“the trickery in twelfth night is too cruel to be described as comedy”
The trickery involved in Twelfth Night is vital to multiple strands of the plot. In the sub-plot
which is centred around Malvolio the deception on a basic leval is intended to provide
humour in mocking the puritanical hypocrite Malvolio. However, disguise is also a major
part of the main plot where Viola spends all of the play, apart from the first scene dressed
as a man under the name Cesario. The problem moment that could determine the tricary as
pure cruelty is Malvolio’s imprisonment scene where he is blindfolded and vocally tortured
by the likes of Feste. Although the resolution may leave the audience unfulfilled as the
comady appears to fail certain characters like Malvolio and Antonio as a result of the
trickary, this only serves to reinforce the true intentions of comady which deals with issues
deep-routed in society such as class and gender.
On a basic level Malvolio’s role as the victim of tricary can be seen as playful mocking,
particularly before the imprisonment scene. The deception involved with him reading the
letter supposedly from Olivia facilitates the bawdy humour of the simultaneous
conversation between Sir Tobey, Sir Andrew Fabian and Maria. The particular letters that
Shakespeare deliberately chooses for Malvolio to attempts to decipher; “her C’s her U’s and
her T’s” strung together spell what at the time was a rude description of a woman’s body
parts. This is even more amusing considering Malvolio’s strict persona, which Bevington
describes as “an enemy of merriment and hence a foe of the kind of theatre twelfth night
represents, ” there the audience who pay to watch theatre would be automatically apposed
to him. Malvolio’s muddled deciphering of the letter is met with constant interjections
from characters like Sir Toby who rudely labels him a “cur” referring to a worthless dog
extending the week hunting metaphor further mocking “ he is now at a cold scent.” This
contrasts greatly to later metaphors that surround the semantic of hunting as Malvolio
refers to his perpetrators as a “pack” in comparison to the week and singular “cur.”
Furthemore the intention for the play as humerus is supported by the fact that groundlings
would pay only a penny to watch them from the pit alongside other entertainment like bear
baiting therfore, perhaps Shakespeare’s intentions were merely to please and engage this
audience who would have greatly appreciate the crude humour as a result of the decit.
However in another light it could be argued that comady fails certain characters like
Malvolio and deception has a far greater role than just serving merriment. The abuse that is
threatened by Sir Andrew to “beet him like a dog” somewhat appears to come true in latter
scenes where he is mentally abused and berated by Feste disguised in multiple different
forms, being “most notoriously abused.” Yet, the intention of comady is not to be uplifting
and joyful one critical viewpoint stresses the importance of remembering “that humiliation
is often at the heart of comedy and that comedy is born of cruelty.” Within this scene there
is a strong sense of schadenfreude, a theory of laughter where the audience take pleasure
in another mans misfortunes.
There is also great deception surrounding the main plot and Viola’s mistaken identity as
Cesario. We are subtly reminded of this throughout the play, whilst she is involved in a witty
exchange with Olivia she adds “I am not what I am” a reference that only the audience fully
understand, but Olivia is oblivious to. Viola views her disguise in a negative manner
The trickery involved in Twelfth Night is vital to multiple strands of the plot. In the sub-plot
which is centred around Malvolio the deception on a basic leval is intended to provide
humour in mocking the puritanical hypocrite Malvolio. However, disguise is also a major
part of the main plot where Viola spends all of the play, apart from the first scene dressed
as a man under the name Cesario. The problem moment that could determine the tricary as
pure cruelty is Malvolio’s imprisonment scene where he is blindfolded and vocally tortured
by the likes of Feste. Although the resolution may leave the audience unfulfilled as the
comady appears to fail certain characters like Malvolio and Antonio as a result of the
trickary, this only serves to reinforce the true intentions of comady which deals with issues
deep-routed in society such as class and gender.
On a basic level Malvolio’s role as the victim of tricary can be seen as playful mocking,
particularly before the imprisonment scene. The deception involved with him reading the
letter supposedly from Olivia facilitates the bawdy humour of the simultaneous
conversation between Sir Tobey, Sir Andrew Fabian and Maria. The particular letters that
Shakespeare deliberately chooses for Malvolio to attempts to decipher; “her C’s her U’s and
her T’s” strung together spell what at the time was a rude description of a woman’s body
parts. This is even more amusing considering Malvolio’s strict persona, which Bevington
describes as “an enemy of merriment and hence a foe of the kind of theatre twelfth night
represents, ” there the audience who pay to watch theatre would be automatically apposed
to him. Malvolio’s muddled deciphering of the letter is met with constant interjections
from characters like Sir Toby who rudely labels him a “cur” referring to a worthless dog
extending the week hunting metaphor further mocking “ he is now at a cold scent.” This
contrasts greatly to later metaphors that surround the semantic of hunting as Malvolio
refers to his perpetrators as a “pack” in comparison to the week and singular “cur.”
Furthemore the intention for the play as humerus is supported by the fact that groundlings
would pay only a penny to watch them from the pit alongside other entertainment like bear
baiting therfore, perhaps Shakespeare’s intentions were merely to please and engage this
audience who would have greatly appreciate the crude humour as a result of the decit.
However in another light it could be argued that comady fails certain characters like
Malvolio and deception has a far greater role than just serving merriment. The abuse that is
threatened by Sir Andrew to “beet him like a dog” somewhat appears to come true in latter
scenes where he is mentally abused and berated by Feste disguised in multiple different
forms, being “most notoriously abused.” Yet, the intention of comady is not to be uplifting
and joyful one critical viewpoint stresses the importance of remembering “that humiliation
is often at the heart of comedy and that comedy is born of cruelty.” Within this scene there
is a strong sense of schadenfreude, a theory of laughter where the audience take pleasure
in another mans misfortunes.
There is also great deception surrounding the main plot and Viola’s mistaken identity as
Cesario. We are subtly reminded of this throughout the play, whilst she is involved in a witty
exchange with Olivia she adds “I am not what I am” a reference that only the audience fully
understand, but Olivia is oblivious to. Viola views her disguise in a negative manner
