Similarities Between Much Ado About Nothing And Othello

William Shakespeare was an English national poet, who till this day, is considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Shakespeare wrote plays that captured the complete range of human emotion and conflict. He is very well known for his comedic and tragic plays, both of which could be described as genres that are polar opposites. Although the play Much Ado About Nothing and Othello by William Shakespeare are different stories of different genres and about different classes of people entirely, many similarities can still be found between the two stories. Therefore, the elements of comedy and tragedy may provide distinctions between the plays, while parallel characters and parallel relationships from each story provides profound similarities …show more content…
There are many parallel characters and archetypes that are introduced in both of the stories. A particularly uncanny similarity between the two stories is the main villains: Iago and Don John. From Othello and Much Ado respectively, both characters aim to stir trouble in a seemingly happy situation. In both cases, there are two innocent individuals who love each other and the villain tries to manipulate the husband or soon to be husband and exploit their foolishness. In Othello, Iago manages to trick Othello in believing that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful and unloyal; Iago convinces Othello that she had an affair with his subordinate Cassio. In Much Ado, Don John tricks Claudio in believing that Hero is sinful and had an affair before the wedding, and he continues to devise a scheme making it seem like Hero is having an affair with Borachio. Both Iago and Don John are characters filled with hate and it is this emotion that drives their actions. Iago states, “One Michael Cassio, a Florentine / that never set a squadron in the field, /nor the division of a battle knows / more than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric, / wherein the toged consuls can propose / as masterly as he”(Othello I. i. 21-27). Iago is venting his anger regarding how the Moor, Othello, chose to select Cassio as his officer rather than himself. At the beginning of the play, …show more content…
Without a doubt, the two stories have their differences because of their varying genres. Othello is a tragedy, so the mood of the play is more serious, and the ending is far more tragic with the death of the main couple. Much Ado is a comedy, and therefore has many light-hearted moments ending with a happy celebration of the main couple’s successful marriage. However, the rest of the elements of the two plays have a lot in common. Some include similar character archetypes, like Iago and Don John, and parallel relationships and character dynamics, like Othello/Desdemona and Claudio/Hero. Samuel Johnson, English writer and critic from the 18th century, states, “Shakespeare has united the powers of exciting laughter and sorrow not only in one mind, but in one composition. Almost all his plays are divided between serious and ludicrous characters, and, in the successive evolutions of the design, sometimes produce seriousness and sorrow, and sometimes levity and laughter”(Johnson). Johnson is explaining a profound truth about Shakespeare’s works, that perhaps these connections between Othello and Much Ado are just a smaller part of a bigger picture. Perhaps in all of Shakespeare’s plays, he tries to incorporate some aspects of his comedies with his tragedies. Shakespeare is a writer who aims to connect all of his works in some way or another, whether through style