Well...
As a teenager I must say I do my fair share of lying. But so does everyone... I mean do you tell your parents everything that happened at that crazy party? But these lies are all in good intentions and none severely effect anyone's life. They may not be exactly what one calls "white lies" but they are definitely small and legit.
However, is what I am doing right? It could be debated that I am violating society's ethical and moral code. This question is also brought up in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. All of the characters are pulled into a web of lies that range from these good intentioned "white lies" to matchmaking lies to devious, life ruining lies. One can examine each type and the situations they appear in and make a decision about the morality of them.
First lets consider the lie that Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio create to make Benedick fall in love with Beatrice. They do a very good job of convincing him that she really does like him even though it is clear from her actions that she cannot stand him. But, their plan works and he falls in love with her. So far, however, they have not balanced the equation. Beatrice clearly still hates Benedick. So what would happen if Benedick confessed everything he heard to her? Not only would Benedick be hurt because his friends were clearly lying to him but his situation with Beatrice would worsen. His heart would be broken and she may hate him more because of his attempts. So, in this case, even a lie with very good intentions can be negative.
But then one could say that Benedick will not approach Beatrice before the men convince her to love Benedick. Then this lie would have been positive and many good things could come of it. But, in my opinion, there is too much risk to warrant this even though the objective is love.
Looking back earlier in the play, we can see a lie that was meant to be damaging and almost is. Don John convinces the highly gullible Claudio that Don Pedro is "wooing" Hero for himself rather than for Claudio as was the plan. John intends to create strife in Pedro's forces as revenge for his defeat on the battlefield. Pedro is able to correct this lie quickly and no harm is done but, I think, everyone can agree that this would not be an acceptable situation for lying.
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2 comments:
Well Chris I must say that I'm now interested in what happened at that "crazy party." But aside from that I like how both of your examples contained bad effects from lying even though one was ment to do good. It really shows us that lying can always do harm in someway. This also brings up a question I have because in your last line you said that when Don John lied it wasn't an acceptable situation. My question is, is it ever ok to lie? If so much harm can be done is it ever ok to lie?
I second Kyle's curiosity. Anywho, just for kicks, I'm going to disagree with your statement about the lie to Benedick being bad. I get the whole logic behind it, and that it probably wouldn't work in real life, but I don't think it's obvious that Beatrice hates him. Actually, I think they both like eachother, but they've pretended not to for so long that they believe themselves. But even if Beatrice didn't get lied to, I think if Benedick opened up, she'd do the same. After all, they were both VERY accepting to eachother's feelings when overheard. Admittedly, this largly depends on your interpretation of the play and characters, but still, I think that the white lie in THAT situation would cause much less significant hurt than you made it out to. But hey, you backed your side very well, so good job. GREAT post!
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