Deception, lies, disguises; all of these words are themes of Shakespeare’s play, The Twelfth Night. Many of the characters have shady personalities, which can be described by those terms, although they seem to be normal in their own little world of chaos. Possibly the most intricate strand of this theme however is self-deception, and not following the wise words “to thine own self be true”.
One may use Malvolio as an example. In the beginning of the play, this man personified all that is appropriate, and tried to maintain order while appearing to stay calm, cool and collected. But under the surface, there was a mad, lovesick and unstable mortal who was beginning to crack through, just like all of the other players.
In the beginning of the play, Malvolio plays the loyal-steward-who-actually-thinks-he-is-better-than-the-noblemen-of-the-house. He can also be described as straitlaced and does not look up to those who create fun through drunken singing and shenanigans. Unlike Sir Toby Belch, he takes so enjoyment out of the Fool’s riddles and fooling. In Act 1 Scene 5 line 75, he argues “…look you now, he’s out of his guard already…unless you laugh and minister occasion to him, he is gagged.” And then he continues on to insult the kinsman of his Lady Olivia, pronouncing, “ I protest I take these wise men that crow so at these set kind of fools no better than the fools’ zanies.” This “act” he puts on leads many of his peers to believe that he has a powerful wish to live above his current social class.
What makes Malvolio like all the others is his deep dark secret, to become the lord to Olivia’s lady. His plan to spoil all the fun can be translated into a grumpiness that he is taking out on everyone else because he can’t have his way. However, in Act 2 Scene 5, all of his dreams seem to be coming true when he finds a letter from his beloved. What he does not know, or refuses to believe, is that the letter was not from Olivia, but forged by her maid, Maria, as part of a scheme between her and the subject of Malvolio’s disgust, Sir Toby. This is where the real depth of his self-deception is plainly and obviously visible. At first Malvolio thinks that he recognizes Olivia’s handwriting, that “…these be here very C’s, her U’s and her T’s…” (line 78). However, the letter never directly mentions to whom this lady’s love is directed. The only clue is the letters “M.O.A.I”, which he makes out to believe is meant to symbolize the letters of his name- “M – Malvolio. M – why, that begins my name.” (line 115). And then, even when there are flaws in his dream come true, that the letters of his name are not in the order that is written in the letter, he goes to manipulate the paper to help deceive himself into believing he sees what is not there. Line 125, “M.O.A.I., this simulation is not as the former, and yet to crush this a little, it would bow to me, for every one of these letters are him my name.”, just goes to show that if one tries hard enough, they can trick their own mind into believing even the most obvious of disguises.
This is a very similar story as one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, which could even been seen as being said by Malvolio himself in the very scene described above. Sonnet CXXXVIII opens with the lines “When my love swears that she is made of truth; I do believe her, though I know she lies, that she think me some untutor’d youth, unlearned in the world's false subtleties.” This is for the most part completely describing the relationship Malvolio has with Olivia, that even when he knows the words from her are a lie, such as the bogus letter, he still believes them, hoping that she will think him to be someone he is not, like a young man naïve to the world’s cruel tricks. He fools himself into accept the lies as truth, even though deep down he must know that they are false. What the sonnet further explores is the potential relationship between Olivia and him, making it believable that he might at some point say this. It may just be coincidence that Malvolio is older in the play than Olivia, but it is convenient that Shakespeare, through the sonnet discusses “although she knows my days are past the best, simply I credit her false speaking tongue; on both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.” meaning that he is willing to look past all of her lies and deceit if she can accept that he wishes to think himself young, and believes that he is still in his prime years. Basically, they both accept each other’s faults so that “I lie with her, and she with me, and in our faults by lies we flattered be”.
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