Humor is vital in any Comedy. Though Dogberry and his constables play a minor role in Much Ado Nothing their presents is vital. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
In the play entitled “Much Ado About Nothing” by the famous playwright, William Shakespeare one can see that humor is critically important for the enhancement of the plot in the drama. The characters developed by Shakespeare appear to be very comical which makes the play more enjoyment to the readers. Out of the many characters that are seen in this play Dogberry is by far the most humorous character created and his presence along with his constables is very important.
In the play Dogberry’s first appearance is in act iii scene 3 where he was instructing the Prince’s watch as to how they should go about carrying out their duties. We see humor displayed from the time Dogberry enters and begins to instruct or advice the watch. For instance in act iii scene 3 he says “If you meet a thief, you may suspect him, by virtue of your office, to be no true man.; and for such men, the less you meddle or make with them, why, the more is for your honesty.” Another example is when he says “if you do take a thief...let him show himself what he is, and steal out of your company.” In these two examples we see Dogberry advising the watch wrongfully in that an officer would not usually allow a thief to continue in his act but that was what was Dogberry was advising the watch to do so we see this as humorous.
In addition to this, humor is also seen Dogberry’s misuse of words. Some examples of his malapropisms can be seen when he says “the most senseless and fit man” (III.3) when he really means to say the most sensible and also “first, who think you the most desartless man to be constable?” when he really means deserving. These malapropisms are seen as humorous since Dogberry believes that he is correct in using these words but we as readers know the true meaning. According to Jem Bloomfield, in his character analysis of Dogberry he states that “Dogberry’s grandiloquent and mangled verbal displays are probably due to his desire to impress everyone. He has a very large sense of his own importance, demanding that his position as constable be respected (or “suspected”, as he calls it)”. Bloomfields,
Dogberry and his constables presence in this novel is very important since they were the ones to find out about Don John’s plans and therefore was able to arrest the culprits. If they were not there then Hero’s innocence would have never have been proven and therefore the play would not have had a happy ending. Additionally, there presence in the play adds humor to the play therefore making in more enjoyable to the readers. Also, according to James Johnson Dogberry could be the real hero of the play because out of his ignorant, pompous and stupid character comes an individual with the ability to discover the truth of deception of Claudio and Hero.
In conclusion, we see that though this play is quite humorous minor character can be very important to the enhancement of the play.
