Don Pedro Foil Characters

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An old proverb once said, “Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet”(Vietnamese Proverb). However, in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Don John and Don Pedro, who are half brothers, abolish all concepts of siblings due to the fact that for all of Don Pedro’s loyal and righteous character traits, Don John contrasts him with wickedness and machiavellianism which creates a tremendous character foil and conflict.
To commence, Don Pedro is drastically distinct from Don John in terms of his loyalty and benevolent character throughout the entire play. For example, Don Pedro states,”Thou wilt be like a lover presently, and tire the hearer with a book of words. If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it, and thou shalt have her was’t not to this end …show more content…

Another trait Don Pedro exemplifies is loyalty which shows when Don Pedro and Claudio were deceived into thinking that Hero was unfaithful. This provoked Don Pedro to say, “And as I worked for thee to obtain her, I will join thee to disgrace her”(Shakespeare 50). Now, the entire plan was fabricated, but Don Pedro refused to investigate, instead he acted as a witness for Claudio out of loyalty. As seen, Don Pedro exemplifies benevolence by willing to help Claudio fulfill his wishes; he is also loyal due to the fact that he was willing to defend Claudio, despite errors and deceit playing into Claudio’s belief. On the contrary, Don John exemplifies machiavellianism and wickedness. This clearly shows when Don John states, “Come, come, let us thither. This may prove food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overthrow. If I can cross him anyway, I bless myself every way. You are both sure, and will assist me?” (Shakespeare 15) Depravity shines in this line because Don John hoped to besmirch Don Pedro's plan for Claudio and Hero in order to cause conflict. Furthermore, Don Jon also portrays machiavellianism as seen when he states,”Grow this to what adverse issue

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