Essay: The Darkness in Twelfth Night

When you take away the love stories, all that is left of Twelfth Night are stories of bullying, mistreatment, and exploitation. The play displays a stark contrast between the lives of nobleman and the lives of laymen—the haves and the have nots. These actions stem from a constant theme of selfishness, as the well-off characters dally through the play drunk on alcohol, love, and their personal agendas. Between Lady Olivia, Duke Orsino, Viola, and Sebastian consumed in their search for love, and Maria, Sir Toby, Feste, and Fabian crafting malicious tricks, everyone seems to be out for themselves. The “comedy” in the play mainly comes at the expense of someone’s wellbeing. People not in on the tricks created by the main characters are incorporated by eventually being the butt of the joke. The audience is very much distracted by the funniness of Viola’s Cesario’s disguise, Toby’s drunkenness, and Sir Andrew’s idiocy to the point that they do not notice the sadness and darkness of many scenes in the play. It is buried and takes thought deeper than surface level to see.
In addition to the light-hearted funny scenarios, the fast pace of the play’s scenes also distracts the audience and diverts their attention away from the bullied characters that suffer under the storyline. In an appropriate fashion, the play concludes with a heavy emphasis on the resolution of the love triangle between Lady Olivia, Viola, and Duke Orsino. Each of the three ends up happy and in love (along with Sir Toby and Maria), and Malvolio, Sir Andrew, and Antonio are left in the dust with little to no tribute. The end sums up the unpleasant nature of Twelfth Night—as the audience is expected to forget the used and abused just as the main characters have. A keen watcher would be disturbed by the main source of comedy in the play, and when considering the roles of second tier characters, Malvolio, Sir Andrew, and Antonio, it is clear that Twelfth Night is a tragedy disguised in comedy.
In Malvolio’s case, it is evident that it was a fun joke taken too far. At first, it seems deserved and that the prank would loosen up his strict demeanor. Malvolio is presented as a bossy character who is easy for his subordinates to mock. Early in the play, he scolds the mischievous trio of Toby, Sir Andrew, and Feste for their late-night fun. Malvolio said, “My masters, are you mad? Or what are you? Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night? Do ye make an alehouse of my lady’s house, that ye squeak out your coziers’ catches without mitigation or remorse of voice? Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you?” ( ). Malvolio is acting quite condescending towards the group, and the scene shows the motive for taunting him later in the play. Malvolio is simply a servant, and his bossy behavior is not taken well by the rowdy group. One can see why they would want to get back at Malvolio for constantly condemning their games and exceeding the authority of his position as a servant.
Because Malvolio is seen as overconfident and arrogant from the beginning, it is easy for the audience to find joy in the initial trick against him. Maria and Toby’s trick highlighted Malvolio’s egotistical nature and used it against him, he truly believed Lady Olivia loved him—making it a deservingly funny scene. Though as the joke carried on, it quickly turned dark. Malvolio’s imprisonment in a filthy shack and the compelling case for his insanity were no longer funny. Malvolio was left in the dark, both literally and figuratively. He did not know what he did to deserve the imprisonment.
The pranksters tell him that his dark cell is full of light, and that his inability to see the light means he has gone mad. To this, Malvolio says, “I say this house is as dark as ignorance, though ignorance were as dark as hell; and I say there was never man thus abused” ( Act 4 Scene II). In other words, the darkness he is referring to is not in his cell, but outside in the shape of his captors. To exacerbate the situation, Feste took the argument for insanity further when he pretended to be Sir Topas, the priest. Feste questions Malvolio’s sanity and manipulates him into actually turning mad. The joke is much too harsh, and instead of learning a lesson on his ego, Malvolio was mentally and physically tortured for the enjoyment of the other characters. When looking back on what started the joke, it is apparent that there is no reason for such mistreatment. Malvolio did not commit any crime or wrong anyone. His bossiness and condemnation did not warrant an attack on his physical and mental wellbeing.
Similar to how Malvolio was used for the amusement of the second-tier characters, Sir Andrew was used by Toby to supplement his life of leisure. Sir Andrew is in quite a unique position for someone of his status. He is of wealth and nobility, but still an outsider and the laughingstock of the group. He is quite stupid and foolish, as evident when Sir Toby instructed him to introduced himself to Maria, saying, “Accost, Sir Andrew, accost” ( ). To which Sir Andrew believe Maria’s name is Mistress Accost. Once corrected, and told her name is Maria, he is further foolish calling her Mistress Maria Accost. His lack of comprehension leaves him as an easy target for manipulation—which Toby easily takes advantage of.
Sir Toby convinces Sir Andrew that he must stay in town because he is capable of winning over Lady Olivia as his wife. In reality, Toby wants Andrew to stay simply so he can fund his lazy lifestyle of drunkenness. As one would expect, foolish Sir Andrew believes he can win Olivia over. When looked at deeper, just because Andrew is not the brightest does not mean he doesn’t/couldn’t have real feelings for her. His hearted is played with in a similar way to how Malvolio’s was. And just like Malvolio, Sir Andrew committed no crime and did nothing but act as himself to deserve this maltreatment.
Beyond Sir Toby keeping Andrew around for his personal gain, Sir Andrew was also treated poorly by others throughout the play. Sir Andrew was strung along for the audience to laugh at, as he was the butt of the joke and someone who never caught on to jokes about others. Being so dopey, it can be hard to see the darkness of actions against him. In Act I Scene III, he opened up about how he felt, saying, “I was adored once too.” This shows the emotional impact that the group’s games are having on him and that he has the mental capacity to feel he is unwanted. Nevertheless, in Act 3, Sir Toby found great fun in putting Sir Andrew in a state of fear when he was to swordfight Cesario (Viola). Toby convinced Andrew that he was out for blood and was a ruthless fighter. Clearly, Toby is no friend to Sir Andrew.
The final, and most blatant unkind act towards Sir Andrew happened in the final act. Sir Toby’s true feelings about Sir Andrew are revealed when Andrew seeks camaraderie over the mutual injuries they just sustained. Instead of sharing in brotherly support, Sir Toby calls him “an ass-head, and a coxcomb, and a knave, a thin faced knave, a gull” (¬¬¬¬____). This bluntness catches the audience off guard, and one cannot help but to feel sorry for Sir Andrew. Sir Toby’s words confirm the malintent he had all along and makes the audience see Sir Andrew as a victim.
The final case for darkness in Twelfth Night comes from Antonio’s character, who is victimized by the love triangle turned love square. From the start, Antonio is shown as taken advantage of. He is selfless and waits on Sebastian, the man he saved from drowning. To the audience, Antonio is a benevolent man with nothing but good intentions, so it does not take much for the audience to find pity when he is wronged. When in Illyria, Antonio shares with Sebastian that he is outlawed in the region and if seen would be arrested. Sebastian disregards this, and instead chooses to go sightseeing on his own with Antonio’s money.
Further wronging ensues when there is confusion between Viola and Sebastian. Antonio believes he is saving Sebastian from fighting Sir Andrew, but in reality, it is Viola, who does not know of Antonio. Antonio feels betrayed as Viola denies knowing him and denies that he gave her money. The denial occurs again in front of Duke Orsino, leading Antonio to be arrested. While Antonio fate was not caused with malintent, it is still dark when considering his situation. He did nothing but look to protect Sebastian and wound up imprisoned for his sacrifices. Additionally, Shakespeare never shares what comes of Antonio—we do not know if he is ever released from prison after the characters’ identities are sorted out. The situation is glossed over and the play focuses on the newlyweds.
As evident in the lives of Malvolio, Sir Andrew, and Antonio throughout the play, there is an underlying darkness that cannot be overlooked. The upsetting situations that impact these three men are buried with comic relief that quickly arises due to the fast-paced play. When breaking down the root of why each character was tormented, there is no feasible excuse. Malvolio was an overconfident man who condemned the drunken band of friends when they were rowdy, Sir Andrew was a dumb man from wealth, and Antonio’s only fault was that he was too loyal. None of the deserved physical and/or emotionally harmful punishments for being who they were. The other characters and the audience gained laughter at their expense, but is that truly funny? The darkness of Twelfth Night can be explained in that it was Shakespeare’s last play written before switching over to tragedies. And the fate of many of the characters in Twelfth Night is, in fact, quite tragic.