Don Pedro And Don John Foil

A foil character is a character whose presence enhances the qualities of another character. A foil character isn’t that important but at the same time is very important because that character could be the cause of a dramatic ending. The play Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare, shows how misinformation led to a couple who were planning to get married ended up not going through with it. Don John and Don Pedro are two brothers but complete opposites of each other. Don John is a foil character to Don Pedro. Don John looked for any way to ruin Hero and Claudio’s wedding, while Don Pedro looked for any way to help Hero and Claudio get married. Don John hates Claudio so much he plans to ruin Hero and Claudio’s wedding
by false acquisition: Don John:“Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be med’cinable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?” (Act 2.2 pg 70). Don John pays Borachio a thousand gold coins to seduce Margret and to it seem as if Borachio seduced Hero to ruin the wedding. Don Pedro didn’t know about the plan and brought Claudio and Don John to meet Hero but were shocked to see Borachio “Hero” to make Claudio not want to marry Hero. The foils help the play as a whole because; if Don John didn’t succeed in ruining the wedding then Beatrice and Benedick wouldn’t have fallen in love with each other. If the foil characters didn’t play such a major role in this play then the play would still have conflict with Beatrice and Benedick because they wouldn’t fall in love with each other.