Much Ado About Nothing Act 1 Character Foil

In every book ever made there are always at least two characters that are the opposites of each other, these opposites create what is called a character foil. In William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, there is an abouis character foil: Friar Francis and Dogberry. Once the reader has read the play they can understand that the main problem is that Don John wants to sabotage the marriage of Count Claudio and Hero. After Dogberry tries- and fails with his limited understanding of words- to tell Leonato that Don John, Borachio, and Conrad are trying to sabotage his Daughter’s wedding; it was up to the Friar to come up with a plan to help redeem Hero’s reputation. Luckily the Friar’s plan worked and everyone has an happily ever after. Friar

Francis and Dogberry are the perfect character foil because they help the plot develop in so many ways, for example Dogberry Keeps everyone in suspense because he can never get his point across (even if it’s important), and the Friar becomes a hero by creating a brilliant plan that saves the day; most importantly these two characters carry a great deal of symbolism.
    In most cartoons and stories there is a character that is considered witless and one that is viewed as highly intelligent, even though Dogberry is very soft-headed, he assists in the development of the play by being the comic relief and by keeping the reader in suspense. On page 63 Dogberry is trying tell Leonato that he has apprehended two suspicious persons, but because of his poor understanding of words he states, “One word, sir. Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons, and we would have them this morning examined before your worship.” As the reader is reading this they begin to gain suspense because they know what Dogberry is trying to say but the other characters do not, this is also a form of dramatic irony. The “Pinky” side of this foil has been covered, now for “the Brain.”
    Unlike “the Brain,” the Friar is not looking to take over the world.

He is trying to help others improve their relationships and to share his wisdom. According to pages 71-72, the Friar is trying to devise a plan to save Hero’s marriage, but by using his wisdom and intellect he was able to speculate that there was a misunderstanding between the princes. He muttered to the others, “There is some strange misprision in the princes…. Pause awhile, and let my counsel sway you in the case. Your daughter here the princes left for dead. Let her awhile be secretly kept in, and publish it that she is dead indeed. Maintain a mourning ostentation, and on your family’s old monument hand mournful epitaphs, and do all rites that appertain unto a burial.” As the reader can tell from the quote, Friar Francis is a man full of logic and a passion to support others when they  are in need. He wants to put Hero’s marriage back on schedule and give the princes the push they need to understand that what they did was wrong. Plays and books often have a hidden meaning, let’s find the meaning of this

one.
    As we pick apart the symbolism of this play we can find a hidden meaning, that Mr.

Shakespeare believes that the law enforcement is very weak and that the church holds the wisdom and intelligence. As stated earlier, on page 63 Dogberry confirmed that they had “...indeed comprehended two auspicious persons.” His lack of understanding the meaning of words makes him and his “watch” look like fools. This signifies that Shakespeare is convinced that the law enforcement in England does a very poor job. As we also saw being stated earlier, on pages 71-72, that the Friar is a man of wisdom and that he only looks out for the well-being of others. With his knowledge on perception he realises that the princes are not acting like themselves that something seems ‘fishy’. He comes up with a genius plan, “Pause awhile, and let my counsel sway you in the case. Your daughter here the princes left for dead. Let her awhile be secretly kept in, and publish it that she is dead indeed. Maintain a mourning ostentation, and on your family’s old monument hand mournful epitaphs, and do all rites that appertain unto a burial.” From this plan we can tell that Shakespeare thinks highly of the church staff and believes that they are passionate in everything that they do. After all the information that we have discussed today, we can see that Shakespeare’s characters hold a double meaning- they reflect the way he saw England. His plays were a way that he could describe the political issues that were

going on in England without getting in trouble.
    Ultimately, after all of our findings, we can see that Friar Francis and Dogberry were the perfect character foil to develop the plot because they portrayed Shakespeare’s view on political issues, they rescued Hero’s wedding, and kept everyone on the edge of their seats. We have seen Dogberry be soft-headed, Friar Francis display his intelligence, and the explanation of symbolism. These characters help develop the plot because they create a new depth to the play, they give Shakespeare a way to express his view, and thoughts about his culture. Without Dogberry and Friar Francis we would have missed a key part of the culture during that time period.