著者

村上 世津子

出版者

新潟工科大学

雑誌

新潟工科大学研究紀要 (ISSN:1342792X)

巻号頁・発行日

no.3, pp.131-148, 1998-12

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Twelfth Night is a romance ending with three marriages. However, it is much darker than is generally thought. It is not just Malvolio's threat of revenge and "rain and wind" in Feste's epilog that darkens the play. Rather, the reader finds marriages themselves disgustful. In the subplot, although Maria ridicules Malvolio for his self-love and plots against his ambition to be Count Malvolio, she herself climbs a social ladder by marrying Sir Toby, her lady's uncle. Likewise, in the main plot Viola plans to supplant Olivia by disguising herself as a page to Orsino. Sebastian's marriage to Olivia is a little different, for he does not plot against anybody; but he marries Olivia, knowing there may be some "error" in "this accident and flood of fortune".