BORACHIO, WON’T YOU?
Drunk Shakespeare.
Borachio is one of several villains in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (along
with Don John and Conrad). This small but essential character's mischief and misdeeds move
the plot forward. Apart from being a bad guy, he's also an irresponsible drunk. Shakespeare
cues us into this fact through the character's name (literally, it's the Spanish word for 'drunk').
The Villains' Deceptive Plot
Shakespeare introduces the antagonists of the play at the end of the first scene. Don Pedro
(the Prince of Aragon) arrives at Leonato's Sicilian villa. Don John (his illegitimate brother,
referred to as a 'bastard') and two others who might be called henchmen (Conrad and
Borachio) also arrive with the prince.
Soon after, Borachio pledges his loyalty to Don John to act as an informant. ''I can give you
intelligence of an intended marriage.'' he promises, having overheard a conversation between
Claudio and the Prince. He says that he, ''heard it agreed upon that the prince should woo
Hero for himself, and having obtained her, give her to Count Claudio.''
Don John hatches a plot to defame Hero and, by extension his brother, with Borachio as his
emissary.
So, Borachio enjoys causing trouble and being ‘evil’ it is what he is good at and delights in
upsetting people he doesn’t like / envies. He is like this up until the point where he gets
caught and confesses to his misdeeds. Now is this a genuine plea for forgiveness? Is he so
moved by what he sees (i.e., true love and friendship and forgiveness)? Or is he trying to
capitalise on the good nature of everyone around him? This largely depends on the actor’s
choice and what the director wants.
BORACHIO, WON’T YOU?
Borachio is featured in three pivotal scenes
KEY SCENES FOR BORACHIO
Act II, Scene 2
During the masquerade/banquet scene that opens Act II, Borachio and his entourage entice
Claudio with a lie: Don Pedro ''swore he would marry her to-night.''
Then, Borachio and his fellow conspirators work out the details of their dastardly plan.
Borachio proposes to enlist Margaret, a housemaid, in the plot to defame Hero as ''a
contaminated stale.'' Their goal: ''to misuse the prince, to vex Claudio, to undo Hero and kill
Leonato.''
ACTING NOTES: Basically, Margaret looks enough like Hero from a distance that Borachio
will make it look like they are together so people will think she is a cheat. This is as much
Borachio’s plot as Don Jon’s so we know that he is capable of more than just following
orders but actually is quite good at cunning plans – so he is not a brainless henchman, in
fact he is also confident in his own abilities to suggest ideas to the main evil Don Jon, as long
as he gets PAID, so he is loyal as long as the coin is coming in “A thousand ducats.”
Act III, Scene 3
After having seduced Margaret, Borachio brags to Conrad. He's drunk and raving
uncontrollably:
''I will, like a true drunkard, utter all to thee. I have tonight wooed Margaret, the Lady
Hero's gentlewoman, by the name of Hero. She leans me out at her mistress' chamber
window, bids me a thousand times good night. I tell this tale vilely. I should first tell thee how
the Prince, Claudio and my master, planted and placed and possessed by my master Don
John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable encounter.''
And out of the window, Claudio, the Prince, and Don John had witnessed the whole thing.
Claudio and the Prince were now convinced that Hero was of loose morals. Mission
accomplished.
ACTING NOTES: So we can see here that Borachio is also quite arrogant and a show-off, a
bit of a lad and of course a drunkard. He enjoys being nasty and drinking, the two main
elements of who he is. It isn’t really explored WHY he is like this, except remember despite
the fact that he is like this, he is also capable of being quite charming with the ladies and a
very good dancer. So he is, in his way, quite a rounded character.
Act V, Scene 1
In this scene, Leonato grieves for the ruined daughter and Hero is devastated over the loss of
Claudio. Just when all things seem lost, Borachio comes to his senses. Overwhelmed by guilt
and shame, he finally confesses Don John's villainous plot. The woman he had seduced was
Margaret, not Hero. Hero is innocent. Before the police, the men he had wronged, and God,
Borachio recited a heartfelt speech (see monologues)
BORACHIO, WON’T YOU?
ACTING NOTES: So Borachio has a heart, maybe he actually really cared for Margaret as
well? Now why does he confess? If it is genuine, he still decides to not just confess what he
did but also tells everyone about his boss Don Jon being behind it. So, there is no honour
amongst thieves or Don Jon’s gang. Again, depending on the director, this is either Borachio
realising he is in trouble and begging for forgiveness / a lighter sentence and playing on the
good nature of Leonato etc. However, given that this is a romantic comedy, it seems likely
that it is a genuine confession, either way, decide on how far you want to take this scene,
(some play this as pathetic, others genuine confession, many cry for example, remember he is
a drunkard so it will most likely be a quite big emotional confession).
MOTIVES / 4 STAGES OF BORACHIO
Borachio acts in his own self-interest, and betrays those around him, possibly this is just his
nature, possibly as a result of being a drunkard. But appearances can be deceiving. After
Borachio is caught, he demonstrates some remorse and takes full responsibility for his
actions.
Greed
Money is his primary motivator; one just needs to remember the story of Judas in the New
Testament and what he did for thirty silver pieces. Borachio's character in Shakespeare's
Much Ado About Nothing is not quite that horrendous, but he does ruin other people's lives
for the sake of money.
Borachio comes to Don John with news that will help him discredit his half-brother, Don
Pedro. Borachio tells him that he ''can give (him) intelligence of an intended marriage.''
Borachio's news does not come cheap. Since Don John is a ''rich villain (who has) need of
poor ones, poor ones may make what price they will.'' Borachio sets his price, and he aims
high. He says that he has '''earn'd of Don John a thousand ducats.'' Greed fuels Borachio to
action. But to what lengths will Borachio go to earn his money?
Sin
To earn his money, Borachio must put a stop to the wedding of Hero and Claudio. He tells
Don John that ''jealousy shall be call'd assurance and all the preparation overthrown.''
Borachio is going to great lengths to ensure this wedding is called off, thereby allowing Don
John to gain some sort of victory over Don Pedro. Ruining what should be a celebration, and
in the process, destroying someone's reputation in the process is bad enough, but Borachio
does not limit his villainy to just this act.
In order for his plan to work, Borachio needs help from someone on the inside. He needs the
assistance of someone close to either Hero or Claudio. As it so happens, his girlfriend
Margaret is ''the waiting gentlewoman of Hero.'' When Don Pedro and the other men are
watching from afar, Borachio appoints Margaret ''to look out her lady's chamber-window…
and there shall appear such seeming truth of Hero's disloyalty that jealousy shall be call'd
assurance.'' Borachio isn't content with ruining Hero's reputation. He also puts Margaret's
loyalty and reputation at risk. So he probably isn’t thinking of marrying her…
BORACHIO, WON’T YOU?
Confession
Like all good villains, Borachio needs to brag about his accomplishments. Unfortunately for
Borachio, other people are listening in on his conversation. He tells Conrade about his
misdeeds. He tells of how he ''woo'd Margaret…by the name of Hero.'' He explains further
that this act ''did confirm any slander that Don John had made, away went Claudio enrag'd.''
This entire act was ''chiefly by my villainy.'' Borachio admits that he is the sole perpetrator of
this treachery.
While Borachio tells Conrade about the night's events, two watchmen listen in to Borachio's
bravado, which amounts to an admittance of ''some treason.'' Once they hear Borachio
essentially confess his crimes, they declare that they have ''here recover'd the most dangerous
piece of lechery that ever was known in the commonwealth.'' Borachio and Conrade make the
mistake of discussing their criminal actions in public. As a result, they are found out and
placed under arrest. But Borachio has one final piece to play.
Redemption?
Borachio is in trouble, and he knows it. He does believe there is a possibility for leniency. He
mentions that he is likely ''to prove a goodly commodity.'' Why would he think this? Because
he knows all the details of the plan and he knows all the people who are involved. It is likely
that he hopes to gain leniency if he offers information to his captors. The guards, however,
''do not like (his) look.'' While Borachio makes the claim that he and Conrade ''are not false
knaves,'' the guards believe that Borachio will ''be condemn'd into everlasting redemption for
this.'' Here it would seem the guard misspeaks and says 'redemption' instead of 'damnation'.
But does he err? Either way if Borachio goes down he is taking Don Jon and the crew down
with him…
