Rumors and Dishonesty in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion. He hath indeed better bettered expectation than you must expect of me to tell you how. (Act 1, scene 1, line 12). This is the first we hear of the reputation of Claudio, from it we learn that he is mature, a good soldier, and has exceeded expectations. Leonato, having only heard good things about the young man, treats Claudio with respect and allows this very young man to marry his only daughter. This is an example of the saying ‘your reputation precedes you’. Benedick’s reputation is very apparent throughout the play: a Joker. At the Ball, Benedick in disguise, asks Beatrice about what she thinks of him, and she describes how most see him: 'Why, he is the Prince 's jester, a very dull fool, only his gift is in devising impossible slanders. None but libertines delight in him, and the commendation is not in his wit but in his villainy, for he both pleases men and angers them, and then they laugh at him and beat him. ' (Act 1, scene 7, line 2). Don John and Don Pedro have opposite reputations and perceptions of their characters. Don Pedro is a war hero, the prince, highly respected and trustworthy. He is the authoritarian, the one to look to for advice and input. We can see this when Leonato says: If you swear, my lord, you shall not be forsworn. [To Don John.] Let me bid you welcome, my lord, being reconciled to the

Deceit and trickery play a huge part in the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. Deception is a key theme in the play, it also moves the plot along. Trickery and deception is used in the love stories of couples Hero and Claudio, and Benedick and Beatrice, with opposite results. This play demonstrates two different kinds of deceit: the kind whose only purpose is to cause trouble, and the kind that is used to form a good outcome. In the relationship of Hero and Claudio, deception nearly succeeds in breaking them apart forever, while in the case of Benedick and Beatrice, it brings them closer together.

Shakespeare has demonstrated the ramifications of human nature that have arisen through the misunderstandings of the characters. Shakespeare does this by effectively conveying the dramatic technique reversal. The purpose of the technique is to show the reader the complexities of human nature by demonstrating that even a common example of misunderstanding could change the direction of one's life, and the perception of an object. This is evident through the quote “That I love her, I feel” in Act 1 scene 1, said by Claudio about Hero, which is later contradicted with the quote “There, Leonato, take her back again. Give not this rotten orange to your friend”, who is referencing Claudio’s betrayal. Claudio believed that the person Borachio was making love to was Hero instead of Margaret, due to the succession of Don John’s master plan. During this scene, Claudio displays a sense of misunderstanding by falsely concluding that his fiancée had been ‘unfaithful’ to him. Reversal is shown when Claudio is enraged by the fictitious actions of Hero when he abandons her at the day of their wedding. Shakespeare has demonstrated misunderstanding through the dramatic technique, reversal to explore the complexities of human nature.

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,

In the play, Don Pedro takes it upon himself to device a benign deception that would allow Benedick and Beatrice to realize their true feelings. Through this deception, Benedick and Beatrice could acknowledge and embrace their genuine feelings for one another. Don Pedro implements his plan when he, Claudio and Leonato stage a conversation for Benedick to overhear. Leonato tells the other two gentlemen that his niece Beatrice is madly in love with Benedick. Leonato says how “she loves him with an enraged affection, it is past the infinite of thought (2.3. 108-109).” Claudio takes it up a notch with his dramatization of the extent of Beatrice's love: “Then down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses: 'O sweet Benedick! (2.3. 154-155)” The result of this grand deception is that Benedick is deceived into thinking that Beatrice loves him and he decides to return that love back. The same lies are fed to Beatrice in order to deceive her as well into loving Benedick. This deception is brought to life when Hero sends Margaret to tell Beatrice that Hero and Ursula are in the orchard speaking about her. The deception is woven

How ironic that Claudio’s quick decision to shame Hero at the alter shows his extreme lack of honor and virtue.  Rather than stand by his fiancée’s side, he chooses to believe a rumor and instantly disowns her.

Earlier in the play, a scene was described where Borachio and Don John plan to trick Claudio into thinking that Hero is diwsloyal because of a man in her chamber the night prior to her wedding. After the stated quote, the intent is to try and trick Claudio and show that Hero is disloyal when she is actually not. This quote presents significance by describing the overall trait of the entire act and scene which is the trickery and sabotage of Borachio and Don John upon the hapiness of all of the other characters in the play. Overall, the previouly described scene, in part with an already confused Claudio, makes this quote important to the wedding of Claudio and

The Love between Benedict and Beatrice is a strong love hate relationship after their previous ties had failed between each other. Heros plan is to trick Beatrice into entering the orchard and overhearing their conversations about her. Through their conversation Hero, Ursula praises the virtues of Benedick and to point out the flaws in herself(Act 3 Scene 1). By doing this Hero is able to convince Beatrice to her love of Benedick. However the same time Claudio and Don John are talking of Beatrice's secret love for Benedick. After this occurred both characters realize their true feelings and began to fall for one another through the deception played out by Hero and

In his attempts to find public acceptance, Claudio proves to be easily fooled into believing anything he is told despite obvious lack of proof of what he is being

In William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, love has played a major rule as theme in this play. Shakespeare discussed different kinds of loving relationships; romantic love, family support and loyal friendship, and he shows how different characters react to love in many different ways. The main plot of Much Ado About Nothing is that of the relationship between Claudio and Hero, and the hidden love between Benedick and Beatrice. Similarly, deception is a big concept to consider as a theme in this play. Each of the main characters being the victim of deception; Shakespeare in this play shows that deception is not inherently evil, but can also be pure.

He shows one example of that when Leonato hears the rumor of Hero’s unfaithful actions. When Claudio announces that he will not marry her because of the rumor he heard, Leonato exclaims, “Hath no man's dagger here a point for me?”(4.1.107) Due to the vicious nature of the rumour, when Leonato hears it, he concludes that he would rather be dead than to live knowing of his daughter’s impure actions. Though that reaction may already seem overly dramatic, it was completely unnecessary since he reacted to a lie that became an awful rumor. Shakespeare uses this idea, that Leonato felt prepared to end his own life due to a rumor about his daughter, to show just how detrimental believing such rumors can become. By believing rumors without knowing if they contain truth, members of the village struggle with problems based off of

The importance of the introduction of the idea of eavesdropping and mishearing in I.2 is stressed by the scenes that immediately follow. In I.3 the theme of deceit is again signalled. Don John reveals his true nature as an unscrupulous schemer, and his malevolence towards his brother - hidden under an apparent reconciliation, which all but his cronies have to accept at face value. Antonio's man was not the only one to overhear Don Pedro and Claudio: Borachio reports correctly what Don Pedro's plan is. Don John's love of vindictive mischief breaks out in the twisting of the ">true<-"> report to the ">false<-"> one that Antonio gave Leonato. After the masked

Don John's malevolent plan to ruin Claudio and Hero's wedding was to take effect the night before they were to wed. The malicious Don John constructed, or rather misconstructed, the scheme that insinuated Claudio's belief in Hero's faithlessness. It is Don John who reports to Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is having an affair, and he who stage-manages an elaborate charade featuring his own henchman Borachio and an unwitting stand-in for Hero to lend credence to this fiction. Perhaps the most significant thing to be noted in connection with this deception is that the spectator does not witness the crucial scene in which Claudio overhears the counterfeit exchanges between Margaret and Borachio that persuade him of Hero's guilt. We learn of this episode only at second hand, when Borachio boasts of his exploit (Lucking).

Then, as further jest, the prince sends Beatrice to call Bene*censored* to dinner. She does, and he falls in love with her 'brave' attempt to restrain herself. Ursula, a gentlewoman to Hero, and Hero herself bait a trap of their own for Beatrice. It is made for her to overhear the fact that Bene*censored* loves her. They speak of how arrogant she is, and how she can always find fault with a man; consequently, Bene*censored* is intimidated out of professing his love. She is also baited, and falls in love with Bene*censored*. A very strong relationship is formed as the couple admits their love for one another; after brief hesitation, Benedict even agrees to kill Claudio, someone he trusted enough to confide in, as a sign of his love for Beatrice.

Rumors are all around. They can be good and bad. Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing shows that rumors and words can be hurtful, but a person can come out stronger than before. Instead of confronting the rumors and getting the truth, the play almost ends in tragedy. Claudio shows this when he sees that his fiancé Hero has betrayed him. This sends him into believing everything negative that has been said about Hero. This causes an outburst from him that ruins their love for one other. The Much Ado About Nothings characters assumptions and rumors almost cause a tragic ending. Do these rumors make Hero stronger or bring her down.