The Twelfth Night had quite a bit of shaming that was featured in the article “Shame, Humorality, and Early Modern Spectatorship”. The author delved into the way early spectators could watch the actions of the play, with the public shaming of Malvolio and the behavior of them as well. There was much amusement at the expense of Malvolio by not only the ones causing the humility but by the ones sitting in the audience watching all of the events unfold. The play was “preoccupied with Malvolio gulling and the profound impact on playgoers”. (Hobgood, p.2)
The author did a remarkable job describing in detail how Malvolio was duped during his baiting by Maria and how it affected him during the later parts of the play. She described early play reviewers that acknowledged how even the “playgoers seemed involved or implicated in shameful stage action”. (Hobgood, p.3) This shaming though seemed to encourage to some part an emotional response from its audience. The audience see Malvolio as a fraud or someone wanting to be someone they are not. As the letter scene unfolds and into the ending of the play, Malvolio has the realization that everything he had in his mind about Olivia returning his affections were not true. He had been made a fool of in front of everyone. He begins to be tormented by his shameful actions.
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(Hobgood, p.5) The author also points out that even though Maria is the one who wants to shame Malvolio for him wanting to be of a higher social stature, she is seemingly doing the same thing herself by writing the letters and impersonating the Countess. The cruel treatment that Malvolio endured by the characters and audience as well made this a compelling play to have watched. The audience almost enjoyed the treatment of Malvolio due to his actions during the play as their reactions or non-reactions