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Malvolio is a fictional character in
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's comedy ''
Twelfth Night, or What You Will ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
''. His name means "ill will" in Italian, referencing his disagreeable nature. He is the vain, pompous, authoritarian steward of Olivia's household.


Style

In the play, Malvolio is defined as "a kind of
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
". 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. This leads to major conflicts with characters such as
Sir Toby Belch Sir Toby Belch is a character in William Shakespeare’s ''Twelfth Night''. He is Olivia's uncle. Character Sir Toby is an ambiguous mix of high spirits and low cunning. He first appears in the play's third scene, when he storms onto the stag ...
,
Sir Andrew Aguecheek Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will''. One of the supporting characters, Sir Andrew is a stereotypical fool, who is goaded into unwisely duelling with Cesario and who i ...
, and
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
, mistress of the household. Much of the play's humour comes from Maria,
Feste Feste is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's comedy ''Twelfth Night''. He is a Shakespearian fool, fool (royal jester) attached to the household of the Olivia (Twelfth Night), Countess Olivia. He has apparently been there for some time ...
, Toby Belch, and Andrew Aguecheek tormenting Malvolio with drinking, joking, and singing. After Malvolio interrupts their party and chastises them for their lewdness, Maria devises a way to gain revenge on the steward, which she proposes to Sir Toby and the others. Maria composes a love letter in Olivia's handwriting, and leaves it so Malvolio will find it. Beforehand, Malvolio had been wishing to marry Olivia. 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 A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking ...
. Olivia is in mourning for her brother's death, and finds smiling offensive; yellow is "a colour she abhors, and cross garters a fashion she detests", according to Maria. 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 disguise of "Sir Topas the curate", and proceeds to torment Malvolio by refusing to think him sane no matter what he says. In his guise as the latter, he insists that Malvolio must follow the
Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...
doctrine of
reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
, something the steward claims to disapprove of. At the end of the play, Malvolio vows, "I’ll be reveng’d on the whole pack of you" for his
public humiliation Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned puni ...
, and Olivia acknowledges that he has "been most notoriously abused." The role was first played by
Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (c. 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owner, ent ...
at the Globe Theatre. John Marston observed that the actors of his time often played the role with "contemptuous superiority"; by contrast his favourite Malvolio, William Ferrin, performed it with "lofty condescension". Other actors known for their performance of Malvolio include Sir
Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
,
Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...
,
E. H. Sothern Edward Hugh Sothern (December 6, 1859 – October 28, 1933) was an American actor who specialized in dashing, romantic leading roles and particularly in Shakespeare roles. Biography Sothern was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of English ...
,
Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
, Henry Ainley, Sir
John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
,
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
, Maurice Evans,
Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A life ...
,
Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...
, Sir
Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...
and Sir
Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared in various stage productions of William Shakespeare such as ''Hamlet'', ''Much Ado About Nothing'', ''Macbeth'', ''Twelfth Night'', ''The Tempest'', ''King ...
. Richard Wilson took on the role for the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
's 2009 production. In 2012,
Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
assumed the role at
Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...
. In 2017, actress
Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in Br ...
portrayed a female version of the character (renamed Malvolia) in
Simon Godwin Simon Godwin is an English theatre director based in Washington, DC, where he is currently serving as artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Previously he was based in London, serving as associate director of London's Royal National ...
's revival of the play at the National Theatre.


Inspiration

Some Shakespearean scholars hypothesize that the character Malvolio was inspired by
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
landowner Sir Thomas Posthumous Hoby, who was involved in a well known court case against many of his
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
neighbours in the 1600s. Hoby sued his neighbours 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."Shakespeare A to Z" by
Charles Boyce Charles Boyce (born 1949 in Olive Branch, Mississippi), is an American cartoonist known for his syndicated comic panel '' Compu-toon''. Boyce is also known for creating the KeyPad Kid, a cartoon character used in public affairs awareness programs ...
, Roundtable Press, 1990


Famous lines

* " me are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." (Act II, Scene v; although Malvolio says this, he does so while reading from the letter that Maria wrote). *"This is my lady's hand these be her very C's, her U's and her T's and thus makes she her great P's." * "My masters, are you mad?" The lines would later be repeated, with a slight alteration, by Feste in the final scene of the play as he mocks Malvolio, who afterward storms off.


References

{{Authority control Characters in Twelfth Night Male Shakespearean characters Fictional nobility Male literary villains Shakespeare villains