Don John And Don Pedro Comparison

Eric Hoffer once said “There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it.” In Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, the reader can identify obvious differences between the distant brothers- Don John and Don Pedro- William Shakespeare took a heroic figure’s noticeable traits and further defined and exaggerated them by adding Don John, a villainous figure, to the story. The relationship between these two characters illuminates the play because it displays Don Pedro’s deep desire to help others, emphasize how cruel Don John truly is, and exhibits how when someone feels envious, they can go through great measures to sabotage or destroy others. To begin with, Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, is constantly involved in matchmaking characters in the play. Don Pedro is …show more content…
Don John is known as cruel and diabolical where as Don Pedro is known as the voice of reason. Don John is arrogant and isn’t involved socially, and Don Pedro is altruistic to others and is socially and politically involved in the lives of other characters. Don John is jealous of Don Pedro’s social authority, which drives him to destroy the relationship of Hero and Claudio, which is the majority of the whole plot. Basically, the reason why Don John tried to destroy Hero and Claudio’s love was because of his driving envy of his brother, Don Pedro. In conclusion, the character foil of Don John and Don Pedro illuminates the story because it displays that when people are envious of others, they can go great lengths to destroy others. Without the character foil of Don Pedro and Don John, the plot of Much Ado About Nothing wouldn’t be fulfilled. The main conflict was Don John attempting to destroy Claudio and Hero’s relationship and the reason behind the conflict was Don John’s deep envy for Don