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Don John and Benedick are probably the most diverse characters in the whole play; while most of their qualities are different, some are similar. For example, they are similar in the fact that they both like attention and centre stage but different as Benedick has respect from other characters whereas Don John is frowned upon as he is illegitimate. In Elizabethan times, illegitimacy wasn’t rare but was still looked down on. Benedick always says how he feels and is very open about things whereas Don John wouldn’t and keeps most of his feelings to himself in front of certain people. They both like to fool people but in very different ways: while Benedick enjoys wordplay, Don John prefers deception. One main difference is that Don John is always looking for mischief.

Both characters always like to talk about the subject of themselves. For instance, in act one, scene three, lines 10 to 17, Don John mentions the letter ‘I’ eight times. That is more than once on a line. Every speech of Don John’s contains at least one ‘I’. Benedick also tries to turn the subject to himself. For example, when Claudio has just confessed to Benedick that he loves Hero, Benedick basically says that he doesn’t know how anyone could love her and then turns the subject to himself, saying he would never fall in love and will stay a bachelor forever. To sum Don John up in one word, it would have to be mischievous. Although he only appears in six out of the total seventeen scenes, we can see that Don John enjoys stirring everything up for everybody. As soon as Don John found out about an intended marriage, he said “Will it serve any model to build mischief on?” Don John will go to great lengths to cause even a tiny bit of trouble. We know this because in act two, scene two, line 48, he promises 1000 ducats, which is a lot of money, to Borachio if all the misbehaviour is pulled off. To sum up Benedick, intelligent is the appropriate word. He has numerous ‘battles’ with Beatrice,...