Twelfth Night and The Duchess of Malfi

            Even though Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy and Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi is a tragedy, as opposite as those genres may be they have some similarities within the story plot. Twelfth Night basically deals with the complications of love through a comedic approach that includes, disguise, trickery, and essentially a happy ending with a few twists to it. While on the other hand The Duchess of Malfi is about a duchess who marries a young man behind her two brother’s back, which causes a storm of revenge which is approached by mysterious motives, violence, and twists.  Yet, both of these play display similarities that especially deal with the issues of societal norms and gender roles.  

            One example that immediately stuck out was the similarities between the characters Malvolio from Twelfth Night and Antonio from the Duchess of Malfi. Both of these characters are stewards; Malvio is Olivia’s steward and Antonio is the Duchess’ steward. However this is not their only similarity, Malvolio and Antonio both are in love with their aristocratic lady’s. Malvolio, however, has alternative motives for wanting to be with Lady Olivia as is seen when he says, “Having been three months married to her, sitting in my estate,” (2.5 41-42). Malvolio want to marry Lady Olivia but would also not mind having gained her whole “estate” or riches and land. Similarly, Antonio is in love with the Duchess and as a bonus, if you will, he gets her riches when they get married. However, unlike Malvolio, he actually marries the women he loves as is shown when he says, “That we may imitate the loving palms/Best emblem of a peaceful marriage, the ne’er/Bore fruit divided,” (2.1 185-187). Because his love was responded to by the Duchess and they married they will have a “peaceful marriage that will not be “divided.”

            Antonio and the Duchess may have married each other but the circumstances in which they did were another example of a similar theme that was prominent in both plays. That is, women’s role in the societies of the plays, which was greater than that of societal norms of sixteenth century England. The female characters of Olivia and the Duchess seem to be very similar and alongside Viola has a few similarities as well, especially since Viola and Olivia are very similar characters to begin with. They are both of high status and it is made known that they have both lost a loved one at the beginning of the play. Lady Olivia has lost her brother, which she mourns for years, and the Duchess has lost her first husband. Also, Olivia and the Duchess both fall in love with men who are of lower class. Olivia falls for Cesario, who is actually Viola, and the Duchess is in love with Antonio.

            All three females, Viola, Olivia and the Duchess, share the characteristics that make them strong female leaders and independent thinkers and doers. Viola makes very bold decisions through out the play starting by choosing to disguise herself as  a man as she says, “I’ll serve the duke/Thou shalt present me as a eunuch to him,” (1.3 53-54). She clearly does as she pleases because she decides to serve the duke as a man and no one stops her. Furthermore, Olivia, also is very bold with her action. When she falls in love with Cesario she pursues him to no end. Then, finally she is the one who proposes to Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, by saying, “Now go with me and with this holy man/Into the chantry by. There before him/And underneath that consecrated roof/Plight me the full assurance of your faith,” (5.1 23-26). She wants them to get married so she is the one who takes the first step by telling them to go to the chapel and get married. Similarly, The Duchess takes it into her hands to marry Antonio. She basically sets the whole thing up and proposes to him as well in act 2, “Be not amazed; this woman’s of my counsel: I have heard lawyers say, a contract in a chamber Per verba de presenti is absolute marriage,” (2.1 177—179). She sets up a witness, which is one of her servants, which was pretty much all she needed to make her marriage to Antonio legit. The Duchess does not wait for a priest or her brothers to be okay with it she does as she pleases.

            All of these characters somehow call attention to gender roles and to societal norms of the time. Both Antonio and Malvolio want to marry above their class, which in essence gives the power to the women because they are they one’s with the money and land. Also, Olivia and the Duchess do a little gender role reversal by being so persistent in making the first moves with their relationship and Viola obviously does a gender role reversal in being a man through most of the play.

Twelfth Night

                In Shakepeare’s Twelfth Night things are made topsy-turvy in the realms of gender and social order through a love triangle. The duke Orsino is in love with lady Olivia, but she will not see him or any one for that matter because she is mourning her brother even though it has been years since his death. This may seem like the typical beginning of courtly love but then things get complicated. Viola turns up in Illyria and decides to work for Orsino disguised as a young man, Cesario. She falls in love with Orsino and Olivia falls in love with Cesario, which in itself is off the social norm because Cesario is supposedly of a uch lower class than Olivia. At the same time, a steward, Malvolio, wants to marry Olivia, mostly to climb up the money ladder as it shows in act two scene five when he is describing what life will be like after he marries Olivia, “Having been three months married to her, sitting in my estate,” (41-42). He pictures his married life being very rewarding, money-wise and social status wise more than love-wise.    

             However, at the end of the play order is pretty much restored because the love triangle resolves itself through the appearance of Viola’s brother, whom she had thought was dead. Viola finally reveals the truth about her disguise. Orsino and Viola end up together, Olivia ends up with Viola’s brother, Sebastian, Malvolio end up alone and remains as the steward. One of Olivia’s servants, Maria, even ends up marrying Olivia’s kinsmen, Sir Toby, which was not strange to see in those days. Things seem to be fully restored and even come out as a happily ever after play, yet some things become unclear when Orsino continues to address Viola as Cesario. This is not a one time event where he is getting adjusted to Viola’s actual self, he calls her Orsino up until the last lines of the play, “ Cesario come/ For you shall be while you are a man/But when in other habits you are seen/Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen,” (V.i. 380-383). Shakespeare seems to play with the audience even after the play is over because we are left wondering why Orsino still calls Viola Cesario if he knows Cesario does not exist.