# Scene III explained — Much Ado About Nothing

> Chapter companion for Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

Dogberry and Verges instruct the Watch on their duties with comically absurd logic, then depart. Borachio and Conrade arrive, and Borachio reveals to Conrade how he deceived Claudio and Don Pedro into believing Hero was unfaithful, as part of Don John's plot. The Watch overhears the confession and arrests them.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Mistaken Identity

Borachio's plot to deceive Claudio and Don Pedro by impersonating Hero with Margaret at the window is central to the chapter.

### Folly and Comedy

Dogberry's absurd instructions to the Watch and the Watch's misinterpretation of Borachio's talk about 'fashion' provide comic relief.

## Character check-ins

### Dogberry

Gives the Watch a comically inept charge, then instructs them to watch Leonato's door before leaving.

### Verges

Assists Dogberry in instructing the Watch, offering occasional agreement.

### Borachio

Boasts to Conrade of earning a thousand ducats from Don John by wooing Margaret in Hero's name, deceiving Claudio and Don Pedro.

### Conrade

Listens to Borachio's account and is arrested alongside him by the Watch.

## Key lines

> you shall comprehend all vagrom men; you are to bid any man stand, in the prince’s name.

You are to apprehend all vagrant men; you are to order any man to stop, in the prince's name.

_Dogberry's malapropism 'comprehend' for 'apprehend' and 'vagrom' for 'vagrant' highlight his comic incompetence._

> I have tonight wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero’s gentlewoman, by the name of Hero: she leans me out at her mistress’s chamber-window, bids me a thousand times good night

Tonight I courted Margaret, Lady Hero's maid, while calling her Hero; she leaned out of her mistress's bedroom window and wished me good night many times.

_Borachio confesses the deception that will lead to Hero's public shaming._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/much_ado_about_nothing_se/chapters