Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Letters, Messages, and Tokens
Twelfth Night features a great variety
of messages sent from one character to another—sometimes as letters
and other times in the form of tokens. Such messages are used both
for purposes of communication and miscommunication—sometimes deliberate
and sometimes accidental. Maria’s letter to Malvolio, which purports
to be from Olivia, is a deliberate (and successful) attempt to trick
the steward. Sir Andrew’s letter demanding a duel with Cesario,
meanwhile, is meant seriously, but because it is so appallingly
stupid, Sir Toby does not deliver it, rendering it extraneous. Malvolio’s
missive, sent by way of Feste from the dark room in which he is
imprisoned, ultimately works to undo the confusion caused by Maria’s forged
letter and to free Malvolio from his imprisonment.
But letters are not the only kind of messages that characters employ
to communicate with one another. Individuals can be employed in
the place of written communication—Orsino repeatedly sends Cesario,
for instance, to deliver messages to Olivia. Objects can function
as messages between people as well: Olivia sends Malvolio after
Cesario with a ring, to tell the page that she loves him, and follows
the ring up with further gifts, which symbolize her romantic attachment.
Messages can convey important information, but they also create
the potential for miscommunication and confusion—especially with
characters like Maria and Sir Toby manipulating the information.
Madness
No one is truly insane in Twelfth Night, yet
a number of characters are accused of being mad, and a current of
insanity or zaniness runs through the action of the play. After
Sir Toby and Maria dupe Malvolio into believing that Olivia loves
him, Malvolio behaves so bizarrely that he is assumed to be mad
and is locked away in a dark room. Malvolio himself knows that he
is sane, and he accuses everyone around him of being mad. Meanwhile,
when Antonio encounters Viola (disguised as Cesario), he mistakes
her for Sebastian, and his angry insistence that she recognize him
leads people to assume that he is mad. All of these
incidents feed into the general atmosphere of the play, in which
normal life is thrown topsy-turvy, and everyone must confront a
reality that is somehow fractured.
Disguises
Many characters in Twelfth Night assume
disguises, beginning with Viola, who puts on male attire and makes
everyone else believe that she is a man. By dressing his protagonist
in male garments, Shakespeare creates endless sexual confusion with
the Olivia-Viola--Orsino love triangle. Other characters in disguise
include Malvolio, who puts on crossed garters and yellow stockings
in the hope of winning Olivia, and Feste, who dresses up as a priest—Sir
Topas—when he speaks to Malvolio after the steward has been locked
in a dark room. Feste puts on the disguise even though Malvolio
will not be able to see him, since the room is so dark, suggesting
that the importance of clothing is not just in the eye of the beholder.
For Feste, the disguise completes his assumption of a new identity—in
order to be Sir Topas, he must look like Sir Topas. Viola puts on
new clothes and changes her gender, while Feste and Malvolio put
on new garments either to impersonate a nobleman (Feste) or in the
hopes of becoming a nobleman (Malvolio). Through these disguises,
the play raises questions about what makes us who we are, compelling
the audience to wonder if things like gender and class are set in
stone, or if they can be altered with a change of clothing.
Mistaken Identity
The instances of mistaken identity are related to the
prevalence of disguises in the play, as Viola’s male clothing leads
to her being mistaken for her brother, Sebastian, and vice versa.
Sebastian is mistaken for Viola (or rather, Cesario) by Sir Toby
and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, who promptly marries him. Meanwhile,
Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian, and thinks that his friend
has betrayed him when Viola claims to not know him. These cases
of mistaken identity, common in Shakespeare’s comedies, create the
tangled situation that can be resolved only when Viola and Sebastian
appear together, helping everyone to understand what has happened.
