Much Ado About Nothing Deception Essay

Deception is a common theme throughout literature. In William Shakespeare’s play,”Much Ado About Nothing,” deception is a common theme. Most of the characters lie throughout the play, but some of them can be justified or considered acceptable. According an excerpt of the article, “The US Political Campaign: Lies, Lies, Lies,” by Paul Gray, Michael Duffy, Priscilla Painton, and Elizabeth Rudolph, lies can be categorized into three types. Type one includes the lies used to protect someone else, the main type of deception used in “Much Ado About Nothing.” Type two lies consist of lies in the interest of the liar, or the lies used to protect the liar from certain consequences. Type three lies are mainly comprised of lies to harm others. The main villain in “Much Ado About Nothing” who uses type three lies throughout the play is Don John. Don John doesn’t care for the feelings of those close to him. In the end, Don John’s deception is the biggest act of the betrayal in the play.

Don John uses a type three lie when he lied to Claudio and said that Don Pedro was wooing for himself. He wanted to harm the relationship between Hero and Claudio. He thought that using a type three lie on Claudio would make him feel hurt and not want to marry Hero anymore. Don John isn’t the only one who used type three lies. Another good example

For example, Lance Armstrong was a famous bike racer who used Epo, an enhancing drug, to cheat in his bike races. He lied for his own interest and cheated for himself. He wasn’t protecting anyone, so the lie can be considered inacceptable. However, Don John used type three lies. Type three lies harm others, instead of protecting the liar. Don John used type three lies to harm his brother, Don Pedro, and his brother’s friends, Claudio and Hero. Since Don John lied to harm others, it can considered more severe than Lance Armstrong’s lie to protect