Explain briefly whether Malvolio has been punished more than what he deserved in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

You have put your finger on one of the incongruous
features in this otherwise standard Shakespearian comedy. Malvolio is the one aspects
that jarrs when compared to the rest of the merriment, and it is fascinating to trace
the development of his character from start to
finish.

Malvolio when we first meet him seems to be a
figure of fun for other characters. They mock his pompous, self-important attitude and
Maria and Sir Toby take great delight in plotting his downfall, focussing on using his
own ambitions against him by encouraging him to believe what he secretly hopes for: that
Olivia loves him and he has a chance of marrying her. We all enjoy the famous "yellow
stockings" scene of Act III scene 4, and in a sense, when Olivia says, "Why this is very
midsummer madness!" in response to Malvolio´s overtures she identifies an important
theme in the story: love is as a sickness or a disease that comes upon us suddenly and
makes us act out of character and do stupid things.

Yet
whilst we laugh at Malvolio in his yellow cross-gartered stockings trying to smile at
Olivia, what happens next upsets this simple mockery of his character. In Act IV scene
2, when Feste dressed as Sir Topas goads Malvolio and tries to make him think he is mad,
we see a very different side to Malvolio, and begin to respect and pity him. Malvolio´s
stubborn determination to hold on to his sanity and his protestations that he is not
mad, in spite of Feste´s many linguistic tricks to prove otherwise is something that we
come to admire. Despite all his sufferings and being locked up in the dark, he is still
able to say to Feste in response to being asked if he is
mad:

Believe
me, I am not. I tell thee
true.

Shakespeare seems to
bestow on Malvolio a certain dignity and gravitas in the face of suffering that stands
in sharp contrast to the rest of the light-hearted comedy of the play. Whilst he
represents a force of order that needs to be "locked away" so the other characters can
enjoy the revels, confusion and chaos of this festival of Twelfth Night, his punishment
is disporportionate to his crime, as Maria and Sir Toby recognise. Their act of fleeing
the anticipated wrath of Olivia shows they realise they have gone too far. Malvolio is
re-admitted into the company at the end of the play, but has no part in their
celebrations. His final word before leaving:

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I´ll be revenged on the whole pack of
you!

strikes a very
discordant note in an otherwise traditional happy ending to a comedy. Even though Orsino
orders men to go after him and "entreat him to peace" we are left slightly uncomfortable
with this ending as the marriage celebrations begin.