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EMA - Coggle Diagram

- - - - His entire life is in upheaval, he clearly shows resentment (understandably) towards everyone involved, even Olivia who wasn't involved - he no longer knows who he can trust
        
        His exit after his final line gives the impression that he won't be returning to his employment, totally abandoning the life he has built
        
        Made sadder when we think about the fact that he's also coming to the realisation that the woman he loves, who he was misled into believing returned his affections, doesn't love him back
        
        Reasonable to assume that this would carry with it more emotions like betrayal, hopelessness, embarrassment, increased feelings of degradation
  - - - Every other character enchanted by the love potion has the spell reversed in the end
        
        Results in Demetrius (presumably) spending the rest of his life 'in love' with Helena, who he had no interest in
    - - Oberon uses the love potion to coerce Titania into giving up the Indian boy to him, which she was so adamantly against doing in the beginning of the play
        
        As Holland notes, when Oberon brags about gaining the boy, we realise how easily Titania gave him up
        
        She doesn't mention him again, despite how much affection and significance she placed on him
- - - - It's degrading, humiliating, cruel, and entirely unnnecessary
        
        Sir Toby also suggests getting Malvolio declared legally mad, therefore extending the prank from temporary (although with lasting damage to Malvolio) to a permanent ruination of his reputation
        
        '...an elaborate prank whose ultimate sadism would give even the nastiest Gen Y schadenfreude-head the chills.' (Williams, 2015)
        
        Also illegal - abduction/forcible imprisonment of adults in Elizabethan England - nowadays kidnapping can carry a life sentence
      - CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Elizabethan audiences may have had a different reaction to this, with Puritanism being a common concept among society - Malvolio may have been acting as an archetypal Puritan, unpopular among society, therefore making the scenario comedic as a representative of this class
        Contemporary audiences are less likely to know of Puritans and it isn't a common concept nowadays, therefore the degrading, cruel prank is happening to a man, rather than a representative of Puritanism
        
        '...an elaborate attack on the Puritan movement...Puritanism was very much in the people's consciousness...' (Kiyani, 2023)
  - - - He takes the Indian boy
        
        Titania has a deep-rooted desire for motherhood, evidenced by numerous metaphors alluding to pregnancy, childbearing, motherhood, etc
        
        Oberon is highly likely to know of these desires, as her husband - taking the Indian boy out of spite and removing her closest link to motherhood is selfish and heartbreaking
        
        Oberon's drugging of Titania to steal the boy may come from his own desires to be a father - he believes she owes him a child (Johnson, 2000)
        
        Titania has forsworn Oberon's bed - whether either of them is infertile is irrelevant if they aren't having sex - no child is possible
        
        In Elizabethan England, a woman didn't have to consent to sex with her husband, as she was believed to be his property and that the act of marriage was enough to constitute consent when the husband wanted sex
        
        CRITICAL ANALYSIS: This element may be received differently by Elizabethan vs contemporary audiences - at the time, it may have been considered that Oberon was entitled to her sexual attention and it may be shocking that she refused him
        The law was changed in 1992 in the case of R v R, and marital rape wasn't criminalised until the Sexual Offences Act 2003 - contemporary audiences would believe she has every right to refuse, resulting in the shock arising from Oberon's belief that he is entitled to her sexual attention
        
        '...Titania's adoption of the Indian boy not only as a tribute to the memory of her dead friend, but also compensation for the fact that her union with Oberon is childless.' (Companion to SP's Works pp.344)
      - He degrades and embarrasses her
        
        In his efforts to curtail her female power, Oberon ensures Titania will be deeply affected by her infatuation with Bottom
        
        Louis Montrose's (1986) reading of Titania's fate as a need to 'curtail female power'
        
        '...all has been set to rights in the forest of male dominance...' (Johnson, 2002)
        
        'As retribution for Titania's refusal to him of her sexual attentions, Oberon degrades her to the basest level of subhuman lust.' (Companion to SP's Works pp.351)
      - Drug-facilitated rape of Bottom/sexual exploitation of Titania
        
        '...rejection of sexual relations with and the husbandly rights of Oberon...a sexually hostile maneuver.' (Johnson 2002)
        
        'The play forces us to confront the consequences of stripping individuals of their agency and consent.' (Person, 2023)
        
        Jan Knott - 'the most erotic...no other [play]...is the eroticism expressed so brutally.' (Smith, 2023)
        
        'Freudian' - '1964 reading...time of descent into the darkness of the erotic.' (Hutson, 2016)
    - - Being used to teach consent in sixth form (Copland, 2022)
      - Not only is he drugged, but it must be applied when the victim is asleep - at their most vulnerable and being taken advantage of
      - Consider it from a flipped perspective - if a woman repeatedly told a man 'no', but he continued to stalk and harass her until she relented, there would be uproar - it can be framed comedically because it's happening to a man
        
        There is a lot of defence for Helena - she is a woman scorned, she is pitied because Demetrius is nasty to her - why wouldn't he be?
- - - - Malvolio's Puritanism may factor into his gullibility - they were literal people, taking word as fact
        
        The letter causes Malvolio to act entirely out of character, making it so successful and aligning with Elizabethan attitudes labelling Puritans as hypocrites
        
        CRITICAL ANALYSIS: If Malvolio was consistent in his literal and Puritan ways, it is likely the letter wouldn't have been so successful in tricking him - perhaps Maria is relying on him being a hypocrite for it to work
      - Malvolio doesn't hide his character, he is ironically one of the most authentic characters in the play, therefore he may judge others by his standards, leading him to believe the letter because he doesn't believe anyone would have a reason to lie
      - Puritans have been labelled as narcissistic, therefore this may factor into his believing the letter - he believes that Olivia would love him, because he feels superior so why wouldn't she?
- - - - Holland's notes: 'propertied' - 'treated like a piece of furniture'/'an unused prop'
- - - - Puritans in Elizabethan England were widely disliked for their perceived narcissism, pompousness, and zealous characters
        
        On a mission to purify the churches of Roman Catholic influence, following the Reformation under Elizabeth I
        
        Maria calls Malvolio a Puritan, inferring negative connotations
        
        She may feel inferior to him, as he is above her in the hierarchy of Olivia's servants, amplified by his sense of superiority
        
        Hostility fuelled by this results in her generating the prank that is excessive and cruel as a tool to punish Malvolio
    - - Maria, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew all despise Malvolio, particularly Maria. This stems from his personality, but perhaps from his superiority complex that may strengthen her feelings of inferiority as a woman and also a lesser servant to Olivia
  - - - Oberon enchants Titania with the love potion to manipulate her into giving him the boy
        
        Selfish motives because she won't give him what he wants
        
        Frustration is likely heightened because she refuses to submit to him as her 'lord'
        
        His way of asserting dominance over Titania and displaying his power in the fairy realm
    - - Oberon sees Helena desperately pursuing Demetrius, feels sympathy for her, so has Robin enchant him to remedy this
        
        He may express heightened sympathy for her because of his own marital problems - Titania forswearing his bed, lack of offspring - he may feel as though his situation is mirrored by Helena and Demetrius
        
        CRITICAL ANALYSIS: His motives may not be as sympathetic as they seem - he is known for enjoying chaos, in this situation evidenced by his desire to enchant Demetrius in a way that makes his love for Helena exaggerated and intense (QUOTE)