UW THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE
The Privilege of Power
"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
Renee Meadow Walker
This article discusses the difference in treatment between Maria and Malvolio,
due to their relationships to those with power.
The 1920s post-World War I, the setting of our production, was a time full of hierarchy, something clearly represented in Twelfth Night, or What You Will. In Olivia’s house, we see the Countess Olivia, along with her cousin Sir Toby Blech and his friend Lady Andrea Aguecheek, and those that work for Olivia, Maria and Malvolio. The division between these two groups is seen right from the first page of the script when we see the characters' names; some with titles, and some without. The names alone immediately establish who has power, and who has none.
However, the lines are not always so clear. By this I mean that individuals who are closer with those with power, seem to have more privilege and the ability to get away with more things, than those who are less close or even disliked by those with power. A great example of this is the difference between how Maria and Malvolio are treated by Countess Olivia and Sir Toby.
Although Maria technically works for Olivia, it seems that their relationship is more of a friendship. Throughout the play, Maria works so closely with Sir Toby and Lady Andrea that, as an audience member, you almost forget that she does not have any relation to Olivia and Toby, but rather she works for them.
Malvolio, on the other hand, seems to be quite disliked by his employers. Being a puritan, Malvolio feels a need to call out the others in the house on their excessiveness, which we see in his strong disapproval in their staying up late and drinking. Whereas Maria is more willing to participate in excesses and the spirit of the Feast of Epiphany.
Although Malvolio’s character is quite strict and maybe not the most likeable at times, these are his only crimes. However, the punishment he receives throughout the play does not match his “crimes”.
The punishment starts out playful, with some teasing and bullying from Maria, Sir Toby, and Lady Andrea. However, the bullying starts to get more severe when the three of them decide to play a prank on Malvolio where Maria writes a letter in Olivia’s hand, falsely indicating that Olivia has feelings for Malvolio, a plan conjured up by Maria herself.
This eventually leads to Olivia putting Malvolio in jail, thinking he must have lost his mind due to the advances he was making towards her, not knowing of the prank Maria, Sir Toby, and Lady Andrea had played on him.
There are many things to say about the power imbalances present in Malvolio’s story. To start, Maria is able to get away with this truly cruel behaviour with no punishment whatsoever, in fact she actually gets high praise from Sir Toby and Lady Andrea for coming up with this prank.
However, Malvolio, after not really doing anything wrong, is treated terribly and eventually thrown in a prison cell. The double standard for Maria and Malvolio can only really be explained as a difference in relationship to those with power. Maria seems to be quite close with Olivia and Sir Toby; she is very well liked by them. Therefore, Maria sees no punishment for her unprofessional behaviour, while Malvolio, because he is not liked by those with power, sees the loss of his freedom for his unprofessional behaviour.
It should also be mentioned that there is some flirting or implied possible romantic feelings between Maria and Sir Toby, and once again Maria does not receive any punishment for this. However, Malvolio making advances towards Olivia is a crime. This also further solidifies the difference in position between Malvolio and Olivia. The fact that Malvolio would even imagine that Olivia could have feelings for him or be trying to pursue a relationship with him is seen as so absurd that it is shocking that he would ever believe the letter to truly be from Olivia. Additionally, the fact that he would flirt with Olivia in any capacity is seen as so out of bounds that it is crime enough to put him in prison, with the only possible explanation being that he lost his mind, why else would he think it to be okay to step so far out of his role?