Don John is Not a Man of Many Words

Don John says he is not a man of many words. From Act 1 Scene 3 and

Act 2 Scene 2, How far to you agree with this claim?

The Shakespearean audience is provided with stout evidence in this

scene condemning that it would be wrong to agree with this claim. Don

John’s shows that he is of a melancholy disposition, this is implied

by the line, ‘There is no measure in the occasion…therefore sadness is

without limit’, this line means informs the audience that there is so

much happening under the surface of reality that there is no limit

that can’t understand him.

Don John soon proves himself to be rather an intellect as shown by his

use of manipulating language. This is reinforced by his use of

quadruple-parallelisms such as ‘eat when I have stomach, and wait for

no mans leisure’, this handling of constant contrast implies that he

is well educated and knows how to pretend with his words in order to

present a fake but very plausible front, just as in front of Leonato.

This is when the idea of appearance and reality enters the scene as

Don John says, ‘I cannot hide what I am.’ This suggests to the

audience that every time he puts on a front, it hurts him more inside

that he cannot be himself. The fact that Don John understands the idea

of appearance and reality indicates that he is more knowledgeable than

the others and is therefore able to manipulate the way people behave

and think as well as his own words.

Despite all of Don John’s intellect, he shows that he has not yet

developed the mental capability to conjure up a plot as Conrade shows

himself to be the deviser of any mischievous plans in the scene. Proof

of this is shown as he says ‘it is needful that you frame the season

for your own harvest’, this meaning that Don John is still allowed to

hate his brother, and with the aid of his wit, bring him down. Also,

Conrade’s concealed use of language suggests to the audience that Don

John’s powers of utilizing language have evolved with the normalcy of

being around his friends. However, even though Don John may not

possess all the brains of someone with cognitive powers, he still

thinks of himself to be ‘a plain dealing villain’. Shakespeare writes

this in order to emphasise his arrogance over his evil. The play-write

perhaps tries to make arrogance the emphasis as the play is a comedy

and making intense use of evil may make the plot too extreme, causing