How does Malvolio in William Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ Compare to Uriah Heep in Charles Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield’?

The character Malvolio is depicted in William Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth night’ play which was written in the 16th century and was first performed in 1603. Life was incredibly hard for common people in Elizabethan times as there was a new church and many Catholic’s were persecuted. The character Uriah Heep is depicted in the Charles Dickens novel ‘David Copperfield’ which was written in the 19th century and was published in 1850. Life in the 18th century was harsh and cruel, poverty and disease were rife and the population was increasing rapidly. Both Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare were prolific writers whose work is still studied and celebrated today.
Malvolio is a Steward in the house of Countess Olivia. Malvolio’s station in the house is to control and oversee the other servants in the house. He is an egotistical character who is always dutiful to his mistress Olivia and does everything he can to please her and gain her favour. He has a monotonous temperament and has a pretentious attitude towards the other servants in Olivia’s household. Also he can be seen as a susceptible character who is easily baffled and tricked. He tries to rise to a higher social status by wooing his mistress and marrying her which in fact fails. He is cruelly punished through embarrassment and humiliation which Sir Toby Belch and Olivia’s Gentlewoman Maria manage to subject him to which gives a comical effect.
Uriah Heep is a clerk to Mr Wickfield who has a solicitors practice in Devonshire. Uriah seems a very obsequious character at first but then he begins to develop into an egoistic, perverted individual who blackmails Mr Wickfield and commits the criminal act of fraud. He is eventually caught out and sent to Australia as a punishment for committing fraud. His intentions are vindictive and immoral towards Mr Wickfield as he wishes to rise to a higher social status so that he can gain all monies belonging to Mr Wickfield.
Both Uriah Heep and Malvolio are egotistical characters who wish to improve their social status by marrying into a higher class. Agnes Wickfield for Uriah and Countess Olivia for Malvolio. They are so unhappy with their station that they will do anything to rise to a position where they have more power to control those around them. This can be shown when Malvolio refers to himself as “Count Malvolio”. Clearly this ambition seems possible to Malvolio as he also seems to be pretentious enough to envisage himself as Olivia’s husband. Malvolio wishes to become a Count so that he can control everyone including Sir Toby Belch indicated by the following quote in the play “Cousin Toby…..you must amend your drunkenness”. A further quote “Toby approaches; curtsies there to me” is a further submission of his dream. Uriah Heep is an insincere moneylender who professes to be "ever so humble" and he seems to be an obsequious clerk and nothing more. This is until later on in the novel when he expresses his desire for Agnes Wickfield which can be shown by the following quote “Agnes Wickfield is I am safe to say is the divinest of her sex” this desire is further confirmed by the quote “I’ve an ambition to make your Agnes, my Agnes”. His compliant façade has been covering his greedy and ambitious nature which has now been exposed to Mr Wickfield and David Copperfield by the previous quote.
Even though both of these characters have the same motive, their method of achieving their ambitions are somewhat different. Malvolio tries to achieve his ambition by gaining favour with his mistress by doing everything that she asks him to do. When Malvolio receives a forged letter asking him to present himself to Olivia wearing yellow stockings cross gartered he says “I will do everything thou wilt have me”. It seems as though he is innocent enough in his intentions to impress Olivia so that she falls in love with him and marries him. As an audience we know that it not going to happen because it is a dramatic irony and the whole idea seems farcical. Shakespeare’s intention is make him look a fool and to make us an audience laugh rather than the actual fool Feste. However Uriah Heep tries to achieve his motive by using blackmail towards Mr Wickfield. This is a malevolent, pernicious and a callous way to achieve this objective. In fact this makes Mr Wickfield ill as a result of Uriah’s belligerence. This is greatly explained when Mr Wickfield says “look at my torturer…..before him I have step by step abandoned name and reputation”. Mr Wickfield also says “he has been at my elbow whispering” which clearly demonstrates how conniving Uriah Heep can be. It seems as though Uriah has no feeling at all. He is described by Dickens as being “cadaverous” which seems to fit Uriah’s personality and attitude.
Even though Malvolio and Uriah Heep are vaguely comparable there are other characters that they are more suited to be compared with. Uriah Heep would be better compared with Iago from William Shakespeare’s Othello. Uriah is more comparable with Iago because both characters display the same amount of callousness and malevolence even though the motives are completely different. Malvolio is best compared with Roderigo who is the fool in William Shakespeare’s Othello. Both characters are easily fooled, naïve and both have the same motives. Uriah could also be compared to Wackford Squeers in another Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickelby. Uriah and Squeers have no concern with anyone else’s feeling but their own. They are both cruel to those who are around them and seem to have no remorse when brought to justice.
In conclusion Uriah Heep and Malvolio are not exactly the best characters to compare as they are only vaguely comparable. They do however have one thing in common. Their motive to improve their social status through marriage. Whilst the motive is common the method in which they try to achieve their ambitions are somewhat different.