In Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing, there are many differentsubplots all taking place at the same time.
There are several lovestories, trickeries, and deceptions. Of all of them, though, one conflictstands above the rest — the slandering of Hero. Don John and his men setup a plan so that Claudio will think Hero is unfaithful and therefore,will not marry her. The plan works, but in the end, there is one manresponsible for everything getting straightened out — and that man isDogberry.
Dogberry is the constable of Messina. He is a rather eccentricman, and is among the lower class of people in the town. He is veryfilthy and talks in a sort of gibberish so that no one can understand him. The other townspeople do not respect him, but just use him for hisinformation and then dismiss him.
I think he deserves more respect simplybecause he represents the law, not to mention he is greatly needed sourceof information. One night, Borachio is talking about the scheme they pulled off toruin the marriage of Hero and Claudio. Dogberrys men overhear Borachioand arrest him. Meanwhile, Claudio and Don Pedro had wrecked Herophysically and emotionally in front of the entire town and accused her ofbeing an unfaithful tramp. Dogberry questions Borachio and discovers thathe and Don John are the guilty parties.
Dogberry goes and reports thisnews to Leonato, but Leonato blows him off and tells him to go away. Dogberry goes through the legal process and proves Borachioguilty. He then brings him before Leonato and saves Heros name. Leonatoagain treats Dogberry in a condescending manner and just uses him for hisinformation. Dogberry gets no thanks or appreciation even though he isthe true hero of the play. Without him, there would be no evidence toprove Heros innocence and she would have been condemned for life.
Dogberry is the protector of Messina, but even though he servesthe upper-class, they treat him poorly. He is very different from mostpeople, but that should not make a difference. He should get even morerespect than the common man because he is a hero. He does not care,though, he still goes about his job being the unsung hero. It is interesting that such a small character can play such amajor role in the plot and outcome of a story.
Dogberry goes unnoticed bythe reader as well as the other characters in the play. No one reallyrecognizes Dogberry as the hero of the story right away . . .
but hedefinitely is.
