Ill Will

Based on Shakespeares "Twelfth Night", My story was a way of giving an insight into why Malvolio was the character who had the Puritan characteristics in Twelfth Night, against the fun and crazy parts of the story. My short story gives Malvolio a voice and reason behind his actions in the play as well as adding the ocean motif from the play into the story. The meaning behind the title is actually the meaning of Malvolio's name in Italian. "Ill Will." Malvolio was often portrayed as the antagonist, and even his name has the word Mal, meaning bad. But in my story, I tried to give him a voice of reason to why he was supposedly "bad" and why he ruined the fun of everyone around him. As though it was his way of protecting them. He is characterised as fun-hating who has no sense of humour. He wanted status to stop everyone else doing stupid things such as staying out late drinking and partying and teasing him. As he tries to improve his position in the social structure the other characters find him easy to tease and this creates his role in the play and furthermore adds to the comedy of the play. Malvolio's characterisation and personality is a big part for the plot because it is what makes the trick played by the other characters so funny. My story shows us the background on Malvolio and gives reason to why he had Puritan beliefs and was against drinking, partying and sex. Around the time of when this play was written, a reform movement started, they were called Puritans. They were hostile towards entertainment, Shakespeare may have played on this; writing Malvolio into the play. I tried to involve the ocean motif that Shakespeare represented throughout Twelfth Night through the death of Malvolio's older sister.