SOURCE: “The Problem of Malvolio,” in College Literature, Vol. 23, No. 2, June, 1996, pp. 62-82.

In the essay that follows, Cahill examines the way in which the plot and subplot of Twelfth Night operate on both psychological and social levels, stating that the main plot suggests a fantastical realm in which the aristocracy experiences a great deal of emotional freedom, compared to the subplot's historical specificity and rootedness in Elizabethan social relations.

The origins of the main plot in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night have been traced to a cluster of earlier comedies and their derivatives; however, the subplot, involving Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria, and their “gull,” Malvolio, was entirely Shakespeare's invention.¹ Like the main story, the Malvolio subplot also involves comic “errors,” disguise and performance, and the pursuit of marriage. It similarly explores the themes of identity, desire, and the confusion of both. In fact, the “gulling” of Malvolio and...