Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

In my stars I am above thee; but be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.

Malvolio

Twelfth Night                Act II, Scene v, Line 144

It’s pretty funny that this quote about greatness has been used over and over again with such gravitas; funny because it’s original context above is in a letter playing a cruel practical joke on Malvolio. The letter he is reading has been written by Maria and Sir Toby. They designed it to be found by Malvolio and for him to believe it is a letter written by his Mistress Olivia professing that she is secretly in love with him. Of course, she is not, and it leads to Malvolio acting so ridiculous in her presence that she has him locked up.

And now here we are; for once we have randomly picked a line from Shakespeare’s works that we’ve actually heard before - only to find that its original meaning has nothing to do with the meaning people have when they use it today.

How ironic. How perfectly Shakespearean. It almost feels as though Will put it there to play a joke on us! What a clever fellow. I told you he had a good sense of humor.

Yes, that's right: some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. 

But most, like yours truly here, simply live to be used and abused by the Sir Toby's of the world. I say that with a smile in my heart and laugh on my lips. Sort of.