Margaret is a gentlewoman attending Beatrice and Hero. While she lacks the class privilege afforded to the two noblewomen, she is intelligent and quick-witted and loves to shock with audacious bawdy jokes. Margaret’s pivotal role in the plot happens offstage, when she appears at Hero’s window to meet Borachio as part of the ruse devised by Don John. This appears to be part of an ongoing love affair – Borachio confesses that “I can at any unseasonable instant of the night, appoint her to look out her lady’s chamber window.” While the consequences of her actions are disastrous, Margaret faces little retribution and seems more a pawn than a willing accomplice – at least according to Borachio. While Shakespeare leaves open the possibility that Borachio is merely protecting his lover, it’s easy to imagine Margaret staying silent after Hero’s denunciation for fear of punishment by Leonato. In a society obsessed with virginity, her behaviour is outrageous even for a lower-class character – so it’s also possible she stays silent for fear of scandal.
