Essay On Don Jon In Much Ado About Nothing

The Dimwit vs the Deceiver Vile villain, scheming scoundrel, and royal rapscallion are terms that all apply to Don Jon. After suffering defeat at the hands of his brother, the kindly Don Pedro, and his brother’s top soldier, Claudio, Jon seeks revenge on the two. Craftily spinning scandalous tales, Don Jon initially succeeds in sabotaging Claudio’s wedding to Hero and in defacing the innocent maiden’s reputation. However, his villainous plot is thwarted by the timely arrival of Dogberry, the clueless constable. Despite his seeming stupidity, Dogberry rises to become the hero of Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing. Throughout the entire play, Shakespeare explores themes of deception both for good and evil. Yet Dogberry shines

Unfortunately, Don Jon appears never to have heard of the concept as nearly every word from his mouth is a lie. Unless speaking to his faithful coconspirator Borachio, Don Jon rarely speaks an honest word to a fellow character in the play. When he initially talks to Claudio during a masquerade dance, in which Don Pedro had promised to woo Hero on behalf of Claudio, he lies. Sadly, it seems, Don Pedro has brutally betrayed Claudio by wooing Hero for himself. Of course, this report is later proved false by Don Pedro himself. Still, Jon continues his lies by describing to Claudio the infidelity of Hero. Then, he shows Claudio what he claims to be Hero with another man, the night before the wedding! However, this is merely Borachio and Hero’s handmaiden flirting in Hero’s bedroom. Antithetically, Dogberry never breathes a dishonest syllable. Even reminding everyone constantly of how Borachio insulted him to his face. Instructing the watch on how to perform their duties, revealing Jon’s evil designs to Leonato, throughout everything he does, Dogberry is entirely, unflinchingly honest. Most likely, Dogberry does not even possess the knowledge of how to lie. Inevitably, honesty proves the best course of action with Dogberry winding up a hero and Don Jon fleeing the city only to be captured later

Don Jon is present during most of the event of the play up until the wedding scene, after which he flees the town. On the other hand, Dogberry is gifted with very little time in the spotlight before his heroic reveal of the true villain behind Hero’s scandal. This comes at the very end of the play, with Dogberry appearing in a measly two scenes beforehand. Nevertheless, his miniscule number of scenes still prove vital to the salvation of Hero’s reputation and her and Claudio’s union. Meanwhile, Don Jon is around all too long, jeopardizing the entire ceremony before his