Vivaan Daga

Q1. The romantic comedy, ‘Twelfth Night’ houses many intriguing characters. One such
The character is Olivia’s steward Malvolio. Discuss how the playwright manages to change the
audience’s perception towards Malvolio through the play. (800-900 words)
Introduction:-
● Malvolio is Olvia’s devoted, “puritan” steward. He is the only character in the play who
is not part of the happy resolution of this romantic comedy.
● Three topics for each para:-
1) He is a contemptuous steward who is puritan and disrespectful. He gets hate from the
audience.
2) He is a pompous daydreamer - comical character, deserves to be pranked.
3) He becomes an object of pity
● Thesis statement - Through the course of the play, William Shakespeare changes the
audience’s perception about Malvolio. In the initial part of Twelfth Night, he is portrayed
as an unpleasant and contemptuous puritan who the audience immediately dislikes.
Further into the play, his pompous daydreaming attitude makes the audience feel that he
rightly deserves to be made fun of. However, towards the end, the brutal prank played on
Malvolio reduces him to an object of pity.

Para 1:-
Topic sentence:- At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare portrays Malvolio as a contemptuous
steward who is puritan and disrespectful.
1) Act 1, Scene 5 Malvolio wishes “death and infirmity” upon Feste
2) Calls him a “barren rascal”
Para 2:-
Topic Sentence:- Shakespeare displays his character as a pompous day dreamer
1) He thinks that Olivia would like somebody with his “complexion”
2) He wants to be “Count Malvolio” and married to Olivia
Para 3:-
Topic Sentence:- Malvolio is reduced to an object of pity and gathers the audience sympathy
1) Feste convinces him that he is possessed by a “hyperbolical fiend”
2) Repeatedly begs Feste to believe him that he is not “mad”.
3) He is caged and isolated in a “prison” of “hideous darkness”

Conclusion:-
The audience’s first impression of M is that of an ill-mannered puritan who is right to be
pranked. However, as the play keeps going on, the jokes played on him became more and more
spiteful. The humour is lost due to the spite and the audience pities him upon seeing him getting
tormented.
Ans:-
Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare uses
Malvolio, Olivia’s steward, to be at the center of comedy through the course of the play. William
Shakespeare changes the audience’s perception about Malvolio. In the initial part of Twelfth
Night, he is portrayed as an unpleasant and contemptuous puritan who the audience immediately
dislikes. Further into the play, his pompous daydreaming attitude makes the audience feel that he
rightly deserves to be made fun of. However, towards the end, the brutal prank played on
Malvolio reduces him to an object of pity. Malvolio is the only character to not receive a happy
ending.

At the start of the play, Shakespeare portrays Malvolio as a contemptuous steward who is a
puritan and disrespectful. His disrespect for everyone is visible in Act 1, Scene 5 when he wishes
“death and infirmary” upon Feste. He goes on to call Feste a “barren rascal” with “no more
brains than a stone”. He even criticizes Olivia and her dead father for having hired Feste and
calls them “fool zanies” which adds on to the criticism. Shakespeare shows Malvolio to be
contemptuous which allows the audience to hate him. This representation is not forgotten by the
audience as first impressions are always the last impressions. He is shown to be disrespectful and
puritanical in Act 2 Scene 3, when Sir Toby and others were merry making, Malvolio approaches
them and rudely asks them “My masters, are you mad?”. He doesn't care that Sir Toby is his
superior and still talks to him in a disrespectful way. He also goes on to say, “Have you no wit,
manners, nor honesty but to gabble like tinkers”, he then accuses Sir Toby of making “an
alehouse” of Olivia’s home. Maria considers him to be “a devil, puritan” and a "time-pleaser, an
affectioned-ass”. Although Malvolio acts as a devoted servant, he stops the merry making and
fun for everyone, which makes the audience hate him even more. He also is a puritan who
believes that drama, music, theatres and poetry should be banned. He was disliked by the
Elizabethan audience. Malvolio portrayal as a scornful puritan makes him receive more hate by
the audience.

Shakespeare’s deception of Malvolio as a pompous daydreamer makes the audience view him as
a comical character who deserves to be pranked. He daydreams about Olivia in Act 2 Scene 5, he
believes that Olivia treats him with “a more exalted respect”. Malvolio also thinks that Olivia
would “fancy” someone with the same “complexion” as him. He desires “to be Count Malvolio”
and also Olivia’s husband. Although Malvolio is shown to be in love with Olivia, he isn’t. He
wants to marry Olivia for his own gain. The inappropriate fantasies about Olivia makes the
audience want Malvolio to be pranked or punished. The letter that he receives from the
pranksters allows the scene to be “humorous”, this is shown in Act 3 Scene 4, when he invites
Olivia to “go to bed” with him and also calls her “sweetheart”. He wears obnoxious “yellow
stockings” that are “cross-gartered”. Although Olivia is shocked, Malvolio thinks that he has
“limed her”. At this point in the play, the audience thinks that finally Malvolio has got what he
deserves. It is one of the best parts of the play as Malvolio is a source of humour and
entertainment. Audience gets the fun to see him get pranked.

Towards the end of the play, Malvolio manages to gather the audience’s sympathy. He is helpless
and broken as he has been tormented. In Act 4 Scene 2 he is “caged” in “hideous darkness”.
Feste manages to convince him that he is possessed by an “hyperbolical fiend” and has gone
mad. Malvolio feels “notoriously abused” and repeatedly begs Feste that he is not “mad”. Is
released from the prison. A dejected Malvolio questions Olivia why she had given him “such
clear lights of favour”. When he acted in “obedient hope”, he was “kept in a dark house” and
“made the most notorious geck and gull”. Shakespeare’s portrayal of a miserable Malvolio,
publicly made fun of, and entirely isolated from everyone makes the audience feel bad for him.
Fabian tries to make light of the matter by saying that the prank should be taken as a “sportful
malice” which should rather “pluck on laughter than revenge”. Feste rather reminds Malvolio
how he had been scornful to him and had called him a “barren rascal”. Feels it is right how the
“whirlgig of time brings in his revenges”. Audience at the end of the play sees him a sorry figure
when M tries to save some self-respect and storms out promising revenge on the “whole pack”.

The audience’s first impression of M is that of an ill-mannered puritan who is right to be

pranked. However, as the play keeps going on, the jokes played on him became more and more
spiteful. The humour is lost due to the spite and the audience pities him upon seeing him getting
tormented.

Q2. Analyze how Ted Hughes makes his poem ‘The Jaguar’ a dramatic one in about 800-900
words.

Introduction

Background- ‘The Jaguar’ was included in Ted Hughes prize-winning, first collection ‘The
Hawk in the Rain’, published in 1957. To read his poems is to enter a world dominated by
nature, especially by animals and so is the case in ‘The Jaguar’.
Thesis statement topics (3 topics of each of the three paragraphs)-
1) Language
2) Themes
3)Structure
Thesis Statement- The poignant themes, the striking language and the unique structure of the
poem makes it impactful.

Para 1
Topic sentence – Language
1. Point- Imagery
Evidence-
“Boa constrictors coil is a fossil”
“It might be painted on a nursery wall.”
“Or strut like cheap tarts to attract”
Analysis-
Strips them of wildness and grandeur.
Poet holds a mirror to Man’s entitlement over nature.
Helpless .

Point - Sibilance
“stinks of sleepers”- focusing on the unhygienic and dismal condition
“crowd stands, stares, mesmerized”- slowing down of the reader and the visitor

Para 2
1. Point- Man’s cruelty against animals/ Man’s entitlement over nature
Evidence-
“It might be painted on a nursery wall”- lifeless, lack vitality
“The parrots shriek as if there were on fire”- clearly in pain- mental and physical
“Fatigued with indolence, tiger and lion”- psychologically affected
Analysis-
Aren’t being treated with the dignity they deserve.
He is contemptuous of man for doing this.
Questions the ethics of humans who keep animals behind bars and also those who enjoy
watching them.

Point- Resistance
Evidence-
But who runs like the rest past these arrives
at a jaguar hurrying enraged
The eye satisfied to be blind in fire,
By the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear
He spins from the bars

Para 3
Point- Enjambment
Evidence-
“But who runs past these arrives/ At a cage”- suspense, mystery
He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him- ironic, speeds up the reading process
More than to the visionary his cell

Point- Title
Animal- Jaguar- the main subject
Article- The- makes it specific

Rhyme Scheme
Uneven/ irregular
Resonates the inconsistent mood and atmosphere.

Conclusion

analysis of the poem reveals that the poem is so impactful because of the emotional
themes, the strong language and the unique structure used by the poet.

Ans -
‘The Jaguar’ was included in Ted Hughes prize-winning, first collection ‘The Hawk in the
Rain’, published in 1957. To read his poems is to enter a world dominated by nature, especially
by animals and so is the case in ‘The Jaguar’. The poignant themes, the striking language and the
unique structure of the poem makes it impactful.

Using a metaphor, the poet draws the picture of a boa constrictor lying immobile like “a
fossil”. The snake is so still that it seems dead for a long time. The poet’s image of a coiled-up
boa constrictor lying like a fossil shows how the zoo’s don’t take care of the animals. Ted
Hughes goes on to make another comparison, comparing the parrots with “cheap tarts” and
portrays an image of how the wildlife survive in the zoo. The parrots “strut” around with their
colorful feathers, trying to grab the attention of the visitors so that they could get some crackers
or fruit. They are using their body to attract people much like prostitutes. At the end of the
second stanza, the animals which look as unnatural and tamed as animals “painted on a nursery
wall”. Just like the pictures, the children are not afraid of the predators in the zoo. Hughes shows
how the zoo’s remove the animals of their wildness. The imagery of all the animals furthers the
state of their helplessness. He questions human ethics by saying that people who enjoy looking at
animals that are caged are sick. Also, Hughes brings focus to certain phrases in the poem by
using sibilance. He describes that most of the cages seem empty. However, the animal’s presence
is not felt by their physical presence but by the “stinks of sleepers”. The sibilance helps to show
the terrible hygiene and horrible conditions that the animals are kept in. Furthermore, the poet
describes that at the Jaguar’s cage, the crowd “stands, stares, mesmerized”. The slowing down
the reading process of the reader due to the sibilant words, shows that they crowd in the zoo
which has also slowed down to look at the Jaguar. Sibilance encourages the reader to read the
phrases over and over. The use of powerful animal imagery and sibilance leaves a lasting mark
on the reader’s mind.

The central themes of the poem make it a moving one. The poet is quite clear about humans'
cruelty against animals by keeping them in cages. The image of the parrots who “shriek” as if
they are “on fire” allows the readers to imagine how the parrots are treated. The birds clearly are
in pain as one would be when on fire. The pain is both physical and mental as they are in
captivity. Similarly, the “tiger and lion” are mentally affected and lie lifeless. He questions the
ethics of humans who keep animals behind bars but also those who enjoy watching them.
Resistance is another crucial theme that makes the poem impactful. The jaguar’s resistance is
reflected in his glowing eyes that are “satisfied to be blind in fire”. It is reflected in the way he
“spins from the bars” of the enclosure “enraged”, with strides that depict “wildernesses of
freedom” for him. The poet draws the reader’s attention to the jaguar, allowing them to marvel
over the animal’s strength of spirit that has remained invincible. He continues to resist, at least
emotionally, against its incarceration. The poem is made moving due to the man’s disregard for
nature and resistance of the wild to remain wild and free. The ingenious structure of the poem is
also what makes the poem memorable.
To begin with, the title ‘The Jaguar’ is thoughtful. The word ‘Jaguar’ is what immediately gives
the reader an idea of what the poem is about. However, the presence of ‘The’ signalling that the
poem is about a specific jaguar. It makes the reader curious about knowing as to what is special
about this particular jaguar. Hughes employs an uneven rhyme scheme. There is rhyme within
the stanzas like “strut” and “nut” in the first quatrain and “eyes” and “mesmerized” in the third
stanza. However, the rhyme scheme is not the same all throughout the poem. The unevenness of
the rhyme shows the mood of the poem. The poet starts the first quatrains building up an
atmosphere of humiliation. The mood is indignant and dismissive. However, from the third
quatrain the atmosphere becomes energised. The mood thus turns hopeful. To add on, the use of
enjambment adds to the flexibility of the poem. In the third quatrain when the poet rhetorically
asks “who runs past these arrives”, he stops the line to allow mystery. The enjambment
encourages the reader to read ahead quickly. In the next line, the readers are revealed that the
crowd has stopped “at a cage” to look at something. Another instance of enjambment is in the
last line of the fourth stanza and the next stanza. The poet claims that “there is no cage to” the
jaguar which is ironic as the Jaguar is in a cage. The readers go on to read that the Jaguar is a
visionary and his mentality is amazing which cannot be broken. The structure of the poem makes
it impressive.

An analysis of the poem reveals that the poem is so impactful because of the emotional themes,
the strong language and the unique structure used by the poet.