Much Ado About Nothing

Explain what you think the ending of the play suggests about the nature of romantic love.

Shakespeare is portraying different views about the nature of romantic love. There are two couples presented that are tied to each other in diverse ways because of their characters and personalities.

The first duo, Claudio and Hero, supposedly represents the ‘classic’ romantic love in which lovers, who have never met, fall in love with each other at first sight. They quickly arrange a marriage in a week. Claudio asks Leonato, her father, not Hero, if he could marry her. She accepts to marry Claudio without knowing him at all before his month long visit and does what she is told.  She is also ready to marry the prince as well, when Don Pedro was wooing her for Claudio. Hero is a passive character. There isn’t any true emotional attraction, especially on Claudio’s part, just a shallow love at first sight.

There is not much emotional attraction or faith in her from Claudio because, as soon as he became suspicious of Hero being unfaithful, he quickly forgets all the love he had, believes that it was Hero at the window with another man, believes Don John and does not interrogate Hero herself about the whole situation. He does not hesitate to shame her publicly. The mishap happened because Hero and Claudio never had a strong understanding of one another. There are no connections and shared experiences through previous encounters.  What Claudio is mainly concerned with is Hero’s virtuousness.

It also appears that Claudio’s opinion about Hero can change quickly. In the last act we see:

Don Pedro
But did my brother set thee on to this?

Borachio.

Yea, and paid me richly for the practice of it.
Don Pedro
He is composed and framed of treachery,
And fled he is upon this villany.

Claudio
Sweet Hero! Now thy image doth appear
In the rare semblance that I loved it first. (V.1.241-246)

Claudio is clearly on the dominant side of his relationship. He wrongly accuses Hero in front of many members of the town, publicly shaming her. After the confusion was resolved, he expects to marry her as if he never committed any wrong towards her.

On the other hand, we have Benedick and Beatrice. Shakespeare tells us that they have had previous encounters, not always positive ones.  Beatrice does not speak not so highly of Benedick at the start of the play, just by hearing his name. Benedick states that he would never get married.  The love is dynamic, due to the arguing and changes of opinion. With the constant arguing and understanding, they are displaying a different sort of love, a more solid one. Beatrice and Benedick can be considered lovers on the same level, regarding dominance in the relationship, unlike Claudio and Hero.   They both write poems for each other, so it is not really a matter of one going after the other.

By the end of Act V Benedick and Beatrice give the impression of a stronger marriage. Benedick, not only asks Antonio or Leonato if he could marry Beatrice, he asks Beatrice herself:

Benedick

Soft and fair, Friar.—Which is Beatrice?

Beatrice

(unmasking) I answer to that name. What is your will?

Benedick

Do not you love me?

Benedick

Why then, your uncle and the Prince and Claudio

Have been deceived. They swore you did

Beatrice

Do not you love me?

Benedick

Troth, no, no more than reason

Beatrice

Why then, my cousin, Margaret, and Ursula

Are much deceived, for they did swear you did. (V.4.72-79)

The second couple in consideration learned that they had been set up the whole time; they realized that they were not in love with each other in the first place.  Both the lovers are full of wit and talkative. As the play progresses, they tend to hide their feelings from each other by verbally arguing all the time. Benedick is not easily fascinated by Beatrice’s beauty, differentiating from Claudio.  He is a firm believer of bachelorhood and only Beatrice’s quick wits and outspoken personality end up convincing him.  Beatrice, on the other hand, is also in love with him, but is too embarrassed to admit it.  But they marry, because they had built love as time and events progressed. Benedick at the weddings says “A miracle! Here’s our own hands against our hearts.” (5.4.91) as the wedding guests find the love poems in prose found in the lovers’ pockets.

Then there are the future challenges that both of these couples are going to face within their marriages. There are the constant reminders of what happened in the past.  Hero will always remember Claudio’s accusation of her. He quickly believed Don John’s lie when Borachio flirted with Hero’s servant Margaret.  Therefore, Claudio will always be concerned with Hero’s faithfulness, as he is easily tricked into believing anything bad about her.  All the wrong doing and accusations that happened in the play can be considered as a stain. During the play, Benedick eventually left his best friend Claudio and challenged him to a duel, to honor Hero, in Beatrice’s sake. This was a clear indication that they are willing to do any sacrifice for the other. It could be easily overcome with time, patience and by building better emotional connections.

Benedick and Beatrice confront each other with issues by arguing all the time. They will have a longer and more solid marriage because of the true and honest passion.  In the future, both the couples will need to be attentive to possible negative whispers that might lead them into believing something that is not true. But on the positive note, Benedick will probably confront Beatrice in case such a thing happens.

Works Cited:

– Crowther, John, ed. “No Fear Much Ado About Nothing.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

Help Received:

I have used websites cited in the section above to better help me understand the concepts that Shakespeare is trying to portray to the audience. It also helped me understand some passages during the play. Furthermore, I dedicated additional time to review this play with the help of the Writing Center.