Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Madame, yond young fellow swears he will speak with you.

 

Malvolio

Twelfth Night         Act I, Scene v, Line 138

 

Malvolio is a bit of a straight man in this comedy. He is the head servant in Olivia’s house. Olivia is the madame that he is addressing. The young fellow he refers to is Viola, who is disguised as a young man for most of this play. The name she is using is Cesario, but the script throughout refers to her as Viola.

Olivia and Viola are two of the main characters in this play and I’m constantly confusing those two names because they are similar and sort of inversions of each other. If I were ever to discuss this play and someone mentioned Olivia or Viola, I would have to ask which one they were talking about. Of course, no one I know has any interest in Shakespeare other than my brother-in-law Richard, and he lives in Phoenix. So, it’s not very often, if ever, that I have to ask for this clarification.

Isn’t that lucky?

Yessiree, lucky. That's the exact word I was thinking of. Lucky for him he lives in Pheonix, so he doesn't have to listen to this guy ramble on, and on, and...