Don John Character Analysis

How much of who we are comes from our own inner predisposition, or mere interpretation from an outsider? Is someone obliged to become either a hero or villain by virtue of their existence, or are heroes and villains moulded over time from origins that could have taken either path? Analysing the preconceived ideas of Bastardy in Elizabethan society, it can be seen that the illegitimacy of Don John, “Shakespeare’s most passive villain” is the root of his villainy. Prejudgement, to pass judgement without sufficient knowledge, can lead to forming misconceptions that may transform someone or something’s image altogether. This pre judgemental attitude of Messina towards his birth circumstance crafts Don John to be an arguably uninteresting antagonist
Through the system of primogeniture, illegitimate children in the Elizabethan era legally could not inherit property and did not have an equal social standing to ‘legitimate’ offspring. Connecting a bastard with the sinful action of lust out of wedlock, they were predetermined villains by society. This predetermination is personified with the “self fulfilling” prophecy that is Don John. Believing that his own blood delegates him an outsider and renders him evil, in his eyes the only alternative is to act the “plain dealing villain” and remain ostracized throughout his days. This is much similar to Aaron in Titus Andronicus, who found great pleasure in being evil as that was the expectation of all black men in the Roman Empire. Struggling with his own legitimacy, Don John speaks in prose, associated with lower characters, as opposed to the blank verse that would mirror his eloquence and upbringing, casting light on Don’s inner struggle and conflictions. Coming to terms with his birth and accompanying stereotypes, as he warns Conrad, “Let me be who I am and seek not to alter me” embracing his subsequent destiny so entirely that he deems himself incapable of change. “Concealing what you are and pretending to be what you are not is a widespread activity among Shakespeare’s good characters as well as among his villains.” Yet as Don John openly admits, “I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it
Influencing all actions of the play yet having very few speaking lines for a main character, 40 to be exact, he operates as more of a plot device. Not a particularly compelling or complex villain, his intents exist; however, he fails to fulfill the “evil” mastermind role. Instead, his henchman Borachio acts the scheming villain, fabricating the plan for Hero’s ruin. Don John emerges as a relatively minor and passive character submissively accepting all Borachio’s demands, this passivity mirroring his lack of freedom in the society of