Deception In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

“The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy play written by William Shakespeare. Deception radiates throughout the play, driving the plot. Claudio is a young gullible count, who is infatuated with Hero. Hero is a sweet, young, & innocent lady pledged to marry him. Claudio only met Hero by the gracious hospitality offered by her father for Don Pedro & his men, including his conniving brother, Don John. He has a sour, evil attitude & only wants to see chaos and sadness reign supreme. To stomp on this happy occasion of marriage, Don John & his evil henchmen planned to accuse Hero of being an unfaithful woman. They lured Claudio to her bedroom window the night before their wedding day & showed him the awful ‘reality.’ Hero’s handmaiden was in her room with one of Don John’s men, displaying the false accusation of the blameless girl. Everyone believes Claudio had visual evidence that Hero was supposedly acting unjustly, but some will argue that Claudio should not believe the charge, on the other hand other people will argue he …show more content…
Don John has a bad history. It looms over him like a personal rain cloud. He never enjoys seeing other people rejoicing & gets drunk people’s misery. The idea of Hero being unfaithful is outrageous, & pretty sketchy coming from Don John. This alone should raise a red flag in Claudio’s mind. Even though Claudio saw ‘evidence’ for this statement, logical assessment of Don John & his behavior will alert Claudio to be weary of believing this indictment. Besides Don John’s evil reputation, the claim of a disloyal damsel is preposterous. The plan reeks of fraud & deceit. Since Don John lives off of desolation, each notion suggested by him or his posse needs to be examined thoroughly even if it appears