to the audience. Your analysis of Malvolio was insightful. It made me think the audience is a bit like Malvolio because we hold a presumptuous expectation when we go to the theatre. We expect that we will be entertained. Our boundary between reality and fiction is blurred, but by creating characters who struggle to keep truth and illusion straight within the story he grounds the play more effectively in reality because a self-consciousness arises in the viewer.
I think a really large part of Twelfth Night is people wanting what they cannot have or wanting what they cannot acquire. It is evident with almost every character. Orsino wants Olivia so desperately because she will not give him the time of day. Malvolio wants Olivia because she is unattainably higher class. Olivia wants Cesario because he is the only “man” who does not fawn over her. Viola wants Orsino, but can clearly not display that because she is disguised as a boy. We can even see Feste wants to be of higher class when he disguises himself as the noble Sir Topas. It is a constant pattern within the play. I really liked how you compared the difference between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night; as opposed to trickery by magic, this play focuses on the trickery of identity. Nobody is as they seem. Additionally, you focused on the differences between Malvolio and Olivia. The two characters both have misplaced affection, but it seems we—the readers—ridicule Malvolio for it and not Olivia. Personally, I think we do this because Malvolio is of lower class (which is terrible); it is easier to make fun of the steward looking to climb the class ladder to his countess’ heart. As opposed to Olivia, who wants the one guy who is not obsessed with her. It is definitely an interesting thought to ponder.
I thought your interpretation of Twelfth Night was very apt, especially your discussion of the characters Malvolio and Olivia. We see the theme of imagination and subjectivity manifest itself in not only this play as you’ve stated, but also in A Midsummer Nights Dream. It seems as though the two can be connected with Theseus’ speech about the lover, the lunatic and the poet as both characters Malvolio and Olivia are putting their own feelings onto their love interests and imagining a world with them that doesn’t even exist. The fact that one can use their own imagination to corrupt is quite scary, in the case of Malvolio and Feste, Feste tries to make the steward think he is in a room full of mirrors and no darkness to assert to everyone else that Malvolio is insane. I certainly agree with your statement about Malvolio seeing something in Olivia that is fictional as well as Olivia seeing something in Cesario that isn’t there, they are all the “lover” archetype, to use Theseus’ words.