Shakespeare wrote 34 whole plays, plus 154 sonnets, and one of his most well known is a romance named “Much Ado About Nothing”. “Much Ado About Nothing” is about a town called Messina having the pleasure of the royal army coming by on their way back from war. As they are there, however, love blossoms between two couples, Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick. Meanwhile, mischievous plans are created by the illegitimate Don John, who is a foil to his brother, Don Pedro. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare, Don John and Don Pedro are foils of each other because of their opposing personalities, contrasting social status, and their rivaling actions.
One way Don John and Don Pedro are foils of each other is because of their opposing personalities. Don John’s personality is shown to be mischievous and rude. Shakespeare proves this through quotes such as, “If I can cross him any way, I will bless myself in every way” (15). This shows his mischievousness …show more content…
Don John’s actions normally involve hurting someone or creating social tenseness. This is best shown when Don John falsely accuses Hero of adultery in order to stop the marriage (Shakespeare 49). This shows his desire for creating mischief because he attempts to ruin a perfectly fine marriage just because he was bored and sad. Meanwhile, Don Pedro’s actions normally involve helping others or keeping/promoting justice. One example of this is when he makes Beatrice and Benedick fall in love (Shakespeare 29). This shows how much he likes to help others because he puts the time and effort into creating love between two who once opposed each other to the death. These pieces of evidence prove that Don John and Don Pedro are foils of each other because Don John always does bad things, while Don Pedro fix Don John’s actions, along with trying to help