Deception and Tragedy in Much

¶ … Deception and Tragedy

In Much Ado about Nothing, Don Pedro undoubtedly played a key role in the deception practiced throughout this play. He personally planned out and implemented a trick designed to fool Benedick and Beatrice into admitting their affections for each other. It was evident very early on that Benedick and Beatrice genuinely hatred each other, largely because all they ever did was insult one another. Beatrice and Benedick continually insulted each other.

However, Benedick became so upset about one of those insults that it actually provided a hint that maybe he really liked her after all. Beatrice apparently had similar feelings because at the masquerade ball party, she pretends not to realize that Benedick was hiding his identity from her behind a mask. Despite seeing right through this deception, she pretends that she does not realize she is talking to Benedick while discussing her feelings about him.

Don Pedro must have known all along that intense dislike of this sort often means that the people involved may actually be hiding more positive feelings for one another. Despite the fact that both Benedick and Beatrice claimed they would never marry as long as they lived, Don Pedro decided to trick them into admitting their true feelings, falling in love, and marrying (with the help of Hero, Ursula, Claudio, and Leonato).

Hero, Ursula, Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro all had conversations with one another about the situation, but Beatrice and Benedick both heard what was being said because they were hiding and listening in to these conversations. Much of the conversations implied that Beatrice and Benedick both longed to tell each other the truth about their affection for each other but never did because they lacked the courage to do so. Apparently, hearing those impressions of others about their feelings helped both of them realize that they never really hated each other after all. Ultimately, their marriage was directly attributable to the deception devised by Don Pedro.

Don John was the mastermind behind the deception: at the masquerade party, he told Claudio that Don Pedro had been wooing Hero for himself and planned to marry her. Later on, we find out this was not true at all and that Don Pedro was actually trying to help Claudio. With the help of Borachio, Don John deceived both Claudio and Don Pedro by calling Hero an "unfaithful whore." When they refused to believe it, he brought them to eavesdrop at Hero's door. Don John told them that Hero was being unfaithful, but it was Borachio and Margaret (not Hero) fooling around in the room. Because of Don John's deception, a wedding was almost ruined and a girl was vilified. Note: if she was vilified, leave in "was"; if she was almost vilified, delete "was."

At the masquerade party, the women all wore little masks; the men wore larger masks. Therefore, while Benedick's mask completely concealed his face, he was able to recognize Beatrice; (it is not clear whether or not Beatrice recognized Benedick, but we assume she did because of her insults). Benedick pretended not to know who Benedick was but he was apparently unsuccessful since Beatrice insulted him by calling him 'the prince's jester' among many other insults. Benedick's conversations with Claudio and Don Pedro indicated that he had been very hurt by Beatrice's comments. This provided another clue to his real feelings for Beatrice and his reasons for trying to hide his true from her identity behind the mask. Meanwhile, Antonio is paired up with Ursula at the same party. She recognized him immediately but Antonio insisted that he was only pretending to be Antonio, suggesting that he may have had feelings for her just as Benedick had for Beatrice (or at least a curiosity to know more about her).

In Othello, deception also led to tragic downfall of the leading female character, Desdemona, as well as of the leading male character, Othello. Iago had slandered Desdemona and had shown supposed proof of Desdemona's alleged unfaithfulness to Othello. Upon hearing this, Othello became so enraged that he planned various ways of killing her and Cassio. He never even gave her a chance to explain or refute the accusation and instead jumped to conclusions and planned his revenge, killing her in her bed. Upon learning the truth, he killed himself.

In this classic tragedy, Othello's downfall was the fatal flaw of jealousy. At first, Othello an honorable person; by the end of the play, jealousy had transformed him into a monster. His jealous rage caused him to abuse his wife emotionally before finally murdering her. Other elements of tragedy included the deaths of good people (such as. Desdemona, Emilia, Brabantio, and even Othello), all of whom died as casualties of Iago's deception.