In the play, "Much Ado About Nothing," there are many examples of characters lying to eachother, some for selfish reasons, and others in the interest of friends. I believe that lying can be ethical, it just depends on the lier's intentions. For instance, when Claudio confides in the Prince of his love for Hero, the Prince wants to help him, and so he agrees to dress as Claudio at the ball and win her over for him, "I will assume thy part in some disguise/And tell fair Hero I am Claudio,/And in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart/.../Then after to her father will I break,/And the conclusion is, she shall be thine," (I. i. 259-265). Sure, this offer may seem strange, but in the end, the Prince acted with good intentions. The Prince lied to Hero to help the two fall in love, which is very noble and ethical, in opinion.
Ethical lying happens every day. For example, for my 13th birthday my best friend planned a surprise party for me at a burger joint. She had to lie to me and tell me we were just going out for lunch together to celebrate my birthday. If she had told me the truth, first of all it would have spoiled the surprise, and second of all, the party wouldn't have been as much fun or as memorable.
Although there are examples of ethical lying, people can also lie for hurtful and selfish reasons. In the play, Don John tells Claudio that his brother, the Prince, has taken Hero for his own, "Signor, you are very near my brother in his love. He is/enamored on Hero," (II. i. 134-135). Don John knows he's talking to Claudio, but pretends he's ignorant, and believes that he is speaking with Benedick. This maneuver is a twisted way for Don John to spit out this lie, and it hurts Claudio very much, although he tries to hide it. Because Don John lied to Claudio to hurt him and turn him against Don John's brother, Don John lied for selfish reasons. This proves that not all lies are ethical.
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8 comments:
I agree with what you said about the book, that there is a ton of lying and more than we have ever seen before. I liked how you mentioned that some of the characters lie because they are being slefish, I never thought of that before. I however don't believe that lying is ever ethical, even though you backed it up with a good example. I think that even lying to help two people fall in love is still bad (even the way the Prince did it) because if they were truely in love they would find each other and they shouldn't need a middle man to do that for them. I guess that lying about someones suprise party is ok though. I like the example you used for the unethical lying part of your blog. All in all, I agreed with you in some parts and disagreed with you in others.
I agree with you that the prince's lying really did help Hero and Claudio fall in love. His intentions were good, but I feel like maybe if the two had been meant to fall in love it would have happened on its own. I also agree with you that it was wrong of Don John to stir up trouble and try to get Claudio upset since his intentions were bad. He was simply trying to enrage Claudio.
I agree that lying about the b-day party was okay, but I don't think that the Prince lying to Hero was okay. In the play, it turned out okay, but if Hero had figured out that the Prince was wooing her, or something, then things wouldn't have been okay. Maybe it's okay to lie when it doesn't make a lot of difference whether the truth or a lie is told, like the b-day example, but when important things like love are at stake, it's best to let things run their course.
HEY haley!
haha, i liked your suprise birthday party example! And you are right, the characters in the book do lie because they are selfish. But, even when the Prince lied for a good cause, i don't totally agree that it was ethical for him to lie to Hero. Claudio should have done it himself because he was fully capable of doing it. So, i didn't see how it was the best thing to do in that situation. But, i do agree with everything else! good analysisssssss!!!! yay!
happy break!
~ashley
Hey Haley! Happy holidays (late..) Anyway, I really liked your post! I agree with pretty much all of your points. I think I used similar examples in my post. As is other people's comments, I have realized that if Benedick and Beatrice did love each other that they wouldn't have needed someone to lie to get them to find each other. However, I still believe that their lying was a bad thing either. They had good reason to do so. I agree with your real life example too! I've done the same thing :) I agree with your last paragraph's ideas as well. Don John simply lied because he wanted Hero all to himself, and he wanted revenge. This is clearly not a good reason to lie since you are benefiting solely yourself. Overall, it's a great post! Nice job, Haley! See you soon
I pretty much agree 100% with your post. Lying with good intentions is perfectly fine, because usually if you want good results, then if you're careful enough then that's what will happen. I liked your real life example, too. It sounded like lots of fun! And I agree that lying for the sake of evilness is bad, because who wants bad people? Nice post, real thorough and well thought-out.
I think that lying can be Ethical too. I like how you used the example of the Prince lying to Hero. I did not even realize that he was lying to her. I only saw that Don John was lying. I also like how you used a real life experience and examples from the play. Another thing that I liked was that you had a more complicated example of ethical lying and a simple example
At first i thought that almost all lying is unethical except little white lies, but with your point about lying can be good or bad depending on the intention of the person whose lying. You've shown me that even big lies can be ethical as long as they are used in good intentions. I can't help but say that this blog really covers the ethicalness and unethicalness in lying. Good work Haley.
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