Character Study On Maria From Twelfth Night

Essay, Research Paper

Maria is the witty and cunning maid to Lady Olivia. She schemes and is very self assertive, much like the commedia dell?Arte character Columbina. This character thinks for herself, is often the lady?s maid, one of the smartest characters in the play, and has a tendency to scheme when provoked. These characteristics describe Maria completely.

Hello, my name is Maria. I believe myself to be the most clever person I know. I may only be a lady in waiting but I know a great deal. I am a young woman, and I am very proud to say that I am assertive and powerful?believe me the second you meet me you will know exactly why I believe this much to be true. How a lady in waiting can be so powerful is really not as ridiculous as it seems, for I am the maid of Lady Olivia, presently one of the most powerful women in our world. This naturally makes me powerful as well. I guess you can say I use my power to my advantage. I believe people to think of me as somewhat smart tongued and stubborn because in reality I suppose I am both of these things. However I am very kind and gentle and times and I believe people notice this about me as well. I also enjoy making people feel superior whenever they come across me in a bad manner. Seeing as I deal with many fools every day, this happens quite often.

I suppose you can say I am know for my scheming around Lady Olivia?s large estate. Seeing as I am very smart and cunning, scheming comes quite naturally to me and I can pull it off extremely well. My latest scheming experience happened just recently. A short while ago, Malvolio, one of the biggest fools around here, came across to me in a very rude manner. I decided to take it upon myself to ?fix? this situation and decided to play a little joke on him. I drafted a letter pretending to be Lady Olivia and addressed it to Malvolio, instructing him to do outrageous things in order for him to win my love. He fell for this prank and followed the instructions I had written. He ended up making a fool out of himself in from of the Lady. Due to his brute actions towards me and my fellow friends, as well as making an idiot out of himself in front of Lady Olivia, he was locked up for a short time. During this time I decided his punishment was not over. I convinced Feste, the local jester, to disguise himself as Sir Topaz, a local priest. All I said to him was, ?May I prithee put on this gown and this beard, make him believe thou are Sir Topaz the curate, do it quickly. I?ll call Sir Toby the whilst?. With that, he followed my orders and another successful scheme was followed through by my wonderful wit.

Alright, enough with my past experiences, let us get to the good part. I for the most part find myself a somewhat difficult person to get along with. I am willful and I carry strong beliefs making it hard to get along with some. One person I truly am fond of is Sir Toby. He is a genuinely fun man and I get on along with him extremely well. He knows how to have a good time and how to make me laugh. Feste, the local clown, is a most peculiar fellow. He can at times be funny but at others utterly wearisome. I haven?t yet decided about him. I do get along with him very well sometimes but his jokes turn tiresome and his cunning remarks start getting bitter and then I am not so sure. Malvolio is one of the few people in this world I do not care for in the slightest bit. He is a drab and dreary man. He stands rigid and stern and doesn?t allow fun or pleasure to exist in his presence. He is quite an awful fellow really.

I am sure by now you can concluded what type of personality I carry with me and truthfully I don?t suppose I wish to know if you care for it or not?I am just telling you what I know to be true. Good day.