How Is Dogberry A Complex Character

Dogberry’s silly name only reveals one part of his multidimensional nature. While mainly serving comedic relief purposes, Dogberry also has many other traits that make him a complex character. Many of his characteristics are reflected in the design of the play’s playbill. One of Dogberry’s most notable traits is his perceived self-importance. This is shown in Act 4 Scene II when a troublemaker that Dogberry is interrogating snaps and calls him an ass. Dogberry takes great offense to this and defends his authority. He goes on a rant about his importance, stating that “[He is] a wise fellow, and which is more, an officer, and which is more, a householder, and which is more, as pretty a piece of flesh as any is in Messina,” (IV.II. 65-67) Dogberry’s

This is evident in Act 3 Scene III when Dogberry advises his Watchmen. He states how “[He] cannot see how sleeping should offend: only have a care that your bills be not stolen,” (III.III. 35-36) Dogberry not only allows his men to sleep on the job but also encourages them to only look out for themselves. Later, he also advises his men to avoid conflict with troublemakers which seems ironic for policemen. Dogberry’s ineptitude in being a policeman is reflected by the advertisement for the Messina Operative Protection Services in the playbill. Similar to Dogberry and his men, the workers under this service are reviewed to be very unprofessional. They don’t take troublemakers seriously and the service as a whole is regarded as a joke, much like

In Act 3 Scene V, Dogberry is unable to relay the information about the arrest of Don John’s henchmen to Leonato. Dogberry constantly uses complex or misplaced words, which makes him hard to understand. An example of this was when he said “If I were as tedious as a king, I could find in my heart to bestow it all of your worship.” (III.V. 16-17) In this quote, Dogberry incorrectly uses the word tedious, thinking that it means rich rather than hardworking. Another example of this was when he said “It pleases your worship to say so, but we are the poor duke’s officers,” (III.V. 15-16) By misplacing the word poor, the context of the sentence was changed. Because of Dogberry’s incompetence, Leonato doesn’t isn’t able to understand the situation and dismisses him. To reflect Dogberry’s inability to properly use words, the playbill contains advertisements for Merriam-Webster and Grammarly, which are both popular ways to improve communication. Merriam-Webster is an online dictionary and thesaurus that helps users improve their vocabulary by providing definitions, synonyms, and antonyms for countless words. Grammarly similarly helps improve communication by checking for correctness, clarity, and delivery of information. If they had existed back in the 16th century, these two sources would’ve been great ways for Dogberry to improve his