Much Ado about Nothing is Shakespeare’s comedy that portrays the development of romantic relationships between two couples in Messina, focusing on various intrigues around them. The first couple is Claudio, a lord and close friend of Prince of Aragon Don Pedro, and Hero, daughter of Leonato, governor of Messina. The second one is Benedick, a companion of Claudio, and Beatrice, a niece of Leonato. Don John, the brother of Don Pedro, plays a prominent role in developing relationships between Claudio, Hero, and Don Pedro. He tries to defame his prince brother, plotting against him, and then plans to use this situation to seize power from him.
Don John is a comedy villain who does evil deeds, trying to seed the strife between Claudio and Hero. He is gloomy and sullen, often lost in his dark thoughts: probably, he always was an outsider in the shadow of his brother. Don John admits loving to do wrong actions, saying that “it better fits my blood to be disdained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any” (1:3:25–28). He then explains it by saying,” I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchised with a clog; therefore, I have decreed not to sing in my cage” (1:3:30–32). Don John directly calls himself “a plain-dealing villain,” meaning that he does not even try to hide his evil sides of character (1:3:30). His image refers to a trickster archetype: a character who is aside from society and considers it as a large playground.
Then, his course of action is described: he wants to take his brother’s place in the social hierarchy, and other people, for him, are simple tools to reach this goal. His companion overhears that Don Pedro plans to woo Hero to help Claudio marry her eventually. His brother tells Claudio, “If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it,/And I will break with her and with her father,/And thou shalt have her” (1:1:303–305). Based on this information, he tries to defame his prince brother and then seize power from him using intrigues.
Don John can either ruin all romantic relationships in the comedy or make them stronger if the mentioned characters will manage to distinguish his defamation from reality. At first, he seems successful: Claudio believes that she cheated him with Don Pedro and accuses her right during the marriage, after which she faints. He says, “But fare thee well, most foul, most fair. Farewell,/Thou pure impiety and impious purity,” being ready to push her away with pain (4:1:108–109). However, the end of the comedy is positive for the couples and negative for Don John: his intrigues are revealed. Hero’s gentlewoman, Ursula, eventually reveals that “it is proved my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the Prince and Claudio mightily abused, and Don John is the author of all, who is fled and gone” (5:3:96–99). In the last several lines, it is reported that he is captured and will probably be executed for his evil and treacherous deeds.
Therefore, Don John’s place in the comedy is the trickster villain who plots against his brother and uses other people’s feelings for this purpose. He could not overthrow Don Pedro by brute force but begged pardon and, after that, continued his tries, using intrigue. He may be considered a destructive element of the comedy, whose role is to challenge Claudio’s feelings for Hero and the ability to distinguish between lies and truth. Eventually, Claudio and Don Pedro can do this, restoring peace and harmony, and Claudio marries Hero with happiness.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Much Ado about Nothing. Edited by Peter Holland, Penguin Books, 2017.