Tuesday, February 5, 2019

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, what makes the other characters want to play a prank on Malvolio?

Malvolio does little to make himself popular among the others. When they are trying to have fun, he brings down the mood with his serious attitude, and he puts on airs. Although he is a steward to Countess Olivia, he tries to behave like a higher-status person and imagines himself achieving such a status by marrying the countess. His arrogance gets on everyone’s nerves, especially Maria, Olivia’s maid. Spoiling the party annoys Sir Toby, Olivia’s uncle, who is a fan of drinking and carousing. In act 2, scene 3, Maria devises a plot to humiliate him by making him do silly things because he thinks that is what Olivia wants. Because she is aware of his vanity, she selects a ludicrous outfit—crossed garters and yellow stockings—that she will trick him into wearing, making him think it is all the latest fashion although she is fully aware that Olivia would despise it.

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