Leonato’s Journal

Dear Diary,

            I know that I have not written in a few days but that is because I have had many troubles and joys. I have much to tell about my daughter and my new son-in-law. These past few days have strained my old body to the limit. Wells it all began when Don Pedro came to our town of Messina. Now with the lord came Claudio and Benedick who are now both married to my daughter and Beatrice. They came to my household and claimed that they wanted to stay for at least a month. This of course was a great honor to me since such a noble man was staying at my house. But, I never knew that in the next few days I will be tricked into thinking that my daughter was a common wanton and let her be married soon after!

            The days after the arrival of the lord was pretty normal in that there were many celebrations of the victory in the war and the arrival of the lord. Then at one party Lord Claudio seemed to be mesmerized with my daughter, Hero, and was intent on marrying her. When I saw that he wanted marriage I did not mention anything. Then Don Pedro seemed to be talking with my daughter which got me worried. However, it was soon learned that he was wooing for Count Claudio.  It was quite weird because I was so sure that Don Pedro was wooing for himself because I overheard Don John said that Don Pedro was! This of course got me confused but I was too distracted with the union between Claudio and my sweet daughter Hero to be stuck on such silly matters. However, I will come to regret this action since the evil brother of the lord will ruin the trust I have in Hero.

            Well as Claudio and Hero’s wedding date was arranged me, the count and the lord devised a plan as to make Benedick and Beatrice love each other and marry. This will be one of the more joyous periods in Don Pedro’s stay. Well we managed to convince them both that they were madly in love with each other. This was the turn point of the visit since I had to go to the wedding of my daughter. At this wedding the noble count shamed my daughter in front of all of my closest friends and relatives. As I listened in horror I tried to make sense of it all. After all, my daughter did not seem like a bad woman and was always kind and did not pursue intercourse. However, I believed them because it would not be possible that both the count and the lord would lie about such a matter. As the two men walked away from the assembly I stared at my daughter in horror. In my heart I felt a tinge of remorse that I have not raised her as I should have. Then I was flooded with rage so I said some harmful things to my daughter. The friar was able to calm me down before I killed my daughter. Then the friar devised a plan that Hero should pretend to be dead while we tried to restore her status. After that day I had a rage that consumed me and I would not rest until I was able to redeem my daughter. I then went and challenged Claudio with my brother Anthony so that we can redeem “dead” Hero’s status.

            After that I learned that the local watchmen told Claudio that my daughter’s lewdness was actually a plan from Don John to break up the marriage between Claudio and Hero. I quickly ran over to confront the men who were responsible for ruining my daughter’s marriage and status. It was there I learned what a true villain Don John really was. I was relieved to hear that my daughter was redeemed and wanted to once again join Claudio and Hero in marriage. So, I took the opportunity to tell Claudio to repent by marrying a niece of mine. This niece however was actually my daughter. At the wedding the unveiling of Hero was a proud moment in my heart since I knew my daughter was about to be married to a great man. Benedick and Beatrice also realized their love for each other as well and they were also joined together by the friar. These last few days have been filled with hardships but have ended in spectacular finale.