The Dark Room Problem: Scapegoating and Audience Complicity in Twelfth Night

ABSTRACT

In Twelfth Night (1601–02), the pressure to enforce a comedic ending competes with problematic and overtly abusive behaviors towards certain characters, particularly the steward Malvolio, who is identified as a target for scapegoating by a persecuting group. As Malvolio is subject to mounting pressures to take in the projections of the group, the mistreatment levied against him gains in cruelty, culminating with his imprisonment in a dark room. While the “pranksters” seek to drive him mad, the figures in power ensure their own narcissistically satisfying ending, at the expense of those stripped of control and dignity. The role of the audience becomes a complex matter by the end, as applauding a problematic play meant to be funny invites a degree of collusion with those who would enforce scapegoating dynamics.

KEYWORDS:

• Shakespeare
• Twelfth Night
• audience
• scapegoating

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ “The cowl/hood does not make the monk”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher W. T. Miller

Christopher W. T. Miller, M.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.