Twelfth Night: William Davidge (1814-88)as Malvolio.

Jack Belloli writes of the play's potential for revisionist readings:

"The characters of the play's subplot, in which Olivia's condescending steward Malvolio is tricked by the rest of her household, not only get more lines than the principal parts, but were also responsible for the play's contemporary popularity. The play was briefly retitled Malvolio and a poem of 1640 describes how "the Cockpit galleries, boxes are all full / to hear Malvolio, that cross-gartered gull." After a lull in popularity during the Restoration, the play returned to critical attention when Lamb realised that Malvolio's priggishness could in fact be founded on a tragic "sense of worth." ("Open Shakespeare": Open Knowledge Foundation Project â’¸ Open Knowledge Foundation. All material available under CC 'by' license v3.0)