Malvolio

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Malvolio

Malvolio is the Butler

Butler

A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In the great houses of the past, the household was sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries....
of Olivia's household in William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
's comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, based on the short story "Of Apollonius and Silla" by Barnabe Rich, which in turn was based on a story by Matteo Bandello....
.

olio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.

In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan

Puritan

A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group pietism....
. He despises all manner of fun and games, and wishes his world to be completely free of human sin, yet he behaves very foolishly against his stoic nature when he believes that Olivia loves him.

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Encyclopedia

Malvolio is the Butler

Butler

William Shakespeare

Style

Malvolio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.

In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan

Puritan

Toby Belch

Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night is a high-spirited, hard-drinking counter-balance to the lovelorn melancholy which goes on around him - a mixed and fascinating character....
, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria, mistress of the household. He proves himself to be something of a hypocrite when alone however, fantasizing himself luxuriating on a day-revenge upon Malvolio, and proposes it to Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Feste. Maria composes a letter in Olivia's hand, and leaves it so Malvolio will find it. The letter convinces Malvolio that Olivia loves him, and leads Malvolio to think that Olivia wishes him to smile, wear yellow stockings and cross garters. Olivia is in mourning for her brother's death, and finds smiling offensive, and yellow is "a colour she abhors, and cross garters a fashion she detests". When Malvolio is imprisoned for being a supposed lunatic after acting out the instructions in the letter, Feste visits him both as himself and in the guise of "Sir Topas the curate," and torments Malvolio by making him swear to heretical

Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
texts, for example, Pythagorean

Pythagoreanism

Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysics beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a very inspirational source for Plato and Platonism....
precepts.

The role was first played by Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage

Richard Burbage was an actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama.Burbage came from a poor family and was a popular actor by his early 20s....
at the Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613....
. John Westland Marston

John Westland Marston

John Westland Marston was an England dramatist.Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Marston wrote several Play , including Strathmore and Marie de M?ranie....
notes that the actors of his time often played the role with "contemptuous superiority"; by contrast his favorite Malvolio, William Ferrin, performed it with "lofty condescension." Other actors famed for their performance of Malvolio include Henry Irving

Henry Irving

Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era. He was the first actor to be awarded a knighthood....
, E. H. Sothern

E. H. Sothern

Edward Hugh Sothern was an United States actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles....
, Herbert Beerbohm Tree

Herbert Beerbohm Tree

Knight Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an England actor-manager....
, Henry Ainley

Henry Ainley

Henry Hinchliffe Ainley was an England William Shakespeare stage and screen actor, father of actors Richard Ainley and Anthony Ainley, and Sam Ainley, who was not an actor....
, John Gielgud

John Gielgud

Sir Arthur John Gielgud, Order of Merit , Companion of Honour was an England actor and singer, particularly known for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Alec Guinness likened to "a silver trumpet muffled in silk"....
, Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale Commander of the British Empire is a English actor. He has been described as "the greatest stage actor of his generation."...
, Maurice Evans

Maurice Evans (actor)

Maurice Herbert Evans was an English actor noted for his interpretations of Shakespearean characters....
, Richard Briers

Richard Briers

Richard David Briers, Order of the British Empire is an English people actor whose career has encompassed the theatre, television, film and radio....
and Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi

Sir Derek George Jacobi Order of the British Empire is an England actor and film director. Like Laurence Olivier, he bears the distinction of holding two knighthoods, Danish and British....
.

Inspiration

Some Shakespearean scholars hypothesize that the character Malvolio was inspired by Puritan

Puritan

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a Historic counties of England of northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Because of its great size, over time functions were increasingly undertaken by its subdivisions, which have been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire....
neighbors in 1600. Hoby sued his neighbors when they came uninvited to his house, drank, played cards, mocked his religion, and threatened to rape his wife. Hoby won damages in the case, which may have influenced the scene in Twelfth Night when Malvolio interrupts Sir Toby's late-night reveling.

Famous lines

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." (Although Malvolio says this, he does so while reading from the letter that Maria wrote).

The lines would later be repeated by Feste in the final scene of the play as he mocks Malvolio who afterward storms off.