Theme of Justice in Much Ado about Nothing and in The Merchant of Venice (07-15-12)

Joseph Melanson

Shakespeare

Prof. Tryon

07 July 2012

Theme of Justice in Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice.

           The definition of the word “justice” can have several different meanings and manifestations in the works Much Ado about Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. “Justice”, according to Dictionary.com means “1) the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness. 2) rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason. 3) the moral principle determining just conduct. 4) conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment. 5) the administering of deserved punishment or reward” (“justice” definition). In The Merchant of Venice, and in Much Ado about Nothing, justice has different manifestations depending upon the circumstances, and the social standings of the people involved.

           The first definition of justice according to Dictionary.com is the “quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness” (“justice” definition). This means how much one’s life is in accord to religious principles, and how unbiased and unprejudiced one is in their participation in the world.

            In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is a hypocritical Jew pretending to be making a generous bargain as a jest with a fellow businessman, his “pound of flesh” seeming to equal nothing more than a joke among honorable men. Shylock pretends to be their friend and financial savior, even stating to them that he intends “to buy [their] favor I extend this friendship” (1.3.180). Antonio is convinced by this duplicity, saying of the Jew, “the Hebrew will turn Christian; he grows kind” (1.3.191). Shylock’s seeming righteousness is actually a disguise to reap vengeance upon Antonio, a man who “stained” Shylock with a variety of “shames” upon him  (1.3.150).

            The other characters of The Merchant of Venice are just as hypocritical as this summary example of Shylock. All of the characters featured in this story are masters of the same deceptive disguises, while only remaining faithful to their own selfish motives. The characters are all hypocrites and parasites, yet the only victim of his actions is Shylock. Persecuted as a Jew, he is an easy scapegoat among these “hard dealing” people that call themselves “Christians” (Shylock 1.3.173). Religious principles in The Merchant of Venice are something that are glaringly lacking in its characters. 

           

            The characters in Much Ado about Nothing are motivated by love, their affection for others, and in seeing the affections of their friends grow and blossom into marriages. Claudio, who has less verbal skill and experience with women, falls instantly in love with Hero when he first sees her, and hopes to marry her despite never speaking a word to her. His friend Benedick who seems to have more of a developed wit, and more familiar with the presence of women, is not as easily charmed by them as Claudio.

            “Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any,

            I will do myself the right to trust none” (Benedick 1.1.239-240). 

           

            Despite his seeming aloofness towards the female gender, he has a fondness for Beatrice which is obvious to the rest in their continued verbal jousting. Don Pedro conceives of a plot to bring Benedick and Beatrice together, and recruits the other characters, especially Claudio and Hero, in his conspiracy in order to teach the shy and inexperienced couple about love.

            “My love is thine to teach. Teach it but how,

And thou shalt see how apt it is to learn

Any lesson that may do thee good” (Don Pedro 1.1.285-287).  

            It is only by the foiled attempt at sabotage by Don John that complicates the natural gravities of these couples to their eventual weddings, the moral rightness of their affections toward one another.

            The second definition of justice is “rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title, justness of ground or reason” (Dictionary.com “justice” definition).

           

            In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio readily agrees to Shylock’s bargain, seen as a jest, after Shylock persuades the men that he makes no true profit in the implication that human flesh has no worth. Antonio believes the Jew to be an honest businessman, and that his ships will return with his profits much sooner than the deadline. When it is later Shylock’s rightful turn to collect on the agreed terms of the bargain with Antonio, Shylock is denied his claim, castigated and financially ruined for his attempt to collect upon it. In The Merchant of Venice, rightful claims and titles are not protected unless it is to the members of the Christian community, and then perhaps only to the whims of the person(s) who have the authority over the matter.      

            In Much Ado about Nothing, the character Don John hopes to make mischief in foiling the plan of Don Pedro’s attempt to woo the maiden Hero for his friend Claudio, as Claudio and Don Pedro were integral players in the defeat of Don John’s army. The justification for Don John’s actions arise solely from his awareness of his nature of a “plain-dealing villain”, and who serves any reason “to build mischief” upon others (1.3.30 and 1.3.44). It is only by the fact that Don John’s accomplices in his treachery allowed themselves to be overheard. This mistake on their part prevents either, or both, Claudio’s and Benedick’s lives from their inevitable duel, thus restoring Hero’s honorable reputation, and eventually brings Don John to his justice. In Much Ado about Nothing, Don John’s justifications for his intended harms are rewarded with his punishment.

            The third definition of justice according to Dictionary.com is the “moral principle determining just conduct” or the “principles of right and wrong” that applies to an individual or social group” (“justice” definition).

            There are no moral principles other than putting oneself in, and maintaining one’s position of advantage to ensure events go in favor of oneself, and in the fortune’s of one’s favorites in both Much Ado about Nothing, and in The Merchant of Venice.

            In The Merchant of Venice, Bassanio must borrow money to be eligible to woo Portia. He goes to his friend Antonio who must indebt both of them to Shylock, a calculating and scheming moneylender who asks to be repaid a pound of flesh if the debt is not repaid by the deadline. Shylock’s daughter Jessica is made ashamed of her father, and her father’s ancestry by being a minority in Christian Venice. Jessica steals her father’s wealth in order to purchase her way into the Christian community, as Bassanio hopes to purchase Portia’s hand in marriage. Portia insinuates herself into the legal proceedings of the agreement made between Shylock and Antonio, having herself made a judge over the trial. When Shylock does not agree to the terms that Portia has invented, who would rather have blood over money, she uses her false authority to financially ruin Shylock by taking away what little wealth he had and ordering the money given to those in her social circle. In The Merchant of Venice, the only moral principle is money, in doing whatever one must do in order to make it, and in holding on to it.

            The moral principle of Much Ado about Nothing is one of reputation and social standing. Don John hopes to ruin Don Pedro’s joy and Claudio’s infatuation by destroying Hero’s reputation. When Claudio makes the allegations against Hero at their wedding, accusations planted in his mind by the deception initiated by Don John, Hero is compelled to feign death as if the wounding of her reputation was equal to a wound to her internal organs. Later Claudio’s and Benedick’s lives are saved when Don John’s plot is discovered, and Hero’s honor is again publicly restored, negating the necessity to duel over her honor. In Much Ado about Nothing, the moral principle is maintaining one’s good standing and honorable reputation in one’s social environment.

            The fourth definition of justice, according to Dictionary.com is the “conformity to the moral principle in the individual’s or group’s response, action, or behavior toward a person or thing” (“justice” definition).

            In The Merchant of Venice, there are no principles that the characters obey, other than the accumulation and the preservation of wealth by any means. Shylock becomes the helpless target of the group’s manipulation due to his being an outsider, and a Jew. Jessica, the daughter of Shylock, steals her father’s wealth in order to gain acceptance into the Christian community, as well as by marrying Lorenzo.

            “But though I am a daughter to his blood,

            I am not to his manners. O Lorenzo,

            If thou keep promise, I shall end this strife,

            Become a Christian and thy loving wife” (2.4.18-21).

           
            Bassanio borrows money in order to deceive his bride to be, in order to attach himself to her wealth. Portia, his target, manipulates events in order to free her new husband, and thus herself, of their now shared blood bond with Antonio against Shylock’s bargain. She prevents Shylock from accepting his rightful claim, and punishes him for making it in the first place by stripping him of the rest of his remaining wealth, and awards it to those who are in her social circle. The only principles that this social circle observe are of maintaining their wealth and social status by whatever trickery possible, and despite whatever ruin it causes upon others. The only conformity that these characters engage in is the pursuit of financial gain by any means.

            In Much Ado about Nothing, it seems that the only principles driving the group are their reputations, and in ensuring that it is valued highly in one’s social environment. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon first seeing her, while Benedick and Beatrice’s simmering passions for each other are obvious, they need the push from outside characters to get them to move forward in their relationship. The wedding plans of both the couples are endangered by the plot of Don John and his careless accomplices. Claudio, despite it only being hearsay, accuses Hero during their wedding of being promiscuous, an accusation to her reputation that appears fatal. Benedick and Beatrice cannot progress forward in their relationship, despite their obvious affection toward another, they have grown to cynical and mistrustful of other people, and are guarded against how other people may view them. How the characters are seen by others is a governing force that limits how they participate with one another in their world.

            The fifth definition of justice is “the administering of deserved punishment or reward” (Dictionary.com “justice” definition).

            In Much Ado about Nothing the villain of the story, Don John, is much like Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. He is an outsider due to being an illegitimate son, unlike his brother Don Pedro, and is resentful for this fact. He feels condemned by his birth, that he was “born under a bad sign”, and thus he “cannot hide what I am” (Don John 1.3.12-13).

“it must not be denied but I

Am a plain-dealing villain” (Don John 1.3.29-30).

            He is incapable of following anything other than his own hate and spite, slandering the innocent Hero in the attempt to prevent her and Claudio’s future happiness together. The interference of Don John in the marriage was just one opportunity, as he would have found another circumstance in which to manipulate events to spite his brother. He lives only for the opportunity to enact his revenge, and he states to this effect when he hears of the intended plans of his brother Don Pedro to woo Hero for Claudio.

“Will it serve for any model to build mischief

On? What is he for a fool that betroths himself to unquietness?” (Don John 1.3.44-45).

            Don John, an admitted “villain”, is captured in the end to receive what we assume will be his just punishment for the “unquietness” that he instigates within the social environment.

He will forever be unapologetic about his nature, he states

“let me be that I am, and

Seek not to alter me” (Don John 1.3.34-35).

            In the end Don John is punished for his mischievous nature, perhaps only prison or death will finally be the final reward for his incorrigible nature.

            In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is at the mercy of his society’s institutionalized anti-Semitism, and has very limited means to defend himself. He is limited by his faith in what he can practice as his trade. He has withstood personal slights from Christians in his life as have the entire race of Jews to the Christians for many centuries. His daughter is compelled by the Christian community to betray him, and former associates abandon him. He has to give up everything, even his religion, in order to escape possible further persecution. Those who persecute him receive no punishment, but rather see themselves an advantage in persecuting the Jew. There is never any opportunity for justice for Shylock in Christian Venice.

            Justice is served differently in The Merchant of Venice and in Much Ado about Nothing. In The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is made a villain by society, and he suffers helplessly as those around him are allowed to destroy his life and livelihood with impunity, the only experience he has ever had in a hypocritical Christian society. Much Ado about Nothing, on the other hand, presents a self-designated villain who is mad at the world, and lives only to make manifest his mischievous nature in the world. In The Merchant of Venice justice is whatever the other characters determine is fit to put upon the long-suffering Shylock. In Much Ado about Nothing, justice is rightly served to the instigating villain who reaps the punishment of his sociopathic nature. In The Merchant of Venice, and in Much Ado about Nothing, we are given two examples of how justice is manifested differently in the world. In one instance justice is made according to the whims of others, while in another, justice is served by how one reaps what one sows by one’s interference in the lives of others.

Works Cited:

Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of Venice. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 1992. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado about Nothing. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 1992. Print.

Dictionary.com. “Justice”. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/justice. accessed July 15, 2012.