Misunderstandings In 'Much Ado About Nothing'

Misunderstandings generate conflict and drive stories forward. William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a play filled to the brim with misunderstandings and comedic situations. The constable of Messina, Dogberry, contributes to many such comedic situations with his twisted speech and juxtaposing sobriety. In this essay, Dogberry’s reality, character, and wrongly-used phrases are to be compared to actual reality.
In his very first scene, Act 3 Scene 3, Dogberry is telling the guards how to do their job, but all wrong. At one point, the watchmen ask if they are able to sleep so as not to make noise. Dogberry then says, “Sleeping on the watch shouldn’t be a problem; just make sure that your weapons don’t get stolen.” This is a mistake

on Dogberry’s part, because in reality, a watch’s entire job is to stay awake and watch. In Dogberry’s drunken state, he isn’t able to realize that. The guards are also told to disregard other important aspects of their jobs, such as catching criminals and keeping the peace. This provides insight to just how delusioned Dogberry’s “reality” is, if he is to tell the watch to “do what they wish as long as it is quiet”. Dogberry is also frequent of malapropisms, or the “mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one”. For example, in this scene, Dogberry says, “You are thought here to be the most senseless and fit man for the constable of the watch.” Instead of using the word ‘sensible’ like he should, Dogberry instead says ‘senseless’. Shakespeare perhaps uses this word to show the type of person hired for this job. This is especially exemplified in that the watchmen didn’t protest to Dogberry’s irrational orders, instead agreeing to his every word without a second thought. While it is unclear whether Dogberry knows he made this mistake, it is clear that nobody else notices, especially not the watchmen he just insulted. This is a key aspect of how Dogberry is disconnected from the true reality of his life. When Dogberry exits, he tells the three watchmen to “be vigitant”, using yet another malapropism by replacing ‘vigilant’ with ‘vigitant’.
In the second scene in which Dogberry is presented, Act 4 Scene 2, he is supposed to be interrogating criminals Borachio and Conrade.

Instead, Dogberry ends up believing what others say to him, including when Borachio and Conrade both say, “Marry, sir, we say we are none.” However, when a watchman says, “Marry, that he [Borachio] had received a thousand ducats of Don John for accusing the Lady Hero wrongfully,” thus accusing him to be a criminal, Dogberry also agrees. This is an example of what little thought Dogberry gives when he’s doing his job, and how his appearance of a knowledgeable and powerful constable is just an (unintentional on his part) act to cover up the reality of his irrational thought process. Though Dogberry does take his job very seriously, he just is not very good about picking his words, or his course of action. Per usual, Dogberry uses several malapropisms throughout the scene, such as when he condemns Borachio and Conrade to “everlasting redemption”. Here, assumedly, Dogberry means to use the word ‘damnation’. (Verges also uses this malapropism in Act 3, Scene 3). Most of Dogberry’s malapropisms are intended to portray his sheer inability to speak without them. However, when Dogberry says, “No, thou villain, thou art full of piety, as shall be proved upon thee by good witness”, he replaces ‘impiety’ with ‘piety’. Impiety and piety are polar opposites, and they reference how one is devout in terms of religion. This could, perhaps, serve as a reference to Borachio and Conrade doing as Don John wishes, and not out of their own desire to sin. Their ‘piety’ might be a reference to that they are devout to God, even after what they have done. After all, as said earlier, Borachio and Conrade said they “hope they serve God”. Dogberry exits the scene with a speech about how even though he falls under many societal labels, he tries his

best.
In Dogberry’s final scene, Act 5 Scene 1, he gives Don Pedro a very disordered explanation of the crimes that Borachio and Conrade commit. Dogberry uses phrases such as, “thirdly”, “secondarily”, and “sixth and lastly” out of order while he explains. What’s more, he says this in a serious tone, as if these words are used coherently. Later in the scene, Dogberry makes a mess of explaining the conversation that the watchmen overheard between Borachio and Conrade. While Dogberry’s poor explanations are mostly used as a comedic device, they also provide more instances where Dogberry is acting in a serious manner, but his words actually do not make much sense. As aforementioned, this is an example of his appearance versus his reality. Dogberry manages to sprinkle several malapropisms into this scene of very few lines. For example, Dogberry says, “I should let you know that this plaintiff here, the criminal, did in fact call me an ass.” Where Dogberry says, ‘plaintiff’, he likely means ‘defendant’. A ‘plaintiff’ is someone who presents a case in a court against someone, while a defendant is the person who is being accused, which, in this case, would be Borachio and Conrade. Dogberry exits the scene on a high note and says that “if a merry meeting may be wished, God prohibit it!”
In conclusion, Dogberry takes his job very seriously, despite that, in reality, he doesn’t do it very well, since he says things wrong and doesn’t think clearly. On first read of Dogberry’s lines, they may sound comprehensive, and many wouldn’t give it a second thought. However, ’tis the nature of Dogberry’s character. Throughout the scenes in which he is present, Dogberry truly uses malapropisms to an extreme, and he exemplifies the appearance versus reality theme.