Twelfth Night: Ring, Letter, and Mary Queen of Scots
1.5: Olivia sends Malvolio with a ring (of her own) and a message, claiming (falsely) that Cesario (Viola in disguise) had delivered it for Duke Orsino [1].
But it was not actually Orsino's ring as Olivia claims to Malvolio; it was Olivia's ring, so this lie to Malvolio is like a kind of forgery.
- Malvolio is to "return" the ring to Cesario - who never actually gave it in the first place - and who (Olivia says) should return it to Orsino.
- Actually, Olivia wants an excuse for Cesario to return, since Oliva enjoys Cesario’s company.
- Malvolio is to tell Cesario only to come back if it is to report how Duke Orsino received the ring.
The rest of this unfolds in 2.2 (ring delivered to a dumbfounded Cesario) and 3.1 (Olivia apologizes for any confusion or dishonor caused by the ring conceit) [2].
In October of 2020, Alicia Hughes of the University of Glasgow had researchers Jade Scott and Alison Wiggins do a guest post for her blog, In Search of Mary Queen of Scots. In a subsection under the heading, “A ruby ring,” they note:
On several occasions Mary and her correspondents sent rings as tokens of identification that authenticated (or were authenticated by) accompanying letters. They could indicate to the recipient assurance over the veracity of the bearer’s verbal message or the content of the letter. We know about these rings because they are referred to in the letters. For example, ‘Believe, in particular, a person who will give you, in my name, a ruby ring, for I assure you, upon my conscience, that this person will tell you the truth agreeably to my desire’ (Mary to Mauvissière, September 1584…) Other examples can be found… [3]
Sending a unique ring to verify might foil forgery attempts - not a common practice among farmers and merchants, but necessary for a queen in exile suspicious of conspiracies.
- Some of Mary’s letters were published; others may have been gossiped about by those close to the case.
- If at some time between 1584 and 1602, Shakespeare learned of Mary sending a ring with a message, it may in part have inspired the use of this motif in the play.
INDEX for posts in this series on the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS in Shakespeare’s time (and possible influences on the plays):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html
NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu
[1] For Olivia to lie to Malvolio about the origins of the ring, and to have Malvolio pass on that lie to Cesario, is quite analogous to a forgery (in Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the word "forge" as a metaphor for lying). So note that in the case of Mary Queen of Scots, as explained below, sending a ring was meant to avoid forgery and untruthfulness; but for Olivia, she is in fact delivering a kind of forgery, a lie.
- We might note at least two things about this:
a) The play which began with Olivia in some ways analogous to Elizabeth (see previous post*), now makes Olivia analogous to Mary Queen of Scots as sender of messages with rings. In other words, it is not a simple and dangerously consistent political allegory in which a character stands for the same historical figure throughout.
b) Now we have not only two elements of ring and message, associated with one another in history and in the play, but we have a third element of Olivia’s lie, which is the very thing that Mary Queen of Scots was trying to avoid by sending the ring with the letter.
- The presence of these elements might make one inclined to believe it is likely Shakespeare knew of this news or gossip, and meant to reference it in the play.
* https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/01/is-twelfth-night-political-play.html
[2] OLIVIA to Cesario (to Viola in disguise):
Give me leave, beseech you. I did send,
After the last enchantment you did here,
A ring in chase of you. So did I abuse
Myself, my servant, and, I fear me, you.
Under your hard construction must I sit,
To force that on you in a shameful cunning
Which you knew none of yours. What might you think? (3.1.115-122)
[3] The full citation:
(Mary to Mauvissière, September 1584, Strickland, Vol. II, p. 186). Other examples can be found in Strickland, Vol. I, p. 78; Vol. I, p. 114; Vol. 1, p. 200; and TNA SP 53/11, f.44.
In Search of Mary Queen of Scots – Blog
“Letters as Objects,” guest post by Jade Scott and Alison Wiggins, October 1, 2020:
https://mqs.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/2020/10/01/letters-as-objects/
IMAGES:
Left: Signet ring with the arms of Mary Queen of Scots,
English, 19th century.
Via Sothebys.
NOTE: Sotheby’s notes this not as a 16th century ring, but a 19th century creation. Sotheby’s description includes: “initialled: MR and with a box printed: QUEEN MARY'S / SIGNET RING /From the Collection / of THE LATE / EARL OF BUCHAN.” It may have been created to honor Mary Queen of Scots by those who knew of her reference to the ruby ring sent with her letter(s).
Fair use:
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/old-master-sculpture-early-jewels/signet-ring-with-the-arms-of-mary-queen-of-scots
Right: Spiral-interlocking letter, the last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots before her execution, an appeal to her brother-in-law, Henry III of France, given that she had previously been married to a king of France.
Image (fair use) via National Library of Scotland and Unlocking History Research Group, via
ArsTechnica: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/spirallock1.jpg
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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