Malvolio's Humiliation
The Gulling of Malvolio
The subplot of Twelfth Night centres on the gulling of Malvolio — one of the most famous comic scenes in all of Shakespeare. Malvolio is Olivia’s steward, a man who takes his authority far too seriously. He is pompous, self-righteous, and deeply disapproving of the revelry in Olivia’s household. Sir Toby Belch, Maria, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Fabian conspire to humiliate him by exploiting his greatest weakness: his secret ambition to marry Olivia and rise above his station.
Maria, who is the cleverest schemer in the play, forges a letter in Olivia’s handwriting. She drops it where Malvolio will find it, knowing that his vanity will make him believe it is genuine. The scene where Malvolio discovers and reads the letter (Act 2, Scene 5) is one of the play’s comic highlights, with Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian hiding behind a box tree, barely containing their laughter as Malvolio convinces himself that Olivia is in love with him.
Maria forges a letter in Olivia’s handwriting containing the famous line “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em”. The letter works because Malvolio already believes he deserves to rise — the deception exploits a self-deception that is already in place.
The Letter: “Be Not Afraid of Greatness”
The forged letter is a masterpiece of manipulation. It begins with a riddle — “M.O.A.I. doth sway my life” — which Malvolio eagerly interprets as an anagram of his own name. Maria has deliberately made the code ambiguous enough for Malvolio to decode it however he wishes. The letter continues: “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em”. This line has become one of the most quoted in English literature, but in context it is deeply ironic — Malvolio reads it as encouragement from Olivia, when it is actually a trap designed to destroy him.
The letter instructs Malvolio to wear yellow stockings, be cross-gartered (a style Olivia hates), smile constantly, and be rude to Sir Toby. Every instruction is calculated to make Malvolio behave in a way that will infuriate Olivia and confirm that he has gone mad. Shakespeare uses the letter scene to explore how easily we deceive ourselves when we are told what we want to hear. Malvolio does not question the letter because it confirms his fantasy of social advancement.
Before Malvolio even finds the letter, Shakespeare reveals his ambitions in a soliloquy. He fantasises about “having been three months married to her, sitting in my state, calling my officers about me, in my branched velvet gown”. He imagines ordering Sir Toby to reform his behaviour and addresses him as “Cousin Toby” — assuming the familial relationship that marriage to Olivia would create. This speech is both funny and revealing: Malvolio’s fantasy is not about love but about social climbing. He wants power, status, and authority over those who currently mock him.
For AO3, this ambition would have troubled an Elizabethan audience. The social hierarchy was believed to be ordained by God, and a servant who aspired to marry his mistress was transgressing the natural order. While modern audiences tend to sympathise with Malvolio, Shakespeare’s original audience would likely have seen his ambition as a form of overreaching that deserved punishment.
Puritan Values vs Festive Disorder
Malvolio is widely read as a Puritan figure. Maria describes him as “a kind of Puritan”, and his behaviour matches the stereotype: he disapproves of drinking, singing, dancing, and any form of disorderly behaviour. When he interrupts Sir Toby’s late-night revelry, demanding “Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you?”, he is attempting to impose order on the festive chaos of Olivia’s household.
Shakespeare’s audience would have recognised this conflict immediately. Puritans were actively campaigning to close the theatres in London. They saw plays as immoral, a waste of time, and a breeding ground for vice. By making Malvolio — the killjoy Puritan — the target of the play’s most elaborate prank, Shakespeare is defending his own profession. The gulling of Malvolio is, at one level, a theatrical assault on the people who wanted to shut theatres down. Sir Toby’s famous retort — “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?” — is a direct challenge to Puritan killjoys and a celebration of festive pleasure.
Malvolio represents Puritan values — sobriety, order, and disapproval of pleasure. The Puritans were Shakespeare’s real-world enemies, actively campaigning to close the theatres. By humiliating Malvolio, Shakespeare defends festive comedy and the theatrical profession itself. Sir Toby’s “cakes and ale” line is a manifesto for the right to enjoy life.
Yellow Stockings: Comedy Turns Dark
When Malvolio appears before Olivia wearing yellow stockings and cross-garters, smiling grotesquely, and quoting the letter (“Be not afraid of greatness”), Olivia is baffled and concerned. She believes he has gone mad and instructs her servants to “let this fellow be looked to”. The comedy is undeniable — Malvolio is utterly ridiculous — but there is a darker edge. He has been manipulated into behaviour that leads directly to his imprisonment. The laughter at Malvolio’s expense gradually becomes uncomfortable as the consequences escalate beyond a harmless prank.
This is one of the key debates for the Edexcel exam. On one hand, Malvolio is arrogant, humourless, and socially ambitious — he seeks to impose his values on everyone else and dreams of power over his social superiors. An Elizabethan audience would likely have seen his humiliation as deserved punishment for overstepping his station. On the other hand, the trick is cruel: it exploits genuine human vulnerability (the desire to be loved and respected), it escalates into imprisonment in a dark room, and Malvolio’s final line — “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you” — leaves the audience with a sense of injustice rather than comic satisfaction.
A strong exam response will explore both perspectives. Shakespeare does not provide a simple answer — Malvolio is simultaneously ridiculous and pitiable, and the audience is forced to consider where comedy ends and cruelty begins.