Shakespeare has a way of making his plays have a whole array of themes and perspectives to see the story from. One can argue that the main theme can usually be something along the lines of Love or Deception or even Honor. In particular, looking at Much Ado About Nothing, you can apply the same. I would argue that shakespeare chose to develop the theme of deception throughout this play. In particular, the way that Beatrice and Benedick end up falling in love is all thanks to deception.
Throughout Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare develops the theme of deception through Beatrice and Benedick, who change their points of view on how life should be lived as a result of their experiences.
The first encounter that we witness between Beatrice and Benedick has them
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Claudio, Hero and Don Pedro all realize how perfect Beatrice and Benedick are together and so they set up a plan to deceive the two of them into falling in love. Don Pedro comes up with the plan to be having Benedick eavesdropping on Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio chatting about how much Beatrice is secretly in love with Benedick. Just as they expected , their plan goes off without a hitch. After the group is done talking and they all leave, Benedick comes out of hiding and start talking about what he just heard and realizes that he is in love with Beatrice. “I will be horribly in love wit her.” (2.3.231) The next scene is the final part of their plan, to convince Beatrice that she is in love with Benedick. Hero, Margaret and Ursula talk together while Beatrice is listening. Their conversation is fairly similar to the one the guys had. After the girls are done deceiving Beatrice and leave Beatrice comes to the realization that maybe she does love Benedick after all. “To bind our love in the holy band;” (3.1.114) If it weren't for their friends they might have never fallen in love with each
Her remarks on Benedick now shows major character change in her perspective on love over pride. Beatrice’s assertions shows that her humble, intuitive acceptance of her faults of being too proudy and her willingness to change shows that once pride has been diminished from a person’s dictum, all obstacles to love are
The audience may understand the concept of love and romance flowing within the characters because it was to portrayed that way but the critics would argue the fact that some of the characters like Beatrice and Benedick were made to fall in love with each other through deception. As simple as the characters were, the situations arousing in the play became more complexed as scenes passed by. What led to the trouble and chaos in the play also led to the solution in the end, when Claudio and Don Pedro were deceived into thinking by Don John that Hero was unfaithful. That very same idea also solved the problem in the end when Leonato, Hero’s father, deceived Claudio by making him believe that she is dead and that it is his duty to clear Hero’s name by reading out on her tomb and marrying the said niece who looks just like Hero. Again the plotting against own is present where the said niece turns out to be Hero and she comes back to life again.
In life issues can happen. These events can sometimes destroy relationships. In William Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, Hero and Claudio’s relationship was fractured while Benedick and Beatrice was not. This was because Beatrice and Benedick communicated more than Hero and Claudio did, their relationship was more withstanding, and they knew each other's faults and accepted them. Beatrice and Benedick had a better relationship than Hero and Claudio because they communicated more.
While they are conversing, Beatrice plainly states that she wants Benedick to “kill Claudio...a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured [her] kinswoman (Shakespeare 74-75).” Beatrice makes very bold actions, and she is not afraid of doing so. This shows how Beatrice and Hero are foils of each other because Hero takes actions that are safe and pleasing to others, while Beatrice does what she wants and doesn’t care about what others think of her actions. Another example of this occurs during the Masquerade Ball. Beatrice talks with Don Pedro and is quoted to have said, “My cousin tells him in his ear that he is in her heart (Shakespeare 27).”
She thought the situation was unjust and wants to rip Claudio to pieces for it. Hero, in contrast, just says “ Is my Lord well, that he doth speak so wide?” ( Shakespeare 154). In contrast to beatrice’s reaction, Hero asks Claudio is he is feeling alright. After that she proceeds to faint, pretend to be dead, and marry Claudio in the end.
In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Don Jon and Don Pedro’s deceit are not only told for positive and negative reasons, but have calamitous outcomes on other characters. In the play, The bitter Don John has learned of the upcoming marriage of Claudio and Hero, and desires a way to prevent it. Don John’s servant Borachio devises a plan for Don John to go to Claudio and Don Pedro and tell them that Hero is not a virgin but a whore, a woman who has willingly corrupted her own innocence a day before her marriage and at the same time chosen to be unfaithful to the man she loves. In order to prove this accusation, Don Jon brings Don Pedro and Claudio below the window of Hero’s room on the night before the wedding, where they
This juxtaposes Claudio and Hero’s relationship is based on purely on physical looks, which are not always truthful. In an opposing manner, Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship was not started from a completely dishonest place. Over years they had built a relationship through passive aggressive remarks rather than physicality, thus ensuring that they would know each other at their core. Therefore in order to move the relationship along it only took light coaxing of the small truths to progress their love. For instance, in Act One Beatrice and Benedick’s “merry war” of arguments is viewed as a type of flirting instead of actual anger or annoyance towards each other (1.1.50-54).
Even though she and Hero are close, they are not much alike. While Hero is polite, quit, respectful and gentle, Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty and sharp. Although Beatrice is outspoken and seems hard she is vulnerable. Once she hears Hero talking about how Benedick is in love with her she opens herself to the sensitivitis and weaknesses of love. Unlike Hero who is will do anything her father asks and will agree to an arranged marraige to marry anybody that her father picks, Beatrice refuses to marry because she feels that she has not found the perfect man for her?
When Beatrice asks Benedick to duel Claudio for her, he agrees and plans to duel him. Benedick and Claudio are best friends who had fought in battle together, but the love of a woman completely changes Benedick’s allegiance from his fellow soldiers to his new love. Before falling in love with Beatrice, Benedick would have done everything possible to protect his brothers in battle. Now, love has emboldened him to make a choice that he would not have previously made. Benedick’s sacrifice of a meaningful friendship proves that he is now completely devoted to his relationship with Beatrice and is willing to do whatever necessary to preserve that relationship.
In the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing Benedick and Beatrice are strong-willed people who fear falling in love will lead to heartbreak. This cause them to deny their affections towards each other. This then causes the other characters to interfere in their love life. Another, example of manipulation is when Hero and Claudio's love for each other is torn apart by the deviousness of Don John's actions For Instance, Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato plan to trick
Than Hero does the same to Beatrice and gives the paper to Benedick they read the paper. Benedick starts to talk and so does Beatrice, then they confess their love to each other and kiss. Finally they are together which makes every one happy and celebrate the newlyweds and Beatrice and Benedick for finally getting
Much Ado About Nothing. This quote by Beatrice was the point when she truly fell in love with Benedick. Interestingly, this line also showed Beatrice giving away her pride, and contempt, all in all suggesting that with pride love cannot
Relationships based on love, like Benedick and Beatrice 's, have a strong foundation that will stand the test of time since they are rooted in love. Benedick and Beatrice 's relationship showed that love and friendship being involved in a relationship is both healthy and necessary. True love involves more than just the physical attraction Hero and Claudio experience. Without being able to relate to a person on an intellectual and emotional level, there 's no way the relationship will be able to overcome any problems. Despite Beatrice’s request for Benedick to challenge Claudio and Hero’s shame weighing heavily on them, their relationship still prevailed.
In William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing many characters are compared and contrast as many are paired up. Two characters in particular who could be contrasted and compared are Hero and Beatrice. Hero and Beatrice are cousins and a very different from one another. However, as the play progresses and the characters begin to develop, some similarities between the two begin to show up. Leonato is Hero’s father while Beatrice has no parents.
It was a set up marriage and she would just try to make the male proud. Relationships, in the modern day, are more egalitarian than they use to be. This allows Benedick and Beatrice to represent more of a modern time ideal couple, than Claudio and Hero. A great quote about relationships is “ Respect is as important as love in a relationships”