Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 11, 2023 June 4, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Maria is Olivia’s waiting-gentlewoman. Clever and bold, her witty repartee and propensity for practical jokes characterize her as an embodiment of the play’s tone: unruly, light-hearted, and irreverent. She demonstrates her intelligence by exchanging quips with Sir Toby that go over the head of Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and she proves herself to be mischievous and calculating by engineering a plot against Malvolio that feeds into the very egotism it also punishes him for.
Maria and Malvolio are not so different. They are both lower-class servants in Olivia’s household, and disapprove of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew’s disruptive drinking. However, while initially Maria and Sir Toby seem to be at odds when Maria arrives to admonish him on behalf of Olivia, they ultimately come together in service of a common goal: to manipulate and humiliate Malvolio. Malvolio wishes to marry Olivia and improve his social rank, but only winds up disgraced as the result of their prank, which provides much of the play’s comedy even as it borders on cruel. Maria, in contrast to Malvolio, ultimately elevates her station by endearing herself to Sir Toby, who is so impressed with her sharp wit that he marries her. Maria’s anarchic nature aligns with the spirit of the play, which is perhaps why Maria succeeds where Malvolio—whose arrogance and humorlessness are Twelfth Night’s antithesis—fails.
Please wait while we process your payment