Analysis
At the start of the play, Viola finds herself alone: her father died when she was 13 years old and now she has lost her brother. She is in a similar situation to Olivia and perhaps this is why she tells the Captain ‘O, that I served that lady’ when she hears about Olivia’s situation. When the Captain replies that Olivia ‘will admit no kind of suit’, Viola decides to serve Orsino instead, asking the Captain to help disguise her as a young man. As the events of the play unfold it is important for any actor playing Viola, and anyone writing about the character, to ask: We’ve started to think below about some of the reasons Viola disguises herself as 'Cesario'. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence: Point Viola is in danger as a woman with no family to protect her, so she dresses as a man for her own safety. Evidence ‘O that I served that lady / And might not be delivered to the world, / Till I had made mine own occasion mellow / What my estate is’ (Viola, 1:2) Explanation Viola suggests she would like to hide after her trauma until she is ready to face the world again. There is also a suggestion here that she is in a vulnerable position before she can access the family wealth that will give her more independence. The Captain says that after her father died, Olivia was left ‘In the protection of his son, her brother’ until he also died. In a similar way, Viola’s brother would have inherited the family wealth when their father died and would have acted as Viola’s guardian and protector. After a shipwreck it is not so easy for Viola to inherit as it was for Olivia. Point She wants to experience the freedom of being treated as a young man. Evidence Select an option Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point She wants to keep alive the memory of her brother and has deliberately dressed to look like him. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Click text to edit Enter your point here. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here. You can explore Viola's language further in the Language Analysis section. As a beautiful and wealthy heiress, Olivia attracts the attention of many men who would like to marry her. In Shakespeare’s time, a woman of Olivia’s social status would have been expected to marry to form the right alliances rather than for love. Orsino is described throughout the play as an attractive, wealthy and decent man, but Olivia is confident in her rejection of him. Instead she falls desperately in love with Orsino’s young servant 'Cesario'. A key question in exploring the character of Olivia is: We’ve started to think below about some of the reasons for this. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence: Point Olivia cannot control her deep attraction to Cesario, which is based on feelings and emotions rather than practicality. Evidence ‘There’s something in me that reproves my fault / But such a headstrong potent fault it is / That it but mocks reproof.’ (Olivia, 3:4) Explanation Even though 'Cesario' keeps telling Olivia 'he' cannot love her, Olivia refuses to accept this answer and keeps asking 'Cesario' to visit her again. She knows her pursuit of Cesario may be wrong but feels she can’t help herself. This reflects an idea of love in Shakespeare’s time that love was a random emotion, creating temporary madness, like being struck by one of Cupid’s arrows. Point Olivia values her independence. She does not dislike Orsino but wants a more equal relationship than she could have with him. Evidence Select an option Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Viola/Cesario speaks to Olivia as a person rather than an object of idealised love as Orsino does. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Click text to edit Enter your point here. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here. There are lots of reasons why ‘Cesario’ might be a more attractive option for Olivia. Look at the way 'Cesario' speaks to her in their first meeting, for example. How often do you think Olivia has been spoken to so honestly? You can explore more about the language of love in the Analysing the Language of Love section. In this video, Nick Day suggests that Sir Toby is ‘a flawed human being’ who is dependent on Sir Andrew ‘for defining his purpose in life’. What do you think that purpose might be? Sir Toby’s position in Olivia’s household is not entirely clear. Sir Toby calls Olivia his niece and he may be her uncle or he may be a more distant relative but it's clear he depends on her. The first time we meet Sir Toby, Maria tells him that Olivia is tired of his drunken antics and is not impressed by ‘the foolish knight’ Sir Toby has invited to stay. Sir Toby seems to enjoy Sir Andrew’s company and talks to him as a friend but it soon becomes clear that Sir Toby is deceiving Sir Andrew into believing that Olivia wishes to marry him. It is important for any actor playing Sir Toby, and anyone writing about the character, to consider his relationship with Sir Andrew, asking: We’ve started to think below about some of the reasons Sir Toby deceives Sir Andrew. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence: Point Sir Toby is only interested in conning Sir Andrew’s money out of him. Evidence ‘I have been dear to him, lad, some two thousand strong or so.’ (Sir Toby, 3:2) Explanation Sir Toby confesses to Fabian that he has been taking money from Sir Andrew. When Sir Toby deceives Sir Andrew into believing that Cesario wants to fight with him, Sir Andrew tells Sir Toby to offer Cesario his horse to ‘let the matter slip’. Sir Toby sees this as an opportunity to take the horse for himself, saying in an aside: ‘I’ll ride your horse as well as I ride you’ (3:4) which suggests he is consciously using Sir Andrew for his own gain and enjoying it. Point Sir Toby enjoys laughing at others and finds Sir Andrew’s gullibility entertaining. Evidence Select an option Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Sir Toby is a drunk and is not really aware of what he is doing. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Click text to edit Enter your point here. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here. In Shakespeare’s time, how people dressed, spoke and behaved towards each other was more obviously controlled by their position in society. Malvolio is a steward, a highly trusted and important position in such a large household as Olivia’s, but he is ambitious for more and believes he could become master of the household by marrying his mistress Olivia. It is clear from the beginning of Act 2 Scene 5 that Malvolio already dreams of marrying Olivia, even before he reads Maria’s letter. Instead of having any doubts about the authenticity of the letter he is quick to believe that his dreams are coming true. ‘I do not now fool myself, to let imagination jade me, for every reason excites to this, that my lady loves me’ (Malvolio, 2:5) As the events of the play unfold it is important for any actor playing Malvolio, and anyone writing about the character, to ask: We’ve started to think below about some of the reasons why Malvolio believes Olivia loves him. See if you can complete the grid to make four points that could answer this question. It doesn’t matter if you agree or not, as long as you can back it up! Looking at the following scenes might also help to collect evidence: Point Malvolio believes Olivia pays more attention to him than she does and has already convinced himself of some affection from her, even before the letter. Evidence ‘She did commend my yellow stockings of late, she did praise my leg being cross-gartered, and in this she manifests herself to my love, and with a kind of injunction drives me to these habits of her liking.’ (Malvolio, 2:5) Explanation Maria makes it clear later in this scene that Olivia hates yellow and cross-gartered is ‘a fashion she detests’. It seems that Olivia has complimented Malvolio on his yellow stockings and cross- garters before, perhaps out of politeness or as a joke, but that Malvolio took her seriously. Maria cleverly uses this detail to convince Malvolio the letter truly expresses Olivia’s feelings. Point He is vain and self-important, making it easy for him to imagine his mistress falling in love with him. Evidence Select an option Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Maria’s letter is very detailed and convincing, making it possible for Malvolio to believe the declaration of love. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here Point Click text to edit Enter your point here. Evidence Click text to edit Enter your evidence here. Explanation Click text to edit Enter your explanation here. If you are interested in looking at the staging of the gulling scene, in which Malvolio receives the letter in Act 2 Scene 5, you can explore it further in the Key Scenes section. More Info For each of the characters on this page we’ve asked some central questions. These are great questions to explore with students in mind maps, or as class debates. The following activities will also help you explore the characters of Malvolio, Olivia and Viola even further with students. Who is Malvolio (2017) This activity can be found on page 6 and takes approximately 20 minutes. Courting Olivia (2017) This activity, exploring Olivia and Viola’s first meeting in Act 1, can be found on page 10 and takes approximately 20 minutes. We use cookies on this website. By using this site you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device. Find out more about how we use cookies and your options to change your acceptance of cookies. Close Unfortunately, payments are no longer supported by Mastercard in your web browser Chrome 127.0, so you may experience some difficulties using this website. Please either update your browser to the newest version, or choose an alternative browser – visit here or here for help. Close We’d love to know what you think about the Shakespeare Learning Zone. Help us by taking a short survey – it will only take a few minutes and will help us make the Shakespeare Learning Zone even better for everyone.
Why does Viola disguise herself as ‘Cesario’?
Why is Olivia attracted to 'Cesario', not Orsino?
Why does Sir Toby deceive Sir Andrew?
Why does Malvolio believe Olivia loves him?
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