Malvolio

So, after two days of brilliant rehearsal time that has churned up numerous ideas as well as feelings, I've discovered some stuff about the melancholy steward. I don't know how much you would want to post on the blog, but cut and paste what you will (pun intended).

I had been wracking my brains about how to get the audience to like, or at least sympathize, with a character whose name means "ill-will." And also, why any man would subject himself to being a "steward." I've often wondered this of butlers and servants that dedicate their lives to being essentially, slaves. Talk about a wall in front of me. But as we've gone around and discussed how each character aches for love, and the general winnings and losings of it, and how that changes each of them, some things have become clear:

Malvolio is "melancholy" because he is utterly lonely. This is clear. He has no friends within the court. Olivia orders him about, and everyone ridicules him. And this is not playful jesting. This is utter hate. And not totally undeserved. He no doubt comes off as an "itchy asshole," if you'll pardon my french. He hates everything that brings pleasure, and is not afraid to let people know of it. What a wonderful mask it is to take displeasure in pleasure, as many people around Purnell are akin to. To work work work and judge the drinkers and such, is a nice way to become respected, and this is what Malvolio believes. His devotion to god, to his faith, etc will bring him respect, and respect will bring him money, and money will bring him friends. This explains his wish to be "Count Malvolio." But it is driven by a deep sense of loneliness. He drives people away by putting down their foolery, and reassures himself by thinking he is helping people get to heaven by admonishing !
their negative behaviors. Unfortunately, this crutch leads him to live an utterly sad life, whereby the other characters of the Countess's house abhor him. He essentially spends the whole play struggling between his faith, which he believes will lead him to salvation, and his dark desires to sleep with Olivia, and join in on the revels. In plainest terms, and in view of the "caterwauling" scene, it plays out like this. Malvolio hears tomfoolery. He wants to join in. His superego checks him, and reminds him that joining in will send him to hell. He must admonish. When he arrives to find the revelers, he is at a decision point. He chooses to follow his faith, as has become his habit his entire life (probably because at an early age his parents praised him for his devotion to god. or maybe because he was sent away to become a choir boy at an early age, so it's all he knows, and he has been too afraid these 30 years to choose the other path) He therefore alienates those reveler!
s, leading them to initiate the "letter" ploy.

But the man just wants one friend, and when he discovers the letter, it is the first sign that maybe, just maybe, there is a chance it could happen. ALSO, having to do with his "puritanism," puritans believed in pre-determination. This has led to Malvolio believing something external will change him, and it will be god's doing. Well, that letter is a beautiful jumpstart to that. Unfortunately, when he finally toss his faith out the window, it all blows up in his face, and he is sent to the dark room as punishment. I can imagine this would drive Malvolio to believe he has brought this punishment upon himself, as the line of logic would be: "i disregarded my faith, and god has put me in this dungeon." The interesting thing is that it doesn't. He complains that he has been "notoriously abused" and clings onto his sanity with both hands, tightly. He has given in to what he believed was love, changed himself to his very core (religious devotion being his core), and when it goes h!
orribly wrong, he does not blame himself, as many Christians who have sinned would believe, but rather realizes the culprits. Therefore, he has been changed for good. MORE THAN THAT, at the end of the play he swears revenge "on the whole packe of you." Revenge, which could be interpreted either of two ways from a biblical standpoint: "an eye for an eye," or from the "forgive those who trespass you" standpoint. He chooses the former, signifying his change.

Malvolio has lived his life in a metaphorical dark box, that box being his religion, which has shielded him from revelrey, convinced him he does not need said revelry, and has kept him alone. Funny that this is where he ends up in Act IV.

Those are just some thoughts around midnight.

The rehearsals have been absolutely fantastic. I have never been part of a more rewarding experience, and we are only 2 days in. Our cast, even in just the reading stage, sounds fantastic, and I can't WAIT to get this thing on its feet.