Much ado and Carol Ann Duffy
hijdsfExplore the ways Shakespeare and Carol Ann Duffy present human weaknesses/ flaws in some of the characters they write about
In Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, Don John is a very important character. He is an illegitimate son, which automatically lowers him in the society of the Elizabethan age. He is isolated, ignored and rejected by everyone in his life, which is one of the reasons which seem to force him to behave as a villain. People expected this of him as they assumed that everyone born out of wedlock was probably an untrustworthy, malicious villain. Don John feels he must be a villain by acting in manipulative, sly and jealous ways, which portrays his lack of psychological development and lack of relationships with people. The relationship we mainly learn about in the play is between Don John and his brother, Don Pedro. Due to Don John being the illegitimate son it means he cannot inherit anything from his family nor have the same recognition as his brother, who is of legitimate birth. Even though Don Pedro doesn't outwardly treat Don John cruelly, Don John is very aware that he is seen as socially inferior to Don Pedro
He is a device used by Shakespeare to create tension and drama throughout the play. He is not the most complex villain among Shakespeare’s villainous characters, however he has a purpose. The thinness of his character teaches us about the knowledge people have of him in society: he is just seen as a ‘bastard’ and people don’t even want to be associated with him so don’t bother to learn anything about him. The fact that we don’t learn much about Don John also reminds us that the play isn’t meant to be a tragedy; it is supposed to teach us about the misunderstandings. It isn’t really supposed to analyse evil at all.
The question deals with Don John’s character of being weak and flawed. Flawed means having or characterized by a fundamental weakness of imperfection whereas weakness means a disadvantage or fault.
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In Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, Don John is a very important character. He is an illegitimate son, which automatically lowers him in the society of the Elizabethan age. He is isolated, ignored and rejected by everyone in his life, which is one of the reasons which seem to force him to behave as a villain. People expected this of him as they assumed that everyone born out of wedlock was probably an untrustworthy, malicious villain. Don John feels he must be a villain by acting in manipulative, sly and jealous ways, which portrays his lack of psychological development and lack of relationships with people. The relationship we mainly learn about in the play is between Don John and his brother, Don Pedro. Due to Don John being the illegitimate son it means he cannot inherit anything from his family nor have the same recognition as his brother, who is of legitimate birth. Even though Don Pedro doesn't outwardly treat Don John cruelly, Don John is very aware that he is seen as socially inferior to Don Pedro
He is a device used by Shakespeare to create tension and drama throughout the play. He is not the most complex villain among Shakespeare’s villainous characters, however he has a purpose. The thinness of his character teaches us about the knowledge people have of him in society: he is just seen as a ‘bastard’ and people don’t even want to be associated with him so don’t bother to learn anything about him. The fact that we don’t learn much about Don John also reminds us that the play isn’t meant to be a tragedy; it is supposed to teach us about the misunderstandings. It isn’t really supposed to analyse evil at all.
The question deals with Don John’s character of being weak and flawed. Flawed means having or characterized by a fundamental weakness of imperfection whereas weakness means a disadvantage or fault.
In