Twelfth Night 971(1.1.28). Orsino accuses Olivia of disrupting the
normal order of the community by refusing his love,
because he believes that, as two young aristocrats
in Illyria, their marriage should be natural. Orsino,
himself, though, also disrupts the community with
his ill-placed love for Olivia.
Orsino is not the only one who threatens to
breach communal order by his ill-advised romanc-
ing, though. Olivia’s servant Malvolio also entertains
notions of a love match with his mistress. Poor Mal-
volio’s love is, of course, largely the result of a practi-
cal joke played upon him by Olivia’s maid Maria
and her uncle Sir Toby, in which they lead him to
believe that Olivia is interested in him, but Malvolio
nonetheless disrupts the peace of Olivia’s house with
his silly antics in attempting to woo her. Malvolio’s
romancing of his mistress is threatening to commu-
nal order because he presumes to woo above his own
social class; he is a common servant attempting
to make love to his aristocratic mistress, which was
taboo in Shakespeare’s England.
Malvolio’s nemesis, Sir Toby Belch, is the most
obvious and egregious threat to the social order in
Twelfth Night. Sir Toby’s late-night drinking, quar-
reling, dancing, and feasting repeatedly disrupt the
peace of Olivia’s house. At one point in the play,
Toby and his friend, Aguecheek, return particularly
late to Olivia’s house and rouse its residents with
their loud antics. Malvolio chides them for their ill
behavior, saying,
My masters, are you mad? or what are you?
Have you no wit, manners, nor honesty, but to
gabble like tinkers at this time of night? Do
ye make an alehouse of my lady’s house? . . .
Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time
in you? (2.3.93–99)Sir Toby’s disorderly character is established
during his first appearance in the play when he
chafes at Olivia’s taking exception to his “ill hours”
(1.3.6). He complains to her servant Maria, who
responds that Toby’s riotous behavior is subject
to blame. She tells him, “Ay, but you must con-
fine yourself within the modest limits of order”
(1.3.8–9). Toby’s disorderly behavior eventually gets
him into trouble when he duels Sebastian, whom he
mistakes for the effeminate Cesario, and suffers a
mild wound to the head.
Here, again, the mistaken identity confusion
caused by Viola’s masculine disguise contributes to
the general social disorder. In the comic irony of the
play’s ending, however, the mistaken identity that is
at the center of the play’s communal disorder is also
central to its happy resolution. Mistaking Sebastian
for Cesario, Olivia marries him, and his revelation
at the play’s end allows Viola to reveal her true
identity and, thus, marry Orsino. The double wed-
ding restores the characters to their proper places
and solidifies the order of the community. Even Sir
Toby, cowed by his losing the duel with Sebastian, is
subdued into conformity with communal order and
demonstrates it by taking Olivia’s servant Maria for
his wife.
Typical of English Renaissance comedy, Twelfth
Night begins with disorder posing a threat to the
play’s community. As the comic plot progresses
through the resettling of characters within their
proper places and through the fortunate working of
fate, the play ends by reinforcing social norms and
with good prospects for the play’s community.
Cory L. GrewellFate in Twelfth Night
Fate, whether defined as chance, the influence of the
stars, Christian providence, or the will of the gods,
works in Shakespearean drama as a supernatural
all-controlling force to which characters’ individual
wills are ultimately subject. In comedies, fate deter-
mines events such that the resolutions of the plots
favor the protagonists. In tragedies, conversely, fate
determines events to their downfall. Characters in
Shakespeare’s plays often acknowledge themselves
to be subject to fate. In Twelfth Night, typical of
comedy, the protagonists perceive fate as their foe
early in the play, only to find that events are actually
working to their good fortune as the play’s action is
resolved. Throughout the play, whether fate appears
to be working for or against the protagonists, they
consistently acknowledge its control over events in
their lives.
Early in the play, Viola seems to be an unfortunate
victim of fate. Arriving in Illyria after the shipwreck
that has separated her from her brother and fortunes,