Background
Much Ado About Nothing is a play by William Shakespeare that dramatizes a number of contemporary topics such as Love, friendship, society, customs, parent-child relationships and villainy. Considered one of the great writer’s best comedies, the play combines aspects of robust hilarity with some serious discussions of honor, friendship, love, relationships, court politics, and shame. The play is considered a joyful comedy that ends with multiple marriages and has no death. Shakespeare introduces the reader to a group of individuals having a past with each other from the point where Beatrice asks the messenger if all soldiers have returned from the war. Although many themes can be drawn from the play, three key themes of Love, deception and gender are analyzed.
The Theme of Love
Love and romance which defines the nature of attraction between men and women in society is one of the main themes evident in the play. Soon after the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio falls in love with Hero while Benedick and Beatrice continue to engage in a series of witty insults, which have been part of their relationship (Shakespeare 1). Love in the play is presented in different ways; with Claudio’s love for Hero being sort of based on an immature view of romance, while that between Benedick and Beatrice being intricate in nature. From the onset, Claudio does not know Hero and falls in love with an idea of what she is like. Besides, after being suspicious of her for being unfaithful, Claudio instantly forgets her love for her and is full of hatred. Nonetheless, following the series of events that lead to their marriage, their love can be seen to have matured. Hero’s love is also quite simple, accepting her father’s wants and being ready to marry Claudio without actually knowing him (Shakespeare 1).
As the play progresses, Hero and Claudio pledge their love to one another and make a decision to get married to one another. In the week before their wedding, the two lovers decide to engage in a play-match to get Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with one another and stop arguing (Shakespeare 1). The trick finally succeeds, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall strongly but secretly in love with each other. After Claudio rejects Hero at the altar, Benedick and Beatrice finally confess their love to one another. It is evident that Claudio and Hero’s love is inherently different from that of Beatrice and Benedick. The latter laugh at the very idea of love and are very determined not to marry, constantly insulting each other. This nonetheless progressively changes and they start showing genuine interest and concern for one another (Shakespeare 1).
Romance is presented in the play integrated with the awareness of social realities. Marrying for social betterment and inheritance coupled with aspects such as chastity makes romantic relationships complicated. Although the courtly marriage between Claudio and hero should be central to the plot, another contrasting different type of love between Benedick and Beatrice is also a key focus in the play. Figurative and highly contrived language is used to depict the conventional love between Claudio and hero and the unconventional one between Benedick and Beatrice. Claudio for example says that, ‘can the world buy such a jewel?’ comparing Hero to a rare jewel, while by contrast, Benedick mocks Beatrice despite being secretly in love with her‘My dear Lady disdain! Are you yet living?’ (Shakespeare 1.1 45).
Love in the play is presented in a complex way since none of the characters explicitly seek love. Love in the play is second to something else such as the inadvertent result of hatred such as the case of Beatrice and Benedick or the incidental fact of marriage. There is also another different view of love as something that is spiritual and cements friendship. There is love between Beatrice and Hero and also a deep respect, love and friendship between Claudio, Don Pedro and Benedick. All the characters have a close understanding and respect for one another, besides although they at times make fun of or criticize one another, they genuinely respect and care for each other (Shakespeare 1).
Deception
Another key theme evident from the play is deception, trickery or deceit for the purposes of both good and evil. Evidently, a number of characters, good as well as evil, engage in deceit as they attempt to manipulate others and conceal their feelings. Both Benedick and Beatrice hide their true feelings for one another as evident by the bitter insults they engage in (Shakespeare 1). When Beatrice asks the messenger if all soldiers have returned from war, she brings to light the fact that she is attracted to Benedick although she also does not yet comprehend her feelings. Deceit is also evident when Don John has his companion make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving women, at Hero’s window and brings Claudio and Don Pedro to Watch. The trick works and Claudio believing that Hero has been unfaithful to him accuses her of lechery and abandons her at the altar. The trickery continues since, Hero’s stricken and shamed family members pretends that she has died from shock and grief and hides her to allow the truth to be revealed. One of the night watchmen who overheard Borachio bragging about the crime finally reveals the truth. Both Borachio and Conrad are ultimately arrested by the head of the local policy, and when everyone learns that Hero is innocent, she grieves for her (Shakespeare 1).
The final marriage between Claudio and Hero is surrounded by trickery and deceit. Leonato instructs Claudio to announce to everybody within the city that Hero was innocent as a punishment. Claudio is also expected to marry Leonato’s ‘niece’ whom they purport to look much more like the dead Hero. When Claudio finally goes to church to marry the mysterious masked woman, he is overwhelmed with joy upon realizing that the woman is actually Hero. The two scenarios, Don John falsely slandering Hero for his own mischief and Friar countering the deception by pretending that Hero is dead, shows how deception has been used as a force for good and for evil in the play (Shakespeare 1).
Deception also plays a central role in bringing lovers together in the play, for example, in the case of Beatrice and Benedick, deception is used as a powerful means of bringing the two lovers to accept one another. The deception is necessary as it is the only way of enabling the two characters to accept reality and admit that they are in love with one another. Interestingly, the play’s characters are so willing to be deceived for example; Claudio is unwilling to suspect Don John’s action and both Beatrice and Benedick are also willing to completely change their mind of their strong world view convictions while Claudio is also so willing to marry a complete stranger so as to appease Leonato. Critics have nonetheless argued that the play over relies on deception and the subsequent misunderstanding it produces. The numerous depictions of deception confuse the audience, driving them to assume that it possesses a privileged status in terms of eavesdropping.
Gender
The third theme evident within the play is the Theme of Gender with the characters within the play being subject to multiple expectations and limitation based on their respective genders. Women in the 16th Century when the play was written were expected to submit to the male. In the play, Hero is readily willing to submit to her husband and his wife and equally to her father as his daughter. Additionally, Hero’s duties and expectations naturally arise out of her gender and are therefore expected to be an obedient wife and daughter. He is willing to marry Claudio even before seeing, because it is her father’s wish (Shakespeare 1).
The theme of gender is also evident from the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice who both claim to be looking for impracticable idealized forms of the other sex. Yet in reality, the two who represent femininity and masculinity are actually afraid of admitting that they are actually in love. The play also reveals that each gender has different expectations about each other in love and in relationship. For example, women are told that it is their duty to put up with the men’s faithlessness and deception while men also describe women as deceiving, unfaithful and nagging. Generally, it is evident that both the genders have negative expectations about the other gender; nonetheless, both the genders are also afraid of non-gender issues such as deception and faithlessness. In the play, Beatrice who is the most interesting and strong character is the ideal representation of women in the play. A patriarchal society is evident from t he play and defines much of the gender roles and sexual relations. Patriarchal language characterized by aggression, authoritarianism, and irreverence is used within the text to establish male social dominance. This is particularly true for the male characters and Beatrice who both use patriarchal language in their bid to assert social dominance. For example, Benedick admits that he believes in male superiority noting that ‘Do you question me, as an honest man should do, for my simple true judgment? Or would you have me speak after m custom, as being professed tyrant to their sex?’ (Shakesphere, 1.1. 166).
Conclusion
Much Ado About Nothing is an interesting comedy climaxing with the major conflict that Hero is unfaithful to Claudio and the themes of Love, deception and gender are central to the play. Deception is cleverly integrated within the play making it appear as second to the nature of its character while gender expectations, limitations and prejudices are explicitly presented. Deception has been used as both a tool of villains to spread unhappiness and chaos while it has also been used as a device used by friends to improve one another’s life. The three themes are central to the play, for example love is the motivation for characters and an integral part of their conversation. Even characters who have dismissed or who oppose love such as Beatrice end up falling in love. At the beginning of the play, Beatrice ‘.cannot endure to hear tell of a husband’ nonetheless, at the end she falls in love (Shakespeare 1.2. 23).
Work Cited
William Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. Full Text. Available Online:
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/script-text-much-ado-about-nothing.htm
