Don John's "sadness is without limit," and also without reason. He never gives a reason for his disposition besides being confined within his social position and a displeasure for common civility with others. There is a selfishness within him that he will never attempt to hide from others: "I must be sad / when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests; eat when I have / stomach, and wait for no man's leisure." Though this exudes arrogance, Don John's words mark a truthfulness in him that reminded me of the character Alceste in Moliere's The Misanthrope if anyone has ever read that before. That character similarly does not appreciate false faces and common manners, and will not hesitate to tell a character exactly what he is thinking. However, both characters take the virtue of honesty to an extreme and twist it into an ugly merit.
When Borachio announces the jointing of Claudio and Hero, Don John shed light on what his role in the plot of the play will be. He is looking for just the occasion to cause a vengeful disruption when he asks if it "will serve for any model to build mischief on?" This mischief is what fuels Don John's pleasure and lifts his earlier mentioned "sadness". When he learns who exactly is to be wed, it fills him with even more delight that the"proper squire" and the "very forward March chick," complimentary titles, are to be the subjects of his injustice. The more righteous the occasion is, the more Don John will revel in whatever his disruption comes to form.
The Bastard of Much Ado About Nothing is a proper outcast and villain to provide the conflict of the play. In a play of flattery (in Claudio and Hero) and hidden feelings (in Beatrice and Benedick), Don John is complacent with being the necessary "plain-dealing villain."
2 comments:
I agree with Brian, I thought Don John the Bastard was a great villain in Much Ado about nothing. Perhaps it was the likeness in him compared to Iago, two characters causing mischief with hidden or no motivation. Don John possessed this cowboy like quality, something that aided to his outlaw-esqu sense of chaos. As a reader that is something I just have a natural liking too. I also like Don John's dialogue, especially when he says "I must be sad/ when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests." Richard III was a powerful villain, certainly more effective in his tactics than Don John, but I think if I had to choose I would go with Don John, he reminds me of Josey Wales and who can turn down Clint Eastwood?
I think Don John, being a victim of the social proprieties, has good reason to be sad and out of measure. He is a bastard son who has been limited/outcast-unable to ever be a "proper squire" or have the same honor as the other men he is with. "It better fits my blood to be disdained by all"--fits his birth, over which he had no control. Social conventions nearly destroy Hero-and with quick judgment on the part of her father and the others (except, initially, Beatrice and the Friar). Don John is a rogue since birth and has no regard for the Honor & Delight of his fellows; Beatrice is herself rogueish in her repudiation of the proper role of the woman; Benedick, through possibly the only true love in the play, finds courage to challenge the system of honor for Beatrice's sake.
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