Maria, however, casts doubt as to whether he is actually a puritan, stating that his pious severity is a pose, an anti-puritanical oath, pious severity will be opportunistically abandoned. Calling into question the performative nature of identity that is also a theme that runs throughout the play, and how Malvolio only uses surface appearances to try and perform a certain role, something that he is incapable of doing, as he is restricted by class. This desire is a moral defect 'vice', a term representative of evil in medieval and morality plays. Malvolio sets up his own trap by trying to be someone he is not