On Maria

After our very eye-opening musings tonight, a lot of new thoughts about Maria are popping up for me. I'll just go with what I have up until now, but I have a feeling a lot of this will change in some way.

I feel like Maria's driving need throughout Twelfth Night is a need for realized commitment from Sir Toby Belch. In my mind, they have known each other for a very long time, and have always had some sort of chemistry between them. Maybe Sir Toby left and was involved with wars after the two initially began have feelings for each other. This may be why Maria so desperately tries to almost "rescue" Sir Toby? Maybe she is trying to rekindle what the two of them once had (the obstacle of a war-torn mind now stands as a huge obstacle for Maria). She cannot get close to Sir Toby as much, or look at him directly, because it threatens him. Yet she has not changed, and aches for that love to be returned and SOLIDIFIED. Also, Maria's general feelings about the implications of war may be why she reproves Feste when he jokes about needing to "fear no colours".

Maria is a lady-in-waiting to Olivia. She does at times speak with eloquence, and is also potentially thought to be the "lady of the house" when Viola first meets Olivia, dressed as Cesario. Something I found very curious on wikipedia (so it may not be the most reliable source, but it works as a starting place!) is the following sentence: "Sometimes Ladies-in-Waiting would be a lady's older sister who never got married and came to keep her sister company." Hmm. We know Maria is based on Mary, Elizabeth's (represented by Olivia) older sister. What if Maria were Olivia's older sister? Even if this choice does not work within the world we establish, I think this idea of a sister-to-sister relationship (with one in a slightly higher status) would be a revealing way to approach rehearsals and to learn about what their relationship looks like, their backstory together, etc.

Other terms I think describe Maria at this point in the process are: maternal (makes me think of blue color qualities, very compassionate; however, also fairly straightforward, except in the extent of her emotions for Toby); deeply concerned; clever; strong; humorous; easy-going (in terms of being approachable); resourceful; sensual (in a sexual way perhaps, but also in a soothing manner); precocious?; playful; lonely (I personally think you feel more lonely while in love than you ever could alone).

Something I am also interested in looking at more closely is if there are two plots of Twelfth Night which overlap. Some research suggests there is the plot of Orsino, Olivia, Viola, and Sebastian. There is also the plot of Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, and Malvolio. Are there two separate stories being told here, or are we looking at this theme of "revealing the truth" through the lense of different experiences?

Whew. That's a bit to chew on. :)