STRUCTURE
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
TWO PLOTS
One key to the success of Twelfth Night is its skilful construction. The play's structure is built
from a main plot involving the twins Viola and Sebastian (linked to Orsino and Olivia) and
also a sub-plot involving the 'gulling' of Malvolio (linked to Sir Toby and his companions),
which is itself underpinned by the 'gulling' of Sir Andrew by Sir Toby, a practice which has
already begun before the play starts.
The two plots and their different elements intersect in Act III Scene 4 with the
trickery against Malvolio and the mock duel between Sir Andrew and Viola.
Following the careful construction of the different intrigues and plots,
Shakespeare creates a triumphant centrepiece to the play; the increasingly
manic action gathers pace to end in mayhem which is brought to an abrupt halt
by the arrival of Antonio quickly followed by the Officers. The solution to the
madness appears in the following scene, which begins with Feste addressing
Sebastian as Cesario. A key to the success of this climactic scene, therefore,
lies not only in the dialogue and business it contains, but in the play's
construction.
Twelfth Night or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most famous
comedies. It has been performed hundreds of times and adapted into a
number of modern films. The main plot of the play follows Viola, a girl who is
rescued from a shipwreck and enters into the service of the Duke Orsino
disguised as a man. Rising quickly in his estimation, Viola begins delivering
messages of love on his behalf to Olivia, a noble woman who has no interest
in Orsino’s advances. Over the course of the play Olivia falls in love with the
disguised Viola, Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Viola’s twin brother
Sebastian, who supposedly died in the shipwreck, returns. Following
Sebastian’s return the twins are mistaken for each other, leading to both
misunderstanding and marriage in the final scenes of the play. Alongside the
main plot of Twelfth Night is an almost equally prominent subplot involving
Malvolio, a servant of Olivia, who falls in love with her and who falls prey to a
prank planned by the other members of the household who despise his
abhorrence of fun. In the article “The Design of Twelfth Night” by L.G.
Salingar, Salingar examines the plot and structure of the play and addresses
the significance of the subplot. The purpose of this essay is to examine both
evidence from the play and articles from other authors, with a focus on
Salingar, who have written on the subject in order to determine the purpose
of the subplot. In his article, Salingar comes to the conclusion that the
purpose of the subplot is to provide a comic mirror of the main plot while
amplifying the main themes of delusion, misrule and festivity. Salingar
presents a solid argument, however he has neglected another lesser but
significant element of the sub-plot which illustrate
Sub plot
In English Renaissance drama, the relation between plot and subplot is often complementary.
The main action can be explained, emphasized, or contrasted by the subplot. William
Shakespeare used this device well in his comedy on merriment, love, and mistaken
identity, Twelfth Night. The main plot follows the love triangle of Olivia, Orsino, and Viola,
while the subplot follows the hilarious Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria in addition to their
misadventures with Malvolio, Sebastian, and eventually the love triangle of the main plot.
Shakespeare uses this mirror-like main-plot-to-subplot relationship to enlarge the main points of
his play, and develop the thematic and dramatic significance of the subplot.
Twelfth Night consists of many love triangles, however many of the characters who are tangled
up in the web of love are blind to see that their emotions and feelings towards other characters
are untrue. They are being deceived by themselves and/or the others around them. There are
certain instances in the play where the emotion of love is true, and the two people involved feel
very strongly toward one another. Viola’s love for Orsino is a great example of true love.
In the subplot, the gulling of Malvolio is linked to the main plot thematically in the obvious
sense that it deals with a variety of love, namely self-love, a general preoccupation with self-
interest, and a refusal to see anyone as important other than oneself. Such preoccupation, as in
the case of Malvolio, leads to a misconception of the world and a total vulnerability to being
manipulated into betraying oneself, as Malvolio does, by trusting that one’s desires match the
reality of the situation. Malvolio is punished—and is relatively easy to punish—because he is so
wrapped up in his own importance that he sees no value in anything else or anyone other than
himself, and his conceit about himself, along with his secret desire for social advancement and
power, make him easy to tempt into ridiculous behaviour (Johnston n.pag).
Malvolio suffers from self-deception, he feels that Olivia loves him and that is why she agrees
with him in everything he does including insulting not only the other servants but also even her
relative Sir Toby and his guest Sir Andrew. According to Malvolio, it is love that makes his
commands as if they were her own and his opinions taken into consideration. But according to
reality, this is the position that was always given to any household steward in the Elizabethan
period and not only to Malvolio, as it is pointed by Clare Byrne: “an Elizabethan household
steward was a gentleman of considerable importance, occupying a very responsible position,
which gave him the exercise of very considerable power” (204). As a result, the audience is
made aware of the theme of appearance and reality.
Malvolio, in other words, is a kill-joy, a person with no sense of humour and with no place in his
scheme of things for anything other than what he thinks is important. Everyone (other than
Malvolio) recognizes this. Olivia tells him he is “sick of self-love” (I.v.1089), and Sir Toby
famously roars at him later, “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more
cakes and ale?” (II.iii.1098). This quality makes Malvolio the character most at odds with the
comic nature of the play.
