How Does Malvolio Change Throughout The Play

“She’ll not match above her estate….”( I:3)- Sir Toby Belch to Sir Andrew convincing him his caste will be enough to marry Countess Olivia, in Shakespeare’s well known comedic play Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night revolves around a shipwrecked twin, who dresses to find work and falls in love with the guy she works for, well trying to convince someone else to love him. Within the comedic play the idea that society and class are aspects of life that can be constricting, but they are possible to change is prominent. This idea is explored thoroughly in Malvolio's character, with his 'love' and struggle to move from his social class. The idea is also present in Maria's character as she was able to move above her social class, to marry someone who was above her own. The restrictions of Society and Class are all through the play, but these ideas are the main ways in which the idea
Malvolio mutters over this when, walking in Olivia's garden, he muses, "To be Count Malvolio!" (2.5). Malvolio is relatively high in his social class as a steward of a noble, however he is constricted by the fact that Countess Olivia isn’t interested in him because of his social class, as she treats him only as a steward. Furthermore, she believes that he does not love her, but instead her Social class. Malvolio in his best efforts, believed and followed the instructions in the forged letter by Maria in an attempt of convincing Olivia to marry him; so that he could move above his social class. However as the letter was forged Olivia herself was unimpressed and sent Malvolio away to be trialed for his efforts in marrying her. Malvolio today is able to represent the difficulty in climbing social class during the Queen Elizabeth era and to suggest that, even in an almost perfect world, that someone must hurt while everyone else is