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Critical analysis of claudio's character in much ado about nothing
Critical analysis of claudio's character in much ado about nothing
Introduction about evil
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An Understanding Evil Several of William Shakespeare’s plays focus on the presence of a characters public appearance in the eyes of spectatorship and observation, and the problems that result from misunderstandings. Although it is dark at times, Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy that exemplifies this theme. As spectatorship is an action characters engage in, it becomes a challenge to keep up with the motives and truthful appearances of identities throughout the play. Due to Claudio’s ability to be easily manipulated, his motives behind rejecting Hero are masked by Don John’s evil attempt to destroy him and his marriage. In Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio is viewed as a victim of spectatorship and Don John as the perpetrator. Although Don John engages very minimally throughout the play, he portrays the misunderstood evil that drives the drama “about nothing.” Shakespeare’s writing underlies a broader point to be made on the precarious nature of engaging in spectatorship: it can easily go wrong. The nature of a character’s intentions can easily be lost as they guess what is going on, drawing to false conclusions. As shown throughout the play, this uncertain nature of spectatorship is what leads to the importance of the characters decisions. We see this first hand as Don John and his scheming nature attempts to trick Claudio into believing Hero is unfaithful through a plotted “investigation” the night before their wedding. “The word is too good to paint out her wickedness. Go but with me tonight, you shall see her chamber window entered, even the night before her wedding day” (3.2.5). As mentioned before, Shakespeare’s writing throughout the play focuses on the overall concept of misunderstanding. In thi... ... middle of paper ... ...rious outcomes through his trickery and scheme, Shakespeare’s use of comedy enables this “influential” character to fall through and loose in the end. Much Ado About Nothing is about an obsession with female sexuality and while it is hard to read a character such as Don John, we can assume that his purpose in the play is a mockery of the male role. In this case, Don John is driven to hatred by a jealously of his brothers’ successes and a bitterness towards Claudio’s happiness with his soon-to-be wife Hero. Don John’s motives remain mysterious and unknown much like his presence in the play. At the end of the play, Don John’s villainous actions are recognized, and he runs away. Ultimately, the success of a plot relying on spectatorship is not reliant on how a villain portrays a situation or how a victim responds, but on how the ones being watched act.
Rumors can break and humiliate people’s lives. A good example of this would be when Don John was passing rumors to corrupt Claudio’s and Hero’s relationship. Don John brings out that Hero is disloyal to Don Pedro and Claudio so they would be tricked by a false statement and insult Hero in many...
They add conflicts, uniqueness, and interest. Each character brings a unique trait to the table and adds diversity to the story. Some have the power to engage our emotions; others obtain the power to influence other character. In “Poor Fish”, the dishwasher is a round, dynamic character that identifies with the readers and experiences an internal change; while Ida is a flat, static character who does not change but influences the perspective of the dishwasher. No matter what type of character, major or minor, each affects the story in their own particular
At the very beginning of the play (Act 1 Scene1) it is clear that the
Meanwhile Don John, Don Pedro's bastard brother, hides his hateful nature, waiting for the right moment to cause problems for his brother and Claudio, who he thinks has taken his place in his brother's affections. He hopes Claudio's desire to wed Hero will give him an occasion to cause some mischief.
In Conclusion, the set of characters Don Pedro and Don John display totally opposite personalities. Don Pedro is always on the side of his friends which makes it sometimes harder for him to see the truth behind situations and easier for him to be deceived, while his brother Don John is his evil opposite that has a selfish nature of wanting to ruin the happiness others instead of helping find it. These points represent that the Don’s really have truly different characteristics that make thsi perfect character foil towards the play, “Much Ado About
In the play, Othello, written by William Shakespeare Iago is one of the most unique and interesting characters. Not only is Iago a main character, but he is also one of the most controversial, causing more drama and quarrels than any other character in the play. Shakespeare does a good job with the character of Iago by creating an atmosphere where Iago can keep the reader's attention on each and every individual scene throughout the entire play, as one tries to figure out Iago's true intentions. When reading the play it is easy for an individual to view Iago as an evil person who gets pleasure from malicious acts he inflicts upon others around him.
One that is clearly seen not far into the play is how easily crowds are influenced by whoever speaks at that present moment. There are several instances of this happening. At Caesar’s funeral, Brutus speaks logically and stoically as to their reasons for killing Caesar and that he had loved his leader but loved Rome more. When he came to the end of the speech the crowd was ready to make him the new Caesar. This all changed after Antony made full use of his time to speak and the fickleness of the crowd is revealed. Transformed into a mutinous mob, the crowd went on a rampage. In this is seen how easily people are swayed and the danger of a democracy where the people rule in the place of law. In addition to this insight, the play also points out how those who can manipulate emotions and passions of the people are much more apt and able to gain power. We can see the confirmation of this accurate idea in many political leaders, including Adolf Hitler. After studying for years how to effect the masses emotionally even with his body language, he quickly rose to a powerful position in the German
The development of the characters has a large impact on the story line as a whole. It affects their decisions and personalities. With the unique situation for the characters, it has deeply shown the affects of the psychological issues have on them such as their inability to act affectionate, their confinement and wilful ignorance.
Furthermore, in Much Ado About Nothing, Don John is a exponentially formidable which can be justified by the way he acts around other characters. Other characters
one analyzes the characters from the standpoint of the way in which the violent nature of the two
Claudio is recognized for the battles he has fought under a vital acquaintance Don Pedro, who is a powerful nobleman. Claudio obtains the two conditions of achieving honor. He has fought in a battle and he has a powerful nobleman as an acquaintance. Being an honorable man, it will be difficult to shame him in any way. Nevertheless, when Don John tells a lie that Hero is disloyal he quickly assumes the worst. Claudio is advised to protect his honor, "Wonder not till further: go but with me to-night, you shall see her chamber-window entered, even the night before her wedding-day: if you love her then, to-morrow wed her; but it would better fit your honour to change your mind" (III.ii). If Claudio marries a woman that is disloyal before her wedding day, that would bring shame to him and his family. The nobility he had attained would then be destroyed if people would discover that he had married a woman who was not pure. Daalder claims that for these actions Claudio is in fact immature and when the events in the play test him out, he fails to prove the characterization of being immature inaccurate (2). Claudio finds him self to be an honorable man, but then is so quick to believe rumors, proving he is essentially the opposite of being
of this play. He tells the story. He gives us hints into what is going
...r so he killed him and then took his throne and wife. Lastly, Oberon from A Midsummer Night’s Dream causes a variety of chaos over a small child that his wife refuses to hand over. All of these villains have at least one thing in common; they were all making everyone else suffer for their own gain.
..., a comparison of the characters, situations of the characters, and a major theme are made to show that desires can direct them to a helpful or a harmful situation.
To conclude, I feel that fate played a large part in the play due to