In this part, we discover that Don John is very independent.
‘ …I cannot hide what I am:
I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no mans
Jests, eat when I have stomach, and wait for no man’s
Leisure…’
He is saying if he wants to feel something he will feel it and show it, regardless of what anyone else might think.
Don John is very envious of his brother, Don Pedro.
‘ I had rather be a canker in a hedge, than a rose in his
grace…’
I think this is because Don John is Don Pedro’s bastard brother and Don Pedro has a higher social position than he does. Don John feels as though he is worthless compared to his brother.
There is a hidden cause behind Don John’s corrupt nature.
‘…I am
trusted with a muzzle and enfranchis’d with a clog,
therefore I have decreed, not to sing in my cage…’
Don John feels trapped, he is unable to speak as he wishes, show no opinion on a matter, he has very little freedom of movement, and he cannot be who he wants to be.
Don John does not like Claudio.
‘…that young start-up hath all the glory of
my overthrow…’
Don John doesn’t like Claudio because he feels his brother likes Claudio more than him. This shows Don John is also jealous of Claudio, as well as Don Pedro.
The scene Don John next appears in is Act II scene I. This part of the play is set at a masked party Leonato has organised to welcome his guests. This is the first scene we actually see Don John trying to create trouble. He does this by telling Claudio that Don Pedro fancies Hero and is trying to get her for himself.
‘Sure my brother is amorous on Hero, and hath
withdrawn her father to break with him about it…’
We know there is no truth in this and that Don Pedro is merely trying to win Hero for Claudio. Don John is trying to damage the relationship between Don Pedro and Claudio, and trying to ruin the relationship between Hero and Claudio. I think this is based on the jealousy we saw earlier in the play where Don John feels Claudio is more like Don Pedro’s brother than he is.
This whole part of the play shows Don John is very deceiving and manipulative.
Don John has a negative view of Hero, even though everyone else sees her as a lovely, pretty, innocent young women.
‘ A very forward march-chick…’
Don John thinks of Hero as a feisty young woman who flirts and puts herself about a bit.
‘ …contaminated stale, such a one as Hero.’
He also refers to her as a well-used prostitute. There is nothing to suggest why he thinks this about her.
Since Don John does not like Claudio or Hero, he devises a plan to ruin the wedding, with the help of Borachio.
Shakespeare makes interesting use of opposites.
‘What life is in that to be the death of this marriage…’
Borachio and Margaret make love on Hero’s balcony. Meanwhile Don John tells Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is making love to someone other than Claudio. Don John immediately offers them "proof": he tells them to come with him that night to watch outside Hero's window, where they will see her making love to somebody else. Claudio, already suspicious and paranoid, resolves that if what he sees tonight "proves" Hero's unfaithfulness, he will disgrace her publicly during the wedding ceremony the next day, and Don Pedro vows to assist him. Confused, suspicious, and full of dark thoughts, they leave with Don John.
‘I came hither to tell you, and circumstances short-
an’d (for she has been too long a talking of) the Lady is
disloyal.’
Don John’s shocking accusation against Hero suddenly changes the mood from one of merriment to one of foreboding. We also see Don Pedro and Claudio's disturbingly quick acceptance of Don John's word about Hero's unfaithfulness—Don John has promised to show them "proof," but it still seems strange that they should act too quickly to believe evil about Claudio's bride-to-be. Claudio previously revealed his suspicious nature to the audience, when he believed Don John's lie that Don Pedro had betrayed him at the masked party. Now his susceptibility to suspicion returns to haunt, this time with the support and encouragement of Don Pedro.
The play goes on to the climax, which is the scene of Hero and Claudio’s wedding. Claudio, as he swore he would, totally humiliated Hero after what he had saw from beneath her balcony. He told everyone she had been unfaithful to him.
Hero’s family decide to hide her away until the truth has come to light.
Soon after, Borachio was overheard bragging about the part he plays in the breakdown of the relationship. Finally, he is arrested, along with Don John. Everyone learns that Hero is innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.
In the end Claudio and Hero marry. This is the happy ending which makes this a romantic comedy and not a tragedy.
