MAAN: Ethics

Much Ado About Nothing has lying of two forms, lying for yourself and lying for another. You can't ever be completely sure that lying is justified or not, but in general, if you lie for the benefit of another, it is justified. Lying for another is seen when Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio make sure they are overheard by Benedict while they are talking about Beatrice's love. Although Beatrice never once said, "O sweet Benedick! God give me patience" (II.3.145-146), the lie is meant to make Beatrice and Benedick happy. There is no malacious intent here, only an acceptable lie. It is also justified to lie if the lie will protect another. In McCarthyism, lying to keep someone off of a black list was completely justified (Evan S. also gives a really good example of the Holocaust; people lying to hide Jews). If the intent is to help another, lying is justified.

In MAAN there are also selfish lies. Don John, who seeks revenge upon Claudio who defeated him in battle, lies in order to harm him. Don John, seeking to trick Claudio into refusing Hero announces, "I came hither to tell you, and, circumstances shortened (for she has been too long a-talking of), the lady is disloyal" (III.2.91-93). This lie is for only the benefit of Don John. It is a harmful lie and one that is can not be considered moral. However, this is not always true. Going back to the Holocaust, a Jew that denied being a Jew (a lie solely for him or herself) is justified because it saves him or herself and does not harm another. Lying for yourself is justified if its purpose is not malicious, but rather to protect yourself.

Poetry: The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken by: Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/And sorry I could not travel both/And be one traveler, long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth;/Then took the tother, as just as fair,/And having perhaps the better claim,/Because it was grassy ans wanted wear;/Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same,/And both that morning equally lay/In leaves no step had trodden black./Oh, I kept the first for another day!/Yet knowing how way leads on to way,/I doubted if I should ever come back./I shall be telling this with a sigh/Somewhere ages and ages hence:/Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - /I took the one less traveled by/And that has made all the difference.

This poem by Robert Frost illustrates the joy in being unique and different through a comparison with a path in nature. To me, his poem means that if one only follows what others do, they will miss out on the beauty of life. Frost shows this through a central metaphor. He begins with a walk in a forest. He continues along until he reaches a fork in the road. Instead of walking on the dreary, well trodden land, he chooses instead to be different, to take the road less traveled, the more beautiful, green road.

He also demonstrates the joy in being unique through his word choice. In the seventeenth line, Frost says "I shall be telling this with a sigh". In my opinion, he uses the sigh to demonstrate how peaceful and happy it was on the, "Road Not Taken" (1). Frost's poem is summed up in his final line, the line describing what it meant to him to choose the other path, "And that made all the difference" (21).

Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." 1 Dec 2007 .