Much Ado About Nothing Literary Analysis

The play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare consists of many themes which grow out of the ‘game of love'. The two main themes consist of perception and deception. Through the plot complications, character development and dramatic techniques these themes can be explored. In the play deception is shown on both good and evil sides, the game of love between Beatrice and Benedick and the Don John plot to split up Hero and Claudio. Perception is a theme used in most of Shakespeare's plays. Perceptive views by the characters help portray the game of love. Hero is perceived as dead which then Claudio is sorry and feels for her. Beatrice and Benedick's loved is clouded by each other's perceptions and arguments.

All throughout the beginning of the play, both Beatrice and Benedick use sarcasm and hide their true feelings for each other, which is the first example of tricky in their relationship. Both of them have vowed never to marry anyone; Benedick stating: "Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor." (1.1.232–35), while Beatrice says, "No, uncle, I'll none. Adam's sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred." (2.1.59–60.) Their friends see that they are the perfect match for one another, and plan to trick them into confessing their love for each other. When Benedick is in the orchard, he overhears Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato talking about how Beatrice is in love with him but is afraid he will mock her if she tells him. Benedick believes them, saying, "This can be no trick." (2.3.217.) He then goes on to say, "I will be horribly in love with her." (2.3.230–31.) Later, Beatrice hears Hero and Ursula talking about how they can't tell her that Benedick loves her because she is a scornful person. After Hero and Ursula leave, Beatrice states:

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare "Much Ado About Nothing" in fact has a great deal to say about love and marriage. What is Shakespeare trying to tell us about relationships between men and women? Compare the play's treatment of love with that in "Silas Marner" In "Much Ado About Nothing" there are many different forms of love and relationships that range from youthful infatuation to parental love. Shakespeare makes many comments about men and women and shows the audience a variety of both romantic and platonic relationships.

Once Claudio and Beatrice start planning their wedding, Don Pedro tricks Benedick into thinking Beatrice is in love with him, and vice versa. This lie is similar to the lie in which he uses deceit to get Claudio and Hero together in the first place. Afterward, Benedick says to Beatrice: “There is nothing in the world I love as much as you.” (V,iv,95) [1] Don Pedro’s lie, in contrast to Don John’s, has the rather positive effect of Benedick and Beatrice falling in love. The positive effects of Don Pedro’s trickery mirrors his intentions - helpful. In contrast, Don John tricks Claudio into thinking Hero is unfaithful the night before their wedding, much like how he tricked Claudio into thinking Don Pedro took Hero for himself. Because of this, Claudio accuses: “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed. Her Blush is of guiltiness, not modesty.” (IV,i,35) Claudio publicly accuses Hero of adultery, one of the most heinous crimes of the time, and, at least temporarily, ruins their relationship based on Don John’s lie. Similar to Don Pedro’s example, the effect of the malicious act matches perfectly with Don John’s evil intentions and his meddling character. Claudio’s extreme reaction to this news causes Beatrice to emotionally manipulate Benedick into dueling Claudio for defaming Hero. Thus, the comedy suggests that the aftermath of lying depends on the

They are fascinated by each other, and Shakespeare gives us a tantalizing hint of an earlier relationship between them; responding  to Don Pedro’s  "Come, lady, come,  you have lost the heart of Signor Benedick,"  Beatrice says, "Indeed, my lord, he lent it me a while, and I gave him use (interest) for it, a double heart for his single one.  Marry, once before he won it of me, with false dice."

She throws away her old self, stating "Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!"(3.1.109). She also choses not to be so protective of her independence and declares love for Benedick, claiming "I will requite thee, Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand"(3.1.111-112). However, the true change in Beatrice does not show until the first church scene in which Claudio publicly humiliates Hero. Beatrice shows deep concern for her cousin Hero, the first time in the play where Beatrice shows concern for another. She is the first to claim Claudio is a liar and declare "on my soul, my cousin is belied!"(4.1.145). Beatrice then proves once again that she is a better person by demanding justice for Hero is met. Through Benedick, Beatrice plots to right the wrong and asks Benedick to "Kill Claudio"(4.1.290). It is in this scene as well that Beatrice, proving a complete turnaround in behavior, confesses to Benedick that "I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest "(4.1.287-288). This shows Beatrice transforming from someone who would scoff at marriage and love, declaring things like "I may sit in a corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband"(2.1.312-313), to someone who easily embraces love from the person she once mocked. But such a dramatic change is seen in her love as well.

By using the intense phrases like ‘I lose more blood’ this could also convey that love is something he knows he may be hurt by. Similarly Beatrice states that no man is good enough for her and then also declares her intentions of remaining bachelor. However Beatrice’s confident chatter can be just a cover of her inner insecurities. She may talk as if she definitely will not marry when really she is afraid of this as her age is rapidly increasing; this is a feeling of desperation. Overall, the similarity between their views and feelings sparks a kind of sweet compatibility between them. This shines through their obstinate attitudes reflecting the idea that a love relationship has the potential to evolve. However, this is also makes the end (where they are indeed in love) more surprising therefore presenting their relationship as quite volatile.

Although Beatrice and Benedick are not yet shown as in love, a Shakespearian audience would not have thought it usual for a woman like Beatrice to be speaking as she was about Benedick. However, today it is perfectly normal for Beatrice to be talking like she is, so at the moment, the two relationships are more satisfying to the different audiences. Beatrice and Benedick's relationship has another problem. They both like to use their wit and intelligence to try and outsmart people, and mainly themselves.

Throughout the play they prove time and time again that they loved to argue and banter with each other. This arguing of sorts was thought to be comedic and was referred to in as a “merry war” and a “Skirmish of wit”. They never really wanted to be committed to anyone, much less each other. Beatrice summed up her feelings on love and marriage when she said, “He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me; and that is less than a man, I am not for him” (36). Their love for each other was not a conscious decision on their parts. It was more like a series of events that were well orchestrated by those they loved: Hero, Ursula, Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonado. What they thought they may have wanted really did not matter in the end, because they do get married to each other and they were in

The literal definition of love is an intense feeling of deep affection, however many people claim that the duo Benedick and Beatrice from William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing are not really in love, but after looking at everything Shakespeare has provided, it is easy to see that they are. Benedick and Beatrice are indeed love each other, despite the fact that they were set up into falling in love. They loves each other before they where told so by their friends, but refused to admit it to themselves and turned to teasing and insulting one another. You can’t just fake love, there has to be something there before, and sometimes it’s hard to recognize that feeling for yourself.

Later on in the story, Hero and Claudio are to be married. But before the wedding starts, it is said that Hero has been unfaithful to Claudio. Though this is not true, and her being unfaithful was trick planned by two men named Don John and Borachio, Claudio believes the lie and accuses her of having affairs with repulsive men. The wedding is now cancelled and Hero stabs herself out of grief of Claudio leaving her, but does not die, and Hero’s father, Leonato, tells everyone she is dead because he is ashamed of her. Leonato even tells his niece Beatrice and her secret love Benedict to let Hero die. I know this because Leonato states, “O Fate, take not away thy heavy hand! Death is the fairest cover for [Hero’s] shame That may be wished for” (pg. 131). This is Leonato stating that they should just let her die because he is so ashamed of her that she may as well die. Claudio soon finds out that Hero is not actually dead, and now knows that the affairs that were planted on her were just tricks by Don John and Borachio. Now that their love is not being manipulated anymore, they are finally free to just be lovers by themselves. This supports the theme of manipulated love is not real love because once all manipulations stopped, they were left with nothing but real love and honesty.

Deception can be seen as a medium through which one acts to get what they want. Usually we see deception as unmoral and unethical, however, it could be argued that when someone benefits from being deceived, that the end result outweighs the means by which it was accomplished. This idea of deception that positively impacts characters is thematic throughout Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. In fact, without the use of deception throughout the play there would be no momentum to the plot. Therefore, deception is a reoccurring theme that serves as a means to accomplish an end result that would likely not occur otherwise in the play.

Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 film of Much Ado About Nothing is a British and American romantic comedy, based on William Shakespeare’s renowned production. In sixteenth century Messina, Sicily set on and around Governor Leonato’s estate, villains are outwitted, lovers wed and dancing concludes an underlining major conflict, ‘ado about nothing.’ Suspicion of a deceived wedding, in which husbands are obliged to be controlled and betrayed, but also greatly desire to be married. Branagh employs visual humour through fundamental themes, recurring motifs and symbols, which exemplify abstract ideas, or concepts. Thus, this assists to emphasise the significance of Shakespeare’s dialogue throughout specific scenes in the adaptation.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is a classic novel in which love does not happen as it seems, and there are many themes. In a town called Messina, a man named Claudio falls for a young woman named Hero. He does not know how to get her to fall back in love with him, so Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon, makes a deal with him- he will get her to fall in love with him at a masquerade, but go as Claudio and not himself so they will get married. Also at this time in the story, a young woman named Beatrice is very hard-headed. She believes she will never fall in love she never wants to in the first place. Her enemy, a man by the name of Benedick, is very similar in her thinking, and also believes love is stupid and pointless. Through a simple trick planned by Don Pedro, the two end up dancing together without knowing at a masquerade. Later in the story, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Hero create a plan to try and get the two to stop bickering and fall in love. This plan ends up working, and the two eventually make way out of their hard-headedness and declare love for each other. The theme of this story is manipulated love is not real love. This is the theme because Claudio and Hero fall in love through the manipulations of Don Pedro and others, and Benedick and Beatrice do as well, but because of this, the love is not as it seems.

Introduction: The character of Beatrice in the play Much Ado About Nothing is one of the strongest female characters of Shakespeare. In the play, Beatrice is the niece of Leanato, the Governor of Messina and very close to Leanato’s daughter, Hero. The women in the Elizabethan period had a very low status in the society. However Beatrice is very clever and displays intellectual faculty as well as natural ability for humor in her words. She is both talkative and witty. The contrast between the witty and sharp Beatrice and the polite and quiet Hero is highly noticeable throughout the play’ as it makes the character of Beatrice appear more prominent. Beatrice is a prototype of today’s independent woman, with a jest of renaissance splendor. The character of Beatrice is able to touch a responsible chord in the minds of many readers and playgoers even today in the light of the present social issues that encourage equality and self assertiveness for women.