Bah, Humbug, Malvolio, Leicester

[woolymonkey]

Lergy appears to be tonsillitis. On the plus side, I have antibiotics and a solid reason not to go to Norwich tomorrow. Also two purring kittens on my bed. On the minus side, those assignments won't mark themselves.


While I battle with bacteria, Spidermonkey has been struggling all day against an English essay: To what extent do you sympathise with Malvolio? Answers on a postcard please (or in lj comments). I think it's GCSE coursework but he's only year 9 so this can't be the stuff that actually determines his grade, can it? Am off to look for a website equivalent to Coles' Notes.

Overheard in a coffee shop in Peterborough yesterday afternoon. "We're closing early because Leicester's in town and that always means trouble." But he was curled up on the bench in the kitchen in Cambridge when I left.

Edited to add
Thanks for all the sympathy and hugs. Am feeling a lot better now, though still have the original virus. Spider read the thoughts on Malvolio with interest and has managed to write a whole TWO PAGES on the topic. He decided it depends on how the play is staged as there's plenty there to feel both ways. On the whole, I think he feels less sympathy than most of us seem to A) because he is less of a killjoy than I (we?) are, and B) because it turned out half way through that he only needed to look at the scenes up to M getting the fake letter. They have three more weeks to work on this next term, so maybe they'll do the rest then. Or not. We're not very good at clear communication about homework instructions.

Comments

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Sympathies! (At least it was not my fault.) D'you think trips to Norwich might be doomed? We had better put off any further plans for same.

Spidermonkey has seen Twelfth Night quite recently, I do believe: was it fair of everyone to gang up on him? Even if he looked daft? Nah ...

Let me know if I can do anything, especially if it doesn't involve moving from my bed.

{{{hugs}}}

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Tonsilitis is nasty. Boo.
I think one of the issues with Malvolio is around his social awkwardness and his outsider status -- he's not in the real upper class and he is thus subjected to a lot of exclusion behaviour and near bullying. He could be seen as a version of the guy who wants to fit in but doesn't know how.
On the other hand, sex pest. Never good.

[ms-cataclysm.livejournal.com]

The whole Malvolio subplot reminds me of playground bullying. Malvolio is the misfit whom the cool kids , Toby and Maria ,pick upon. He is vain and overbearing but his persecution is out of all proportion to his shortcomings. To a certain extent, he's just doing his job as Olivia's steward by trying to stop Sir Toby from being rowdy late at night and drinking Olivia's house dry.

When we see him locked up and in despair, it's almost impossible not to feel sorry for him . This makes both the character and the play less one dimensional.

I've seen interpretations when Malvolio's part is over emphasised and there's an attempt to turn him into a tragic figure which in my view overbalances the play.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear. So so very sorry about the horrid sore throat, there is hardly anything worse. Take good care of your self. LOL re: Leicester! And yay for purring kitties, that's a blessing.

ladymora will be in your neck of the woods in another week, she's giving a paper (on some aspect of sustainability, I presume) at the local university. Many good vibes are and will be headed that direction. Order her up some nice weather, would you?

*hugs, hot tea, and shiny pirates*

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Oo, me too about Malvolio. What the others said, plus, I have the horrible feeling that we're supposed to side with Sir Toby and Maria. Whatever Malvolio does wrong, to annoy them, is mostly offstage, and doesn't seem too bad anyway. But they visit disproportionate retribution on him, and it makes me instantly side with him. I think it's impossible not to be on his side at least a little bit when he's locked up as a madman and the clown is teasing him. (Oh--ms_cataclysm said that already. Well, I'll let it stand.)