Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Shakespeare's use of dramatic devices
Shakespeare literary techniques
Characteristics of Elizabethan drama in Shakespeare's works
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“Inside each of us, there is the seed of evil…” (Eric Burdon). In Much Ado about Nothing, Don John is known as the bastard, which in Shakespeare time it would be considered evil. Don John has a brother named Don Pedro, but Don Pedro is respected, well-mannered, and wealthy. Don John also dislikes a man named Claudio because he took the position of Don Pedro’s right hand man. Don John takes revenge on Claudio and shows no mercy. Thus, Don John embraces a static/flat character by his personality, his speech, and his involvement in the story. Much Ado about Nothing don john displays a static character by his personality. In the beginning don john has plans to cause mischief. Don John says “I’m evil by nature” (1.2.85). This quote says it is in his personality his is evil by nature. Furthermore, Don John has a wicked sense of humor. When hero was accused Don John said, “Come, let us go. These things, come thus to light, Smother her spirits up” (4.1.1746). Don John wickedly tells hero this while knowing she was innocent in front of everyone. Thus, his personality never changes throughout the story displaying the characteristics of a static character. …show more content…
Don John receives information from Borachio that there is going to be a marriage. Don John says, “Will it serve for any model to build mischief on? What is he for a fool that betroths himself to unquietness?” (1.3.373). This quote shows how don john plans to ruin hero’s and Claudio’s relationship. Don john will find anything to cause mischief. Also, don john is faced with a conflict that is man vs man. This conflict leads to the plot of the story. Don John is jealous of other people social status. For example, once Don John finds out Claudio is getting married, he is more than welcome to ruin the relationship. Don John is angered that Claudio is Don Pedro’s right hand man instead of him. Don says, “Come, come, let us thither: this may prove food
William Shakespeare is known for his use of dramatic irony and complicated story lines. In Much Ado About Nothing, he also adds in the element of disguise to what the characters know, or what they think they know. There are multiple characters trying to ensnare others in different facades, whether it be for better or for worse. The deception and illusion in the play can either assist the characters or completely shatter the situation, but in both cases, Shakespeare advises us to infer about what we hear or see before we jump to conclusions.
This shows how he is a hippercrite against being a Puritan. Even though he is a religious man he still has the human character of having an evil side to himself.“But I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again.” John is talking to Abigail and how he is finished with seeing her and that he doesn’t want any part of her. John goes through from being amoral to immoral and then to moral, then back to amoral at the end. “It’s winter in here yet.” Elizabeth and John were talking about how he was working all day seeding even though he was at Salem to see what the fuss was all about. Here he shows his character toward Elizabeth by lying to her and she can’t trust him.
Evidence to support this reason says, “How you know he loves her? I heard him swear his affection. . . But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio. ‘Tis certain so; the prince woos for himself. . . trust no agent; for beauty is a witch. . . Farewell, therefore, Hero” (Shakespeare pg. 23). This quote shows how Claudio was easily convinced to believe that Don Pedro loves Hero for himself, even though there wasn’t anything to prove of this, and how he doesn’t even try to ask Don Pedro if this is true or not. Another piece of evidence says, “If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her tomorrow, in the congregation where I should wed, there will I shame her” (Shakespeare pg. 50). This quote shows how again, Claudio was easily convinced by Don John that he will not wed Hero if he sees her being disloyal towards him. This quote also shows how he’s easily convinced to do something due to someone telling him to do so. To sum this all up, Claudio’s manipulation is his second most major tragic
The adult John comes to civilized society as an experiment by Marx and Mond to see how a "savage" would adapt to civilization. Frankly, he does not adapt very well. He is appalled by the lifestyle and ideas of civilized people, and gets himself into a lot of trouble by denouncing civilization. He loves Lenina very much, but gets very upset at her when she wants to have sex with him. He physically attacks her, and from that point on does not want to have anything to do with her. When his mother dies, he interferes with the "death conditioning" of children by being sad. Finally, his frustrations with the civilized world become too much for him and he decides to take action. He tries to be a sort of a Messiah to a group of Deltas, trying to free them from the effect of soma. He tells them only the truth, but it is not the truth that the Deltas have been conditioned to believe, so to them it is a violent lie and they begin to cause a riot. When the riot is subdued, John is apprehended and taken to have a talk with Mustapha Mond.
William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a play involving by deception, disloyalty, trickery, eavesdropping, and hearsay. The play contains numerous examples of schemes that are used to manipulate the thoughts of other characters; it is the major theme that resonates throughout the play. Ironically, it is one of these themes that bring serenity to the chaos that encompasses most of the play.
In the play ‘Much ado about nothing’, Don John is a puppet whose strings are pulled by various characters and the society in which he lives. Although he does monkey businesses like every character in the play, he is the one who gets harshly judged and punished for it. His villainy is not an innate trait but rather, he chooses it to distinguish him from others.
He began to boast and embellish the story of what actually happened in that moment. He became seemingly selfish, and self absorbed doing only what would advance him in the society. After the small infraction of lying about this event, he brought John and his mother from their home, only to use them for personal gain and blackmail. These moments reveal that he is not so much about defining himself as an individual but more about conforming. That he did, becoming calculating and cold for self-gain.
Firstly, the characters in both plays share many characteristics. There are people in power, the poor, the evil and the fools. Messina’s police force in Much Ado About Nothing is made up of unpaid citizens, with Dogberry and Verges as the officers. They are very foolish and it seems that they were written into the play just to be foolish and make the audience laugh. This is similar to Feste’s, the allowed fool, role in Twelfth Night. However, Feste also sings songs to the family and had thrown an unappreciated party. Sir Andrew Aguecheek can also be quite the fool, for instance he uses the word ‘methinks’ in line 82 of Act 1, Scene 3; "Methinks sometimes I have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has."
The two villains in Much Ado About Nothing and Othello share much in common, despite their numerous differences. It is evident that Shakespeare framed the second piece of literature to be similar to the first. Although shorter, the plot of “Othello” is definitely more complex. The villains play a major part in the novels, and are very much alike in their line of thinking.
Don John plays an essential role for nearly all of the trickery and deception in this play. He acts like a catalyst and an instigator for trouble, whose sole aim is to marmalize the love and happiness between Claudio and Hero. Shakespeare uses foreshadowing of Don John’s villainy to display the trickery and deception: ’It better fits my blood to be distained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any, in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchized with a clog: therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite, if I had my liberty, I would do my liking.
However, I feel that Keanu Reeves is not suitable to play the part of Don John. In another version of Much Ado About Nothing, the actor cast as Don John was much older and less handsome, which made him appear more of a villain and I feel, for this reason, he succeeded in playing the role of Don John. I think that Keanu Reeves is inappropriate to play this role because the audience does not immediately recognise him as a villain. Keanu Reeves normally plays the part of the hero; the person that does the good deeds; the one who attracts the women, which provides him with a false image at the beginning of the play. It's imp... ...
To start things off by focusing on John, his character had completely dominated over his wife by putting her in a more inferior position. The narrator thinks, "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that" (Gilman 544). John treats his wife's problems as a laughing matter because he doesn't take her beliefs seriously and as it is implied, a woman's problem isn't seen as something of high importance since laughter is an expected response. This is justified even more when the narrator would tell him about the wallpaper, "He laughs at me so about this wallpaper!...He said that after the wallpaper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead...and so on"(546). As a man, he would see his wife's dilemma with the wallpaper as childish despite her sensitive mental state, it didn't seem like a high priority to him so he casually disregards his wife's demands. The idea of the narrator being deemed as a child and immature is much visible when John calls her a, "...little girl"(550). Ultimately John's ignorance is what leads to his loss of control along with the narrator's freedom. T...
“And when I lived, I was your other wife, And when you loved, you were my other husband(Shakespeare 60).” In the beginning of the play it was overwhelming, steeped in love at first sight between Hero and Claudio, until Don John’s evil-manner took a role in ruining the love between them. And because of this a conflict developed between them, but was resolved when their vigorous love for one another overcame the conflict. In Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Hero serves as the foil character of Claudio because of Hero’s dignified, well-mannered, eminent reputation is illuminated through Claudio’s insecure, accusing, and doubtful weakness; thereby, interminably influencing the conflict in the plot.
“Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit (Matthew 7:17).” If you are truly a Christian, than you would bears good characteristic. Don John is a bastard in his family, so William Shakespeare give him a greedy characteristic. Don John’s greed makes him do many disgusting things, and he almost kill Hero, the wife of Claudio, using his words. Readers could not find any Christian attitude on Don John. Don John in Much Ado About Nothing did not exhibit Christian attitudes because of his revenge, his dishonesty characteristic, and he is a gossip monger.
...ssion and intrusiveness. John’s lack of having an open mind to his wife’s thoughts and opinions and his constant childish like treatment of his wife somehow emphasizes this point, although, this may not have been his intention. The narrator felt strongly that her thoughts and feelings were being disregarded and ignored as stated by the narrator “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 115), and she shows her despise of her husband giving extra care to what he considers more important cases over his wife’s case with a sarcastic notion “I am glad my case is not serious!” (Gilman 115). It is very doubtful that John is the villain of the story, his good intentions towards doing everything practical and possible to help his wife gain her strength and wellbeing is clear throughout the story.