Examples Of Don John In Much Ado About Nothing Machiavellianism

The idea of Machiavellianism has been around since the 16th century and played a role in how people try to get what they want. Machiavellianism refers to a person who only has their best interests in mind and will do whatever is needed to get what they want. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing”, there are characters that display Machiavellian traits. Two of those characters are Don John and Borachio. Don John is more Machiavellian than Borachio because he pays others to help him come out on top and he fights people that have what he never had.

Don John pays others money so they will help him execute his self-serving plans. Don John’s plans usually focus on him coming out ahead while making other people look like fools. We read that Don John

paid Borachio to help him accuse Hero of cheating on Claudio in ACT 5 Scene 1. It states, “Yea, and paid me richly for the practice of it” (Shakespeare 89). This shows that Don John is Machiavellian because he was “paying to win”. It demonstrates that he only cares about what will make him look good to others. In this example, Don John showed that he didn’t care about people. He sees them as pieces of a chess game and he only cares for himself. Don John is also willing to do whatever it takes to take the throne from his brother. Don John has fought his brother, Don Pedro for a long time to take over the throne. The quarrel has gotten so bad it has broken out into an all out war. In ACT 1 Scene 3 Conrad tells Don John, “You have of late/ stood out against your brother,...”(Shakespeare 14). Don John probably paid his soldiers to help him fight in a war like that. It takes a lot to persuade people to fight for the side that will most likely lose. Don John must have bribed or given the soldiers a salary to give them a reason to help him fight. This is Don John being Machiavellian again because he is paying the soldiers to fight for a bad cause in return for money. Many people today are greedy for money and will do whatever it takes to get lots of it. Some people get it by working hard and earning it while others cheat their way to the top. This is one of the ways Don John uses others to come out ahead.

Another Machievallian trait Don John possesses is that he will seek out people that have something he never had.

He becomes jealous and he tries to take it away or make them feel inferior in some way. Seeing people that have something he didn’t, makes him feel like he is below them and he makes them an enemy. Don John shows this trait in ACT 2 Scene 2 when he says “ Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be/ mendicable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him,/ and whatsoever comes awart his affection ranges/ evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?”(Shakespeare 30). Since Claudio and Hero love each other and he has never experienced love he tries to ruin their wedding. He feels jealous and therefore thinks he has to intervene and that they should not love each other anymore either. This shows another Machiavellian trait of Don John as his selfishness and self-centeredness come through simply because they have what he wants and doesn't know how to get. Another thing that he wants is the throne. His brother Don Pedro is the current king. Don John goes to war with his brother Don Pedro over this. In ACT 1 Scene 1 Leonato asks the Messenger about the war, “How many gentlemen have you lost in this action?”(Shakespeare 1). Don John’s brother has the throne but he believes he is entitled to it. Don John is jealous of what his brother has and is willing to do anything he can to get it. This shows that he is Machiavellian because he tries force people to comply to his

rules and ways at all costs.

Don John is very Machiavellian. This causes problems in the plot because he wants to be on top and because he doesn’t want people to have what he never had. Machiavellianism is good if you use it for the right reasons but it should never be used to manipulate. Anything that is overused too much may cause problems in the long run, just like it did in “Much Ado About Nothing”. Learn from the mistakes of fictional characters so that you can avoid the same flaws in real life.