Essay: Social Ranking in Twelfth Night, The Busy Body and Pygmalion

Social rankings can be found in any society. Though they all present differently, as an economical hierarchy or a hierarchy determined by gender, and sometimes can be less prevalent, they are always there, subconsciously or not. Through the analysis of Twelfth Night, The Busy Body, and Pygmalion it will become easy to track the progression of social rank, class, marriage, and romance through the 15th, 16th, and 18th centuries. As time wears on, though the importance of social class will remain, the expectations of romance, marriage, and women will change, as will their actions towards those trying to coerce them into marriage.
The themes of social rank, work, and class in Twelfth Night are some of the most obvious and trackable themes in the play; the most obvious examples are those of Malvolio and Maria. Malvolio, a rather unnecessary character in terms of comic structure, becomes a bit of a laughing stock to the audience in his quest to climb up the social ladder. His sense of ambition and blind desire to no longer be a steward and to rise to the upper classes makes him rather delusional. He so desperately wants his desires to come true that in Act III, scene 4, Malvolio he is quick to believe the prank pulled upon him and is unwilling to see the situation in any other way. He allows his wishful thinking to turn to foolish actions, and when he interacts with Olivia he is so absorbed in his own fantasy that he cannot see there has been a misunderstanding of sorts. Though in the case of Malvolio it is not possible for him to climb the social ladder, as he wants it too badly, Twelfth Night does prove it possible for Maria. In fact, the coupling of Maria and Sir Toby results to teach such a lesson as this: blind ambition is an anchor. Maria and Malvolio are of the same social status. Sir Toby and Olivia are of the same social status. If it is possible for one of the two lower class servant types it would stand to reason that it should be possible for both. However, Maria does not seek to gain social standing, and that is the very reason she is allowed to gain it. Sir Toby sees Maria for all that she is without her class, and that is witty, sly, clever, and scheming, and thus chooses her because of her sharp senses. The facts presented in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare show that comparably the only difference between Malvolio and Maria is Malvolio’s strict adherence to the rules and his hopeful aspirations for grandeur, both of which make him a fool rather than the boy who finds love.
With reference to gender relations, gender roles, romance, and marriage, the most predominant instances in which these are found are in the events surrounding the characters of Viola and Olivia. With Twelfth Night’s obvious used of traditional comic structure it is a given that there will be at least one set of lovers, perhaps more, that end up together, engaged, and/or married. However, for the majority of the play love goes unrequited for every character. In the case of Olivia, she originally is pursued by Duke Orsino, who sends “Cesario” with every romantic gesture he can imagine. But, because both her father and brother have died, because she is of high standing in society, and because her uncle is a drunk, Olivia essentially is given the choice of who and when to love, which she pushes off originally to mourn the loss of her brother. Regardless, she is expected to marry eventually, perhaps part of the reason Sir Andrew hovers around for so much longer than he should. For Viola, once again the romance goes unrequited as she falls in love with Orsino while dressed as “Cesario.” Though she may not have originally intended on gaining feelings for Orsino, Viola’s rationale for venturing to meet and work for him is largely economical and pragmatic.
Similar to Twelfth Night in terms of comic structure is The Busy Body, and that translates directly into social class. In comic structure the “blocking character” must be a character with the power or age or status to stop a romance or marriage cold. In the case of The Busy Body these “blocking characters” are the father figures of Isabinda and Miranda, who use their status to try and influence who each girl will marry, and so the concepts of social class and marriage are even more intertwined than in Twelfth Night. In the case of Isabinda, her father believes that Spaniards are superior to the English, specifically in how the men treat their wives, and thus he uses his power to try and ensure Isabinda will marry Don Diego Babinetto. Miranda, as the ward of Sir Francis, is treated with the same disrespect and is expected to marry Sir Francis himself, as he wants permanent control over her inheritance. He also wishes to marry Miranda because he desperately wants to be in control of a woman of high standing, one that is as beautiful as she is wealthy, both of which would give him more standing and power than he now has. The end result, both women marrying their true love after time spent scheming, disrupts the social order the father figures were so desperately trying to maintain through arranged marriages.
The play with the most obvious influences of social class is Pygmalion. The first scene allows for the immediate analysis of each character and their social standing; no one is disillusioned to where anyone stands in relation to the rest. The rain causes all to take shelter under the portico and people of low class, such as Eliza the Flower Girl, are able to interact with Freddy, his mother and sister, people of higher class but without wealth, are all the same for a moment while they all wait out the rain. The entire plot of the play revolves around Higgins and his attempt to raise Eliza’s social standing. While Eliza simply wants the skills to make her own living as a legitimate florist, Higgins trains her to behave with the mannerisms of a Duchess. That is where the concept of marriage comes to play. Eliza never asked Higgins to make her a suitable spouse. All she wanted was to own her own shop, but after Higgins is finished she is no longer suited for the life she had before or the life she wanted. In training her to be as proper as a duchess, Higgins rendered Eliza useless to society in any way other than as a wife, and so she does end up married to Freddy, rather unhappily.
As time progresses societies typically become more aware of constructs as social rank, work, and class and some try to change it. As seen in the progression of the plays, as discussed chronologically, though social class, hierarchy, and more has not changed, women are becoming less likely to accept the social hierarchy as a valid reason to have an arranged marriage, to give in to societal pressures, or to feel as though they need to marry to survive. Though not every circumstance favored the woman rebelling the nuanced patriarchal tones of marriage, each tried in their own right.