In Act II. iii. 179, Maria calls her scheme to manipulate and embarrass Malvolio "Sport royal..." What do you make of this?
Malvolio is the perfect person for the group to pick on. Maria knows he will be easy to fool with the right charms and he is power hungry, they want to play a game with him; mess around and make a joke for sport, or fun. Malvolio is so easily tricked by the wording of Marias letter, he becomes giddy and proclaims cupid struck love for Olivia as he rushes with a ginourmous grin in yellow stickings to her side.
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Some questions that arise from this post would be: Why do you think Malvolio is so easily tricked? Why is he the perfect character to pick on? It has to do with his desires. The letter even says: "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." in Act II sc V. It's what he desires to be, not just what he desires romantically that makes him the easy target.
ReplyDeleteI think there's also some sport involved in the manipulation of Malvolio as it's clear that Maria is meticulous in her "attack" on him. This is a very elaborate prank and it's elevating the level of sport to another level, hence the sport royal.
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