Essay On Don John In Much Ado

A dramatic comedy villain should resemble someone of a horrid disposition whose main goal in life is to ruin others. Horace Walpole once said ‘This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel’ . Don John as the most passive villain in Much Ado seems to settle directly upon this line. The man of few words emerges as the most disagreeable and wicked character in the play. Yet Shakespeare assigns Don John the redeeming quality of his honesty and ensures that he receives a lot of sympathy from the audience through Don John’s description of himself announcing his ultimate punishment by a hypocritical society which rejects him from the very moment of birth. This is due to Don John’s honest and emotional character personality which is rejected by the other characters immediately this is not the typical personality you would expect from a villain. And it results in his character being questioned as to whether he fulfils the role of a villain effectively.
Don John is led to believe that his ‘blood’ and his origins as a bastard forces him out of society and renders him ‘evil’. Feeling that in acting the part of a villain he fulfils a role delegated to him by his own blood. Shakespeare informs the audience early on of the significance of Don John being a bastard. The society of Messina shuns Don John not solely due to his illegitimacy but also owing to his silence ‘I am not of many words’. Most of the characters in the play prove outgoing, talkative and social while such chattiness leads to problems when other characters overhear secrets. Don John’s silence emerges as more disagreeable than willing to divulge secrets. Shakespeare does not reveal much about Don John’s character until the third scene when Conrad asks ‘...

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...ans to explore the results of what happens when people look but do not see. This context is reflected in the character of Don John as a victim of labelling and people seeing him but not understanding him. Ultimately this is what causes the audience to put people’s character into question. The play on word "nothing" in the play's title has always been the subject of speculation. No one knows if Shakespeare chose the word "nothing" with the intention of being ambiguous. This is what allows the audience to interpret the play differently and make assumptions with regard to the characters. This use of the play being ambiguous adds comic effect through how the audience, characters and Shakespeare make judgments and label individuals including Don John on other people’s opinions resulting in the person who is being immediately labelled act the way they are expected to act.