Timothy HoKravchakPeriod 3: Honors Humanities14 March 2014Malvolio: villain or victim? There have been many authors and playwrights in the world, but none of them had the same influence as William Shakespeare. When people look at Shakespeare's work, which ranges from romantic sonnets to comedies and tragedies; and his dominant influence on writing today, it is clear that his legacy has stood the test of time. One of his most popular works is Twelfth Night, which tells a story of love and mistaken identity. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's plays about people who seem to love the wrong person. A young noblewoman named Viola ends up on the coast of Illyria. Believing that her brother is dead, she is forced to disguise herself as a man and enter the court of Orsino, duke of Illyria, as a eunuch named Cesario. As she spends more time waiting for Orsino, she finds herself falling in love with him but is unable to express her feelings because Orsino is in love with Olivia. In the end hilarity is guaranteed. While all this is going on, Olivia's cousin Toby, her friend Sir Andrew and the maid Maria play a prank on the uptight Malvolio, who is Olivia's steward and seems to be only around to put an end to Toby and Andrew. . Maria forges a letter and leaves it for Malvolio to find. Malvolio is a character with many dimensions and as the show progresses, his true colors are revealed. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses the unfortunate consequences of Malvolio's actions to show the foolish consequences of ambition. In the first scenes of the play, before Malvolio believes that Olivia is in love with him, he appears to be a prudish person and uses his actions to subvert the enjoyment of others. While Toby is... a middle of paper... himself due to the fact that he basically caused all of his suffering due to his selfish ambition and arrogance. Nowadays, in Western culture, ambition is valued above all else. When you show up for a job interview, for example, one of the first questions asked is “What are your plans for the future?” However, it is important to realize, through the example of Malvolio, that ambition is not necessarily a good thing, rather it can be a double-edged sword that can also harm its wielder. Additionally, having an excess of ambition can lead to unhealthy bonds with your confidants because ambition is all about getting to the top without caring about others. Ambition is a vital part of one's character, but one must remember that it is also important to build important relationships with others to foster growth.