Honor In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Italy, a lot of the plays written were set in Italy. This play has a

Claudio and Hero are the idealised Elizabethan couple in the book because of the patriarchal society that the story is based on. This is because Hero is shown as a weak and powerless young woman while Claudio is described as a powerful and honourable man. In the wedding Claudio decides to shame her and says ‘There, Leonato, take her back again Give not this rotten orange to your friend’. Even when Hero is being insulted and accused of being a prostitute she does not defend herself and says ‘Is my lord well, that he doth speak so wide?’ Instead of defending herself she asks if Claudio is alright which displays a sign of weakness in her.

Throughout the play, women are used as a means to showing off male honour. Women are defined in connection with men, such as wife, mother and daughter. Therefore, Hero is addressed by characters as “Leonato’s Hero, your Hero, every man’s Hero” and “the old man’s daughter”. With the image of jewel, women are like the property of men which can help boast male honour. As Hero possesses the socially desirable qualities, such as beauty, modesty and chastity, Leonato once says that Hero is “mine I loved, and mine I praised, and mine that I was proud on”. Owing to having Hero as Leonato’s daughter, Don Pedro even lauds him as an “honourable father”. When Leonato misinterprets that Don Pedro eyes on Hero, he considers it extremely honourable. To him, it is even like a dream. Put it simply, Leonato’s male ego hinges on both Hero’s own qualities and her attraction to Don Pedro with high social status.

Human nature is often considered in isolation from the rest of the world as if it would be an exception or a special case. In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, the complexities of human nature are explored in depth. This essay will explore in particular how Shakespeare dramatises the concepts of human misunderstandings, deception and dichotomy through effective dramatic techniques.

Shakespeare uses both Claudio and Leonato to represent the males of the time and the honor code they were held to. Claudio is in no way held to the same pre-marital expectations as Hero, which, at the time, was the case for all men. For instance, when Hero is accused of being with a man prior to her marriage, no one questions what man and, quite frankly, no one cares what man. Shakespeare also shows how men are judged and given honor based on how their women act. When Leonato learns of the accusations his daughter receives on her wedding day he scolds her and says,

            Hero does not get a chance to mull over the idea of Claudio as a husband.  Even the audience knows little about her going into the now famous “shaming scene.”  Details about Hero’s virtues and personality are purposely left out, partially to satisfy the dominant male perspective in the play, but also to give more clout to the heinous claim that Claudio makes during the wedding.  The reactions of Hero’s father and others indicate that a woman’s virtues are only as good as a man says they are.

Honor can be described as many things, such as sacrificing yourself to reach a greater goal, having respect for others, or coming together to achieve a common goal. These concepts of honor can be seen through “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Wave. “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, written by Tennyson, is about British soldiers going into combat against Russian soldiers who they have no chance against. Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare's works, is a play that demonstrates how important honor is and that through deception it can be hard to bestow honor. Then The Wave, written by Strausser, is about a teacher who creates this group called the Wave where everyone is equal and everyone has to follow the rules in order to bring honor to the group. The

Men and women’s honour play a very important role in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and in the times of the Elizabethan era. Throughout the play characters are faced with situations destroying their honour and they will go through many obstacles to restore their honour. Some of the characters are not controversial men and woman and do not always live up to certain ideals that define an honourable man and woman. In the opening scene, Shakespeare introduces the concept honour when Leonato, governor of Messina, asks the messenger whether people have died in the recent battle. The messenger replies, But few of any sort, and none of name. (1.1.7). This is an indication that honour is of high importance to the people in Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare shows the honourable woman through the character Hero.

When Hero has been humiliated by Claudio, her father instantly says, "Do not live, Hero; do not ope thine eyes"(4.1.121). He would rather she were dead that have this kind of shame brought on the family. He doesn't even consider once, until the friar speaks up, that Hero could be innocent of Claudio's charges. And then if this isn't enough, she (as her cousin) has the audacity to take Claudio back after he has publicly humiliated her just because her father tells her to. This is another example of how tightly women were trapped under their father's rule.

Shakespeare shows a fair amount of feminism throughout the play. He exploits the ways in which the men treat and think of women in order to show the audience that in fact it is wrong. He does this most prominently in the wedding scene. As we have already become attached to the character Hero, we feel sorry for her when she is shamed in front of everyone. In this scene, we can see how that all the men believe Claudio straight away making the audience frustrated

The distinction between social classes appears prominently in Shakespeare’s plays as the nobility contrasts greatly with characters of base rank in their language and demeanor. Although the outward appearances of the different classes remain consistent with stereotypes of Shakespeare’s time, he contradicts the expected behaviors of these groups. Through the portrayal of leaders of society, Shakespeare reveals that despite their significant power and privilege, the members of the upper class lack the sensibility to rule successfully, and they rarely act in an honorable manner, only using their power to benefit themselves while neglecting the people they preside over. This uniformity throughout all of the leaders suggests that Shakespeare believes

The humiliation caused to Hero in the event would be inconceivable to an audience at the time, being accused of adultery would no doubt ruin a woman’s reputation and therefore create difficulty for her when finding a husband; especially for a woman of high status such as Hero. Claudio is being presented as a potential threat at this part in the play, contrasting with the gallant war hero we were first introduced to. This emphasizes how bitter and sinister Claudio has turned, consequently reminding the audience by irony that is he only interested in wealth and status when marrying Hero. Claudio’s shallow fickleness plays into the villain’s hands. Shakespeare uses the threat of Claudio to generate further anxiety in the audience and concern for Hero’s welfare. This scene shows the men of the play coinciding with each other in their response to the defamation of Hero. Don Pedro personally insults Hero during the commotion of this scene, “to link my dear friend to a common stale,” he suggests here that he believes her status has been lowered by what she has supposedly done and rendered her ‘common’. This personal attack on Hero which has come from someone who shouldn’t really be involved advocates the idea that she is isolated in a patriarchal society in which men group together to defend male interests. Hero’s reputation is being publicly ruined here, and at the time this would have ruined Hero’s life and her

In Shakespeare’s play Henry IV, Part One the theme of honour is strongly present in Falstaff’s speech, which takes place just before the battle of Shrewsbury. Although Falstaff holds a strong opinion on the subject of honour his character’s opinion is not the only one that is voiced throughout the play. Honour frequently comes up amongst the characters of King Henry IV: Prince Henry (also referred to as Hal), and Hotspur most prominently. It is Hotspur who embodies the purest form of honour and thinks it is “an easy leap,/ to pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon” (1.3.201-202). This juxtaposes most strongly with Falstaff’s view of honour which is to question “What is honour?

In Henry IV, Part One Shakespeare revels in the opportunity to suggest the idiosyncracy of character through his command of a wide range of both verse and prose. As a result the play is full of rich and different character parts (Wells 141). Two in particular, Falstaff and Hotspur, hold diverse beliefs concerning the main theme of the drama, honor. In Shakespeare’s time, honor was defined as the special virtues which distinguish those of the nobility in the exercise of their vocation–gallantry in combat with a worthy foe, adherence to the accepted code of arms, and individual loyalty to friends, family, and comrades in arms (Prior 14). Throughout the play, honor plays an important role in

Shakespeare creates a composite view of honor in Henry IV part I, that challenges its existence. From the opening speech, we see the characters struggle to grasp its complexity. Throughout the entire play, they toy back and forth with the distinctions and social expectations of both internal and external honor. Allowing themselves to fight an internal struggle with the conflicting views, weight and consistency of an honor that doesn’t truly exist.