Viola: I am the man (II.ii.25)
This line is important for its irony: indeed, Viola is “the man” whom Olivia desires, but more strikingly she is not a man at all! This discrepancy is the source of a major conflict in the play. Viola says it best in her next line: “Poor lady, she were better love a dream.”
-Taken from http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/psu08tn.la.rv.text.lpact2sc2/-
Viola is surprised that Olivia sent her a ring, and now knows that Olivia is in love with Cesario. Viola (Cesario) means that she is the man that Olivia loves, not Orsino. She will not take Orsinos' ring or accept his love, but will take Cesarios' ring even though he did not give her one. She wants Cesario, not Orsino.
Malvolio:...and yet to crush it a little, it would bow to me... (II.v.143-145)
Malvolio is reading the letter Maria wrote as "Olivia" and even though it does not exactly say "To Malvolio, my beloved..." Malvolio uses the clues given to make himself believe that Olivia was referring to him. People believe what they want to believe, and that is just was Malvolio did; he is in love with Olivia and wants her to be in love with him as well, so when he got that letter he automatically assumed it was from Olivia.
Viola: Then think you right. I am not what I am.
Olivia: I would you were as I would have you be. (III.i.148-149)
Viola says that she is not who Olivia thinks she is; a good young man. Olivia tells her she would want her (Cesario) to love her and to be like how Olivia wants her to be. As Olivia loves Cesario, she would want the mutual affection- but Viola tells her she cannot, but not explaining exactly why.
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For the second quote: Malvolio uses verbs that are somewhat unsettling: crush and bow. How do these impact your apprehension of the quote?
ReplyDeleteWhen he says “…and yet to crush it a little, it would bow to me…” he is basically saying that if you just twist the words around it will sound like it is directed for him. Malvolio obviously wants to believe that Olivia wrote this letter for him so in order to make it appear true he looks deep into the words and convinces himself that “M.O.A.I.” are all apart of his name so it must be for him. This is Malvolio's way of completely crushing the original text of the letter and piecing in back together in his own crazy way so he can believe that he is Olivia's true love.
ReplyDeleteOlivia does something similar to Malvolio in the sense that she crushes what Viola is saying. Instead of Olivia listening to Violas hints that she cannot love her because she is a woman, Olivia is completely blind-sited by love. Even if Olivia did not know that Cesario is really Viola, she could still listen to what she is actually saying and take no for an answer. However, no lover wants to hear that terrible two letter word. Therefore, Olivia crushes Viola's words and basically says, "oh thats okay, I'll believe you are the way I want you to be."
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