#I hadn't even remembered there was a repetition of that line until I was re-reading it for dramaturgy purposes

[theimpossiblescheme]

Back on my Adapting Twelfth Night For My Own Production bullshit, and I'm remembering one of the oldest bits of Shakespeare Discourse(TM) outside of whether Romeo and Juliet is actually satire (it's not)--the "Be not afraid of greatness..." line. Some say it's just a dick joke, some say it's not, and honest to God you're both right.

Because that line shows up in the play twice.

The first time, it's in a letter supposedly written from Lady Olivia to Malvolio, her head of household who harbors a secret crush on her. Here's the context of the line:

If this fall into thy hand, revolve. 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. Thy Fates open their hands; let thy blood and spirit embrace them...

Here, it basically means, "Don't be intimidated by the fact that I'm of higher social status than you--you may very well achieve that status yourself someday." So, inspired by this, Malvolio proceeds to dress up in the gaudiest way possible, go find Olivia, and make a move on her. And he manages to make Olivia rather uncomfortable in the process, coming on way too strong and responding to pretty innocent questions with double entendres ("Wilt thou go to bed, Malvolio?"/"To bed! ay, sweet-heart, and I'll come to thee.") So when he quotes her supposed letter back to her, specifically the "Be not afraid of greatness..." bit, he absolutely means it as a dick joke.

Say what you will about ol' Billy Shakes, but he did not let a good possible innuendo go to waste.

#I hadn't even remembered there was a repetition of that line until I was re-reading it for dramaturgy purposes #and I definitely had a moment of 'Huh... the more you know.' XD #shakespeare #twelfth night #Granted of course there are different ways to stage the Malvolio and Olivia scene but that's the way it reads on the page. #I've had to think more about Malvolio's subplot than I ever had just reading the play for funsies and it's honestly kind of fascinating. #I don't consider myself a Malvolio Stan but I have mutuals who are and probably have a much longer post locked and loaded if you ask. XD #the schemer speaks #ETA: If you saw the typos in my original post no you didn't.