Be Not Afraid

“Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness trust upon ‘em.”
-Read by Malvolio, Twelfth Night Act II, SceneV

In Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, one of the main character’s steward is the character everyone dislikes and wants to get rid of. One night when three characters, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria, and Feste are having a good time, Malvolio, the steward burst in to scold them for their behavior. They decide that the arrogant steward needs to be taken down a little bit, so they plan a practical joke. This specific line suggests that he can become “great” by doing certain things, which are completely ridiculous. After completing the tasks Olivia thinks he has gone mad, therefore she has him locked up.

In the context that this quote is used it means, that some people are born into greatness, because their family is great or powerful, some achieve greatness by working hard, and some have greatness thrust upon them, meaning that it is pushed to them by someone or something that believes they deserve it. The quote is telling Malvolio that just because he does not believe that he is great, that he can achieve greatness by completely the tasks in his letter.

This quote has been used more than just in Shakespeare’s play. In the movie She’s the Man Duke is explaining to Viola that they need her to play on the soccer team, he tells her like their coach always says, “Be not afraid of greatness, so are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

Other than movies, people have used them in their speeches. Dingiri Banda Wijetunga who was the fourth president of Sri Lanka, used the quote in his farewell speech when he was leaving parliament. Even though Shakespeare used the quote as part of a comic practical joke, many people interpret the quote to be a powerful and inspiring quote.

We all know bits and pieces of lines and quotes from Shakespeare but for one to be so powerful, that people today, which is 400 or so years later, are using it in their speeches that is amazing. You normally don’t see a public figure quoting, Romeo and Juliet in a Speech or Midsummer’s Nights dream. So a comedy line can be turned into a life lesson just by interpretation, but also, Shakespeare had an odd way of putting things that have great meaning into something that was different from it. So by putting it in the letter you could get the message in a creative way.


Works Cited
"William Shakespeare Quotes Twelfth Night" William Shakespeare the Complete Works. 21 May 2010. http://www.william-shakespeare.info/quotes-quotations-play-twelfth-night.htm

"The meaning of Be not afraid of greatness Some are born great some achieve greatness and others have greatness thrust upon them?" WikiAnswers. 21 May 2010. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/The_meaning_of_Be_not_afraid_of_greatness_Some_are_born_great_some_achieve_greatness_and_others_have_greatness_thrust_upon_them

"Be not afraid of greatness" Enotes. 21 May 2010. http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/afraid-greatness

"Dingiri Banda Wijetunga" Wikipedia. 21 May 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingiri_Banda_Wijetunga