Betrayal is a theme introduced at the very beginning of this play. How does this constant stream of betrayal affect the outcome of the plot and which characters are mostly affected by it?
Amongst all the themes present in the tragicomedy ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, betrayal was the most rampant. Betrayal entered the peaceful city of Messina, upon the arrival of Don Pedro (the Prince of Arragon) and his comrades, including: Don John his brother, Claudio his best friend, Benedick his faithful companion and many more.
Don John was portrayed as the bastard brother of Don Pedro. Because of this his heart was filled with bitterness and hatred towards his brother. His passionate hatred and ambition to ruin his brother’s life, resulted in betrayal and this not only ruined his brother’s life but also affected the people most important to him.
It all began when Don John’s companion Borachio overheard the conversation between Don Pedro and Claudio. In this conversation, Claudio was explaining to Don Pedro of how he loved Hero (Leonato’s daughter) and how he wished to marry her. The only problem was that he was afraid and could not muster the courage to woo Hero for himself. Don Pedro, being the genuine gentleman that he is, offered to woo Hero for Claudio at the mask ball that was to occurred later that same night. Upon hearing this, Borachio’s ears filled with excitement, for he had something to report to Don John but he misunderstood and thought that it was Don Pedro who wanted Hero and thus reported the wrong message.
Don John’s heart grew colder towards his brother when he heard of this and so devised a plan to cause destruction. After careful consideration and determination, his plan was to get Borachio to have sexual intercourse with Margret (one of Hero’s waiting women) at the window of Hero’s bedroom chamber and while this was happening, get Claudio and Don Pedro to witness it.
The night of the mask ball arrived and after Don Pedro had successfully wooed Hero for Claudio, Don John put his devious plan into play and was successful at it because as Claudio and Don Pedro witnessed what they thought to be Hero having sex with Borachio, their hearts turned bitter towards her and Claudio planned to shame her at her wedding but he kept this between himself and Don Pedro.
So said so done. When asked if Claudio would take Hero to be his wife he said no and refuse to consider her hand in marriage. He started talking about what he thought she did and tarnished her image to some extent that the whole town and even her father were disgusted with her.
Margaret also betrayed Hero because she knew that she was the one who had sexual intercourse in Hero’s bedroom chamber and instead of standing up for Hero at the wedding or tell the truth she let Hero take all the blame for her wrong doings. All was reveal in the end eventually.
Another act of betrayal can also be seen between Don John and Borachio. There is this old saying ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’ but this didn’t apply to Don John and Borachio. It so happened that Borachio revealed the plan when he was drunk and was arrested for what he had done. But where was Don John then? By this time Don John had already fled the city of Messina leaving Borachio behind to take the fall for his foolish acts.
Additionally, betrayal didn’t only surrounded Don John. Betrayal could also be seen between Hero and company as well as Claudio and company in their acts of getting Benedick and Beatrice to love one another. Benedick and Beatrice were seen as two human being who disgusted each other. It was said that they had a ‘merry war’ between them. In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ Hero and the others devised a plan in getting Beatrice and Benedict to fall in love. They went about this by lying about each others affection towards the other, speaking aloud with the intentions of Beatrice and Benedick to overhear the conversation. Although this was seen as devious, it was indeed a success.
In closing, betrayal was a major theme in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. It’s constant presence brought drama as well as tragedy to the play. In the beginning, the sole idea was to destroy one life, the life Don Pedro but in the end other characters such as Borachio, Claudio, Hero, Benedick and Beatrice also suffered the backlash of this betrayal.
