Renaissance ADMWiggins 2 December 1993That Fatherly and Kindly Power:Mastery and Servitude in Much Ado About Nothing

We must follow the leaders.—Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing , II.1.149

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare discusses the issue of servitude and how

it influences civil, romantic, and familial matters. With motivations ranging from

venal to princely, nearly every character either serves or is served by at least one

other character. Loyalties shift with the scenes, brothers and lovers turn against

one another, and friendships degenerate with such rapidity and venom, one

wonders how Messina escapes a collapse into chaos. Messina’s strong-willed

governor, Leonato, emerges as the tie that holds both his state and his family

together, even while villainy and mischief swell around him. He is not able to do

this without a complex power structure beneath him, however — a makeshift

amalgam of princes, daughters, and civil servants that evolves to counteract the

malevolent force of Don John, bastard brother of the Prince of Aragon. Rather than

strengthen his family as Leonato has with his own, Don John concentrates his

considerable energy on alienating and damaging his brother, Don Pedro. The two

figures clash when Claudio falls between them, through his love of Hero and his

friendship with Don Pedro. Don John’s belief that harming Claudio will despair

Pedro leads him to the shameless effort to defame the governor’s daughter.

Although it is this act that involves the greatest number of master / servant

intrigues (one character commanding several in the escalating war over Hero’s

honor), the defamation would never be possible were it not for the conditions of

mastery and servitude that had already permeated Leonato’s friends and family.

Indeed, Don Pedro spends nearly all of his time insinuating himself into the

romantic affairs of his friends. In the process, he builds a number of alliances

surreptitiously aimed at gathering more power for himself. It is precisely because

of these peculiar relationships that Don John is able to exploit his brother through

Hero and Claudio. As the play progresses, Leonato increasingly comes to represent

harmony. He undergirds his involvements, favors, and partnerships with feelings of

love and allegiance, while Don John develops a criminal network of discord, in

which ducats and ill-will act as a temporary bond between him and assorted villains.

Meanwhile, the theme of subservience and dominance in romantic entanglements

becomes more pronounced with each battle between Don John and Leonato as

several characters renege or revise earlier promises. The many power plays help

define the roles of family, love, rank and class, and friendship in this plot of discord

and the struggle for harmony.

Interestingly, Leonato is the first character to mildly subjugate himself, and

he is first to use the tactic of polite verbal subservience to foretell or mask later

moves to dominate. For Leonato, at least, this method seems more ironic than

devious, especially as he approaches the dour Don John with warmth and

friendliness, welcoming him and notifying him immediately that he, Leonato, is

“reconciled to the Prince” and therefore “owes [Don John] all duty” (1.1.150-1).

Leonato’s token promise initially seems to embody the harmony with which the play

begins, but after this encounter the Governor and Don Juan have little direct

contact, and the statement comes to anticipate darkly the malevolence which later

infects them both.

As that relationship festers while Don John searches for ways to cross his

brother, a romantic involvement blossoms that indirectly will aid Don John’s

nefarious plans. This new involvement also hinges on mastery and servitude, but it

seems aimed toward a happier end. Upon hearing of Claudio’s sudden love,

Benedick, however, does not envision a happy end. Instead, he is concerned with

who would dominate the marriage, and who would be subservient. He warns not

just of the passive loss of a bachelor’s freedom, but of the possibility that Claudio

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will be virtually enslaved, as an ox. Benedick fears he will see his friend “thrust

[his] neck into/ a yoke, wear the print of it and sigh away Sundays” (1.1.193-4).

This attitude is indicative of Benedick’s approach to marriage through much of the

action, but he later reverses it, just as Leonato retracts his early offering of good

will to Don John. Don Pedro suggests to Benedick, in the latter’s own terms, “In

time the savage bull doth bear the yoke” (1.1.232).

Don Pedro, for his own part, seems unable to resist interpolating either his

philosophy or his actions into the love affairs of others. As soon as he comes across

Benedick and Claudio’s secret conversation, he wants to be involved and subtly

begins to construct an ostensibly harmless power play with the two friends. His

first victim is Benedick, but his real target is the lover Claudio. When Benedick

attempts to keep confidential his conversation with his friend, the Don Pedro

increases the authority of his request to know, as though it were a matter of royal

significance. He demands Benedick to reveal the truth “on his allegiance” (1.1.200)

to the Prince, forcing the Paduan to choose between friendship or royal obligation.

This is no small decision, and Don Pedro knows it. By obligating Benedick to choose

the prince over the lord and friend, Don Pedro reinforces the gravity of his stately

position and the consequent power he has over those in the hierarchical structure.

He makes it known to Benedick that his allegiance to his superiors is more

meaningful than the bonds of friendship with those of equal rank. When meeting

even slight resistance among friends, the Prince might say, it is better to be feared

than loved. Benedick forsakes his ability to “be secret as a dumb man,” as Don

Pedro traps Benedick into spilling, “He is in love...with Hero” (1.1.201-5). Don

Pedro thereby completes the first step in this shrewd, but benign, effort for control

of Claudio’s love life.

The second, and more consequential, step in this campaign twists Leonato’s

oblique gesture of docility. Where Leonato courteously welcomes his guests to his

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home and later can use his good nature to strengthen the resolve of his family and

associates against Don John’s malfeasance, Don Pedro disguises his attempt to

master Claudio’s relationship as a means of teaching him the ways of love. Either

way, Don Pedro assumes the dominant role, as either usurper or teacher, and

further accentuates his power. Offering Claudio “a hard lesson that may do [him]

good” (1.1.283), Don Pedro lets Claudio open his heart before stepping in, without

having been asked, and tells the young lord he, Pedro, “will break with [Hero] and

with her father, / And [Claudio] will have her” (1.1.299-300). In convincing Claudio

that this is a good idea — “the fairest grant” (1.1.307), even — the Prince fortifies

his dominant image and secures for himself yet another contest for ascendancy, i.e.

with Hero and Leonato.

That contest brings Don Pedro as much pleasure as the prior two, and he

takes it on with similar non-chalance, though with a more advanced grace, no doubt

generated to impress the lady with his smooth manner and impeccable style. His

pointed banter illustrates the pleasure Don Pedro finds in these mind games, and

suggests he plays every one to the limit. In less time than it takes Benedick to

explain his fear of being a cuckold, Don Pedro captures the hand, if not the heart, of

Hero, and moved on to the final stage of this power play, negotiation with Leonato.

The Prince’s pursuit of Hero is so convincing, it fools Claudio and Don John, both of

whom had been under the impression that Don Pedro was wooing her for Claudio’s

sake. Claudio is so worried that he has lost his woman to the Prince, he begins to

question the whole structure of mastery and servitude that pervades his echelon of

society. Eerily foreshadowing Benedick’s later challenge to a duel, Claudio worries

that “friendship is constant in all other things / Save in the office and affairs of love”

and resolves dejectedly, “Let every eye negotiate for itself / And trust no agent”

(2.1.173-177). After thus promising himself, Claudio neither accepts nor seeks the

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service of any other character, though he does throw himself to the mercy of

Leonato.

Rather than placate his urges to dominate everyone in the realm of love, Don

Pedro’s victories only incite him to more manipulation. Emerging victorious from

his discussion with Leonato (“I have wooed in thy name,/ and fair hero is won”

2.1.295-96), Don Pedro savors his winning streak and is reluctant to end it. He

seeks more prey of his appetite for control; he is ready for a challenge, ready for

“one of Hercules’ labors” (2.1.360). This time, he hopes to create a love and a

marriage out of vitriol and enmity. He aims “to bring Signior Benedick and the

Lady Beatrice into a mountain of affection” (2.1.360-2). But on this occasion, the

challenge involves much more than taking advantage of only the two parties

involved. He wants to have influence over everyone at the Governor’s mansion, so

he enlists them in a plan with himself at the head. He claims he will be able to unite

Beatrice and Benedick only “if you three will but minister such assistance as [the

Prince] shall give [them] direction” (2.1.364-5). He is redolent of Satan in the

Garden when he promises, “We are the only love-gods” (2.1.382). Leonato, Claudio,

and Hero all agree to aid the Prince, and with their acceptance of his offer, the

Prince realizes he has secured the services not only of these three, but also of all

their servants. He calculates each of his maneuvers to obtain the greatest control

over the greatest number of people possible. All this is not to say that Don Pedro is

any where near as vicious as his brother, but one might surmise from these

exercises that the Prince’s quest for dominance is pervasive and that his power

games would not be so paltry were he the bastard, and his brother the prince.

Immediately after this episode, Leonato is busily engaged in building and

maintaining a power structure of his own. It begins with securing the support and

obedience of the two already closest to him, Antonio and Hero. Antonio’s

announcement that he has “strange news” (1.2.4) of an intended proposal

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underscores his commitment to the Governor, his brother. It would be valuable

intelligence indeed, if it were accurate, but Antonio’s mistaken belief that Don

Pedro, not Claudio, wishes to marry Hero contributes to much confusion after

negotiations begin. Antonio’s eager haste to share the news with his brother, and

therefore help him keep control of a potentially volatile situation strikes an

interesting contrast with Don John’s treatment of his own brother. Antonio’s loyalty

is unquestionable, but his information is inaccurate, while Don John’s notion of the

proposal (that Claudio is the suitor) is correct, but he wishes to use this information

to exploit “cross [his brother, Don Pedro] / any way” and thereby “bless [himself]

every way” (1.3.64-5). These different conceptions of family values suggest the

state of harmony in Leonato’s family and the discord of Don John’s. The secondary

significance of Antonio’s espionage is its source. The strange news comes not first-

hand, but from someone the Governor’s brother refers to as “a man of [Antonio’s]”

(1.3.10). This implies that Antonio’s men, his contacts and underlings, are by

extension, the Leonato’s servants as well. This plays at least a small part in

bolstering Leonato’s forces.

The second family member Leonato seems to command merely by the nature

of his relationship with her is Hero. As his comely daughter, Hero is of much value

to Leonato, who stands to gain much from marrying her to the Prince of Aragon, as

he believes he is about to do. It is therefore important for him to control and guard

her chastity throughout her life, so that she will make an acceptable wife to

someone of high standing. Leonato hardly utters a word to her regarding the

marriage before Antonio observes that she “will be ruled by [her] father” (2.1.51) in

this matter as in all others. It is clear, in any case, that the decision of whether to

marry the Prince is not her own. Leonato has taken that choice from her. Invoking

the subservient nature of her relationship to him, and adopting a stern, but loving,

tone, Leonato appeals to her almost as the Prince makes Benedick swear on his

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allegiance: “Daughter, remember what I told you. If the / Prince doth solicit you in

that kind, you know your / answer” (2.1.65-7). Hero need not even respond; her

father has and will answer for her. Despite the almost overbearing nature of

Leonato’s discourse with his daughter, this relationship is one of the few in which

the loyalty extends both ways. Much later in the action, after the charges of

promiscuity lead to chaos, Leonato at first violently berates his daughter, but then

stands steadfastly beside her.

Such resolve is necessary, given that Don John begins building his force of

scoundrels against his brother and, indirectly, Hero immediately after hearing of

the engagement. Don John’s conspiracy threatens three major relationships that

are built around and promulgate harmony. Desiring to harm his brother, Don John

tries to break up the intended marriage of his brother’s friend, and to damage the

friendship between Leonato and his guests. The assemblage of rascals recruited to

see this plan to fruition are loyal only so long as there is a flow of ducats from the

hand of their master. When Don John questions the loyalty of his servants, Conrade

is less than convincing when he promises fealty “to the death” (1.3.65). More likely,

his loyalty (like Borachio’s) is limited by fiscal resources, a problem that reveals the

disharmony that intrudes even into Don John’s immediate power structures. He

cannot have mastery based on either affection or wit, as Leonato and Don Pedro

had done. The bastard son, apparently born out of marital discord, perpetuates his

birthright through strife and malfeasance against his and other families. The

inability to elicit true loyalty from his assistants works against Don John, as does his

indirect involvement in the whole cause. Although he declares, “to despite them,

[he] will endeavor anything” (2.2.31), his only activities are to pay the fees

necessary to buying Borachio’s assistance and to accompany Claudio to the scene

of the hoax. Borachio, after all, not Don Juan, hatches the idea to strike at Don

Pedro through Claudio and Hero. Borachio, too, seems to have more contacts than

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his master, and it is he who is “in the favor of Margaret, the waiting Gentlewoman

to Hero” (2.2.13-14) and who secures her the critical aid for the hoax. His

commitment seems somewhat hollow and little more than a salable commodity,

however, since he has nothing to gain from dishonoring Hero except a thousand

ducats (2.2.53). As the criminals are captured, Borachio further commodifies

himself and his partner, predicting that they “are like to prove a goodly commodity”

(3.3.178).

In may ways, Don John becomes the servant of his servants, because his only

claim to power is his wealth, and the criminals are able to exploit even that.

Borachio observes with criminal sagacity that “when rich villains have need of poor

ones, poor ones make what price they will” (3.3.113-15). He answers with this in

response to Conrade’s inquiry as to whether it is “possible that any villainy should

be so dear” (3.3.100), a question that contrasts effectively with Claudio’s asking

Benedick whether “the world [can] buy such a jewel” as Hero (1.1.175). The

difference is that villainy is purchased, and love given.

Unfortunately for him, Claudio is in the middle of each transaction because

Don Pedro won Hero for him. This closely associates the Florentine with the strife

of the Prince’s family and the harmony of Leonato’s. When Claudio makes his

accusations of promiscuity at the wedding, he simultaneously does the bidding of

Don John while alienating and enraging Leonato. This one action best represents

the opposition between the two men and their interests. But even while attacking

Hero, Claudio understands the sacred tie between father and daughter. He knows

to use the governor’s dominance in that relationship to his advantage. In the midst

of his prosecution, Claudio requests that Leonato invoke his daughter’s allegiance

to bind Hero to the truth “by that fatherly and kindly power” Leonato possesses

(4.1.73).

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Once Leonato resolves to support his daughter, he accumulates a substantial

force of loyal supporters who are motivated by a strong sense of allegiance

including in one form or another, Antonio, Hero, Margaret, Ursula, the Friar,

Beatrice, Benedick, Verges, Dogberry, and the Watchmen. All of these serve him in

either a familial, civil, or friendly capacity, and they share his passion for his

daughter and a hate for Claudio, whom they originally take to be the cause of this

sudden discord in the governor’s house. Claudio finds himself the victim of

considerable wrath as Antonio wants to duel him, Beatrice demands his blood

(4.1.286), and Benedick seems ready to spill it. Benedick’s willingness to duel his

former friend marks a complete turnaround for the man who once insisted he would

never be slave to love. Agreeing to challenge Claudio for Beatrice is tantamount to

putting his neck in the yoke and being whipped by Beatrice (“Bid me do anything

for thee” 4.1.286). It also fulfills Claudio’s early prophesy of love outweighing

friendship. When the truth of Claudio and Don Pedro’s innocence emerges, thanks

to the diligent, if circumlocutory, Dogberry, the Prince and the Florentine are

indebted to Leonato and promise to “bend under any heavy weight / That

[Leonato]’ll enjoin them to” (5.1.278-9). With Don Pedro and Claudio prepared to

make penance, Conrade, Borachio, and later Don John in civil custody, and Hero

blushing, but still alive, Leonato has restored order to his family, his friends, and his

state. While Don Pedro busies himself insinuating himself into the love lives of his

friends, and Don John concocts devious means of irritating his brother, Leonato

creates a cadre of loyal servants to help him through strife and into a renewed har-

mony.

3073 words

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