Tag Archives: deceit

In reading the first three acts of Much Ado About Nothing, the audience is introduced to a whirlwind of lies and deceit created by many of the characters. Of course, some of these lies are brought about in good nature, such as the trickery devised by Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato to bring Benedick to love Beatrice. Also in good form are Hero’s attempts to make Beatrice love Benedick in return. However, the evil Don John and his servant Borachio have ruined Claudio’s perception of Hero by tricking him into believing she is a whore. In doing so, the audience learns many things about the characters. While Don John initially seemed to desire despair only for Don Pedro (out of jealousy as the “Bastard son”), we now learn that his true nature lies in a deeper, darker place. He is pleased by the unrest and trouble facing his comrades, and feeds on them. Perhaps the audience can conclude that Don John, due to his poor reputation as a bastard brother to Don Pedro and resulting lower social status, truly holds only evil in his heart. We can also conclude that the servants of Don John, namely Borachio, have learned this habit and are therefore willing to act out against the other characters to please their master.

Another conclusion we can draw from these first few scenes is the ease with which lies are bought in this play. As the men are disguised at the masquerade, trickery flies about the room. There, Beatrice reveals to Benedick her true feelings about him, unknowingly so (or perhaps she insults him knowingly, but with strong pretense…thoughts?). Also, Don John addresses the masked Claudio, as if he were in fact Benedick, to falsely inform him that Don Pedro plans to court Hero instead himself of winning him for Claudio. Thirdly, in Act 3 we see Borachio and Don John scheme against Claudio, and Borachio’s performance with Margaret leads Claudio to believe that his fiancee is engaging in premarital affairs with another man. Claudio is so quick to believe that Hero would do such a thing, which allows the audience to see how trusting he is of Don John, and that he is unable to see the evil nature of the man. It can also be said that Claudio does not know Hero well enough to marry, for even though marriage was more of a transaction of familial affairs than a matter of love, the two are young and possibly not ready for such a major endeavor.

We must begin questioning why these characters are so easily deceived, and how this will play out in the last acts of the play. From Hero’s strong sense of foreboding disaster, we can definitely expect some very interesting action in Acts 4 and 5.