Gender and Identity
Rodney Heckard and Malvolio
Identity
My Name is Rodney Heckard. I am a brother to 4. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I am a sophomore student and Joliet West High School. I am a very outgoing, loud and kind of annoying person. I like to make jokes and laugh a lot. I am also a Christian and I take my faith pretty seriously, these are the basics to who I am in life.
My character is Malvolio. Malvolio sees himself as on the top of everything and everyone since he is the steward of Olivia's household. He acts like he is in the same , manners, nor honesty but to gabble like tinkers at this time of night?" (II.iii.80-83) pg. 5. This quote is showing how Malvolio speaks down to people that social class as Olivia by talking down to other servants and Olivia's uncle Sir Toby. Malvolio doesn't really care that no one likes him, or what others think of him because he feels that those people don’t matter as long as Olivia is pleased with him. "My masters, are you mad? Or what are you? Have you no witare really over him in the social class scale. This is what Malvolio thinks of his self.
Gender
There are a lot of benefits and detriments to being a young male in my family. One of the benefits is that I get to stay out late on weekends, while my sister has to be in at a certain time before me. Another benefit is being able to do more things on my own like going to buy things and going to hangout, but if my sisters want to do something like that, they need someone to go with them or my parents need to know exactly where they will be. But some of the detriments are that if I want to go somewhere, sometimes I have to take my sisters with me. Another is when we have to do chores around the house, the girls don't have to do anything, but my brothers and I have to take out the garbage, mow the lawn, and shovel snow. So there are some benefits and detriments to being a male in my family.
Malvolio has a lot of benefits and detriments being a man in the time that all of this has taken place. He is forced to be tough and act strong because he is a male. That is why he stands up to Sir Toby and Sir Andrew so boldly, because he feels that he is strong enough to take them on. A benefit that he has is that he is the first man Olivia goes to if she needs something done that a man can do. For one because he is her steward, and she also can tell that if she gives him a manly job, he will get it done, because he is a man. A detriment he might have from being a man is that he might not be able to find love because being Olivia's steward is taking up all of his time. Being Olivia's steward, he is the man servant in charge of every other servant. So him being a steward in charge of everybody else, he doesn't have time to look for love or a woman he can be with, and that could be very hard for a man, at any time in age.
Percieve
I believe people perceive me as a funny but mean person. People see me as a mean person because I always have something mean to say about other people. It's not that I'm trying to be mean, I just do it in a jokingly manner. I say people also see me as a funny person because I think of random things to say in awkward moments. Whoever I'm around, I am able to make them laugh, as long as they have a good since of humor. People also perceive me as a corny person. I think so because I am the type of person who is always making cheesy jokes just to get a couple of laughs, or just to get people to pay me some attention.
People see Malvolio as an arrogant, self-centered, and puritan. They say that he acts as if he is perfect and does no wrong. In the text it says, "The devil a puritan that he is, or anything constantly, but a time-pleaser; an affectioned ass that cons state without book and utters it by great swarths; the best persuaded of himself, so crammed, as he thinks, with excellencies, that it is his grounds of faith that all that look on him love him" (II.iii. 130-136). pg 7. In this quote Maria, who is Olivia's main woman servant, is describing what everyone really thinks of Malvolio, and how she thinks he is as a person. He thinks that because he is Olivia's head servant, he has to be perfect in everything he says and does. He feels like he has to act as if he were on the same social class level as Olivia because he works for her. No one sees it like he does though, and that’s why they see him as arrogant.
Similarities and Differences
One similarity that Malvolio and I share is our blunt personality. We both arent afraid to say what we think about someone or a situation. Sometimes that could be a good thing and a bad thing for the both of us.
One difference between Malvolio and I is how we look for love. Because Malvolio was around Olivia all the time, he saw the note, with what looked like her handwriting, and he automatically assumes that the note is for him from Olivia, and falls in love with her. However, I am the type of person who has to know you for a long time and actually have to establish that type of relationship before I tell you anything about me being in love with you, or me acting as if I love you. Where Malvolio jumped straight into the love madness. Another difference between Malvolio is how we talk to other people. Even though we both are blunt people, I believe that if I have somethin to say about someone or something, I approach it in a respectable way to the person. Whereas Malvolio tells them exactly how he feels with no feeling or respect for the person at all.