Much Ado About Nothing
Much
Ado About Nothing is a comedy
by William Shakespeare
thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching
the middle of his career. The play was included in the First
Folio, published in 1623.
By
means of "noting" (which, in Shakespeare's day, sounded similar to
"nothing" as in the play's title,[1][2] and which means gossip, rumour, and overhearing), Benedick
and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio
is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar on the erroneous belief that she
has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set
things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the
two couples.
Characters
- Benedick, a lord and soldier from Padua; companion of Don Pedro
- Beatrice, niece of Leonato
- Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon
- Don John, "the Bastard Prince", brother of Don Pedro
- Claudio, of Florence; a count, companion of Don Pedro, friend to Benedick
- Leonato, governor of Messina; Hero's father
- Antonio, brother of Leonato
- Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro, a singer
- Borachio, follower of Don John
- Conrade, follower of Don John
- Innogen, a ‘ghost character’ in early editions as Leonato's wife
- Hero, daughter of Leonato
- Margaret, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero
- Ursula, waiting-gentlewoman attendant on Hero
- Dogberry, the constable in charge of Messina's night watch
- Verges, the Headborough, Dogberry's partner
- Friar Francis, a priest
- a Sexton, the judge of the trial of Borachio
- a Boy, serving Benedick
- The Watch, watchmen of Messina
- Attendants and Messengers
Synopsis
In
Messina, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro, a prince from Aragon, will return that night from a successful battle, alongside
Claudio and Benedick. Beatrice, niece of Leonato, a governor of Messina, asks
the messenger about Benedick and makes sarcastic remarks about his ineptitude
as a soldier. Leonato explains that "There is a kind of merry war betwixt
Signor Benedick and her."[3]
Upon
the soldiers' arrival, Leonato welcomes Don Pedro and invites him to stay for a
month, Benedick and Beatrice resume their "merry war", and Pedro's
illegitimate brother Don John is introduced. Claudio's feelings for Hero,
Leonato's only daughter, are rekindled upon seeing her, and Claudio soon
announces to Benedick his intention to court her. Benedick, who openly despises
marriage, tries to dissuade his friend, but Don Pedro encourages the marriage.
Benedick swears that he will never get married. Don Pedro laughs at him and
tells him that when he has found the right person he shall get married.
A
masquerade ball
is planned in celebration of the end of the war, giving a disguised Don Pedro
the opportunity to woo
Hero on Claudio's behalf. Don John uses this situation to get revenge on him by
telling Claudio that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. A furious Claudio
confronts Don Pedro, but the misunderstanding is quickly resolved and Claudio
wins Hero's hand in marriage.
Meanwhile,
Benedick disguises himself and dances with Beatrice, who proceeds to tell this
"mystery man" that Benedick is "the prince's jester, a very dull
fool." Enraged by her words, Benedick swears he will have revenge. Don
Pedro and his men, bored at the prospect of waiting a week for the wedding,
concoct a plan to match-make between Benedick and Beatrice. They arrange for
the former to overhear a conversation in which they declare that the latter is
madly in love with him, but is too afraid to tell him as their pride is the
main impediment to their courtship. Meanwhile, Hero and her maid, Ursula,
ensure Beatrice overhears them discuss Benedick's undying love for her. The
tricks have the desired effect: both Benedick and Beatrice are delighted to
think they are the object of unrequited
love, and both accordingly resolve to
mend their faults and reconcile.
Meanwhile,
Don John, the "bastard prince", plots to stop the wedding, embarrass
his brother, and wreak misery on Leonato and Claudio. He informs Don Pedro and
Claudio that Hero is unfaithful, and arranges for them to see his associate,
Borachio, enter her bedchamber and engage in an amorous liaison with her
(though in reality it was Margaret, Hero's chambermaid). Claudio and Don Pedro
are taken in, and the former vows to publicly humiliate Hero.
At
the wedding the next day, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests and
storms off with Don Pedro, causing Hero to faint. A humiliated Leonato
expresses his wish for her to die. The presiding friar intervenes, believing
Hero to be innocent. He suggests the family must fake Hero's death in order to
extract the truth and Claudio's remorse. Prompted by the day's stressful
events, Benedick and Beatrice confess their love for each other. Beatrice then
asks Benedick to kill Claudio as proof of his devotion, since he has slandered
her kinswoman. Benedick is disgusted and at first denies her request. Leonato
and his brother Antonio blame Claudio for Hero's apparent death and challenge
him to a duel. Benedick then does the same, following Beatrice's commands as he
is one of the few who believe Hero. Luckily, on the night of Don John's
treachery, the local Watch apprehended Borachio and his ally, Conrade. Despite
the comic ineptness of the Watch (headed by constable Dogberry, a master of malapropisms), they have overheard the duo discussing their evil plans.
The Watch arrest the villains and eventually obtain a confession, informing
Leonato of Hero's innocence. Though Don John has fled the city, a force is sent
to capture him. Claudio, stricken with remorse at Hero's supposed death, agrees
to her father's demand that he marry Antonio's daughter, "almost the copy
of my child that's dead"[3] and carry on the family name.
At
the wedding, the bride is revealed to be a still living Hero. Claudio is
overjoyed. Beatrice and Benedick, prompted by their friends' interference,
finally and publicly confess their love for each other. As the play draws to a
close, a messenger arrives with news of Don John's capture, but Benedick
proposes to postpone deciding Don John's punishment until tomorrow so the
couples can enjoy their newfound happiness. Don Pedro expresses his loneliness
since he hasn't found love, to which Benedick responds, "Get thee a
wife."
Sources
Stories
of lovers deceived into believing each other false were common currency in
northern Italy in the sixteenth century. Shakespeare's immediate source could
have been one of the Novelle ("Tales") by Matteo
Bandello of Mantua, dealing with the tribulations of Sir Timbreo and his
betrothed Fenicia Lionata in Messina after King Piero's
defeat of Charles of Anjou,
perhaps through the translation into French by François de Belleforest.[4] Another version featuring lovers Ariodante and Ginevra,
with the servant Dalinda impersonating Ginevra on the balcony, appears in Book
V of Orlando Furioso
by Ludovico Ariosto,
published in an English translation in 1591.[5] The character of Benedick too has a counterpart in a
commentary upon marriage in Orlando Furioso,[6]
but the witty wooing of Beatrice and Benedick is original and very unusual in
style and syncopation.[4] One version of the Claudio–Hero plot is told by Edmund
Spenser in The
Faerie Queen (Book II, Canto iv).[7]
Date and text
The
earliest printed text states that Much Ado About Nothing was
"sundry times publicly acted" prior to 1600 and it is likely that the
play made its debut in the autumn or winter of 1598–1599.[8] The earliest recorded performances are two that were given
at Court in the winter of 1612–1613, during the festivities preceding the
marriage of Princess Elizabeth
with Frederick V, Elector Palatine (14 February 1613). The play was published in quarto in 1600 by the stationers Andrew
Wise and William
Aspley. This was the only edition prior to
the First Folio
in 1623.
Analysis and criticism
Style
The
play is predominantly written in prose.[9] The substantial verse sections achieve a sense of decorum
and provide energy to its audience.[10]
Setting
Much
Ado About Nothing is set in Messina, a port on the island of Sicily, which is next to the toe of Italy. Sicily was ruled by Aragon
at the time the play was set.[11] The action of the play takes place mainly at the home and
on the grounds of Leonato's Estate.
Themes and motifs
Gender roles
Benedick
and Beatrice quickly became the main interest of the play, to the point where
they are today considered the leading roles, even though their relationship is
given equal or lesser weight in the script than Claudio and Hero's situation. Charles II
even wrote 'Benedick and Beatrice' beside the title of the play in his copy of
the Second Folio.[12] The provocative treatment of gender is central to the play
and should be considered in its Renaissance context. While this was reflected and emphasized in certain
plays of the period, it was also challenged.[13] Amussen[14]
notes that the undoing of traditional gender clichés appears to have inflamed
anxieties about the erosion of social order. It seems that comic drama could be
a means of calming such anxieties. Ironically, we can see through the play's
popularity that this only increased people's interest in such behavior.
Benedick wittily gives voice to male anxieties about women's "sharp
tongues and proneness to sexual lightness".[13] In the patriarchal society of the play, the men's loyalties
were governed by conventional codes of honour and camaraderie and a sense of
superiority to women.[13] Assumptions that women are by nature prone to inconstancy
are shown in the repeated jokes on cuckoldry and partly explain Claudio's readiness to believe the slur
against Hero. This stereotype is turned on its head in Balthazar's song
"Sigh No More," which presents men as the deceitful and inconstant
sex that women must suffer.
Infidelity
A
theme
in Shakespeare is cuckoldry or the infidelity of a wife. Several of the
characters seem to be obsessed by the idea that a man has no way to know if his
wife is faithful and therefore women can take full advantage of that fact. Don
John plays upon Claudio's pride and fear of cuckoldry, which leads to the
disastrous first wedding. Many of the males easily believe that Hero is impure
and even her father readily condemns her with very little proof. This motif
runs through the play, often in references to horns, a symbol of cuckoldry.
In
contrast, Balthasar's song "Sigh
No More" tells women to accept men's
infidelity and continue to live joyfully. Some interpretations say that
Balthasar sings poorly, undercutting the message. This is supported by
Benedick's cynical comments about the song, where he compares it to a howling
dog. However, in the 1993 Branagh film Balthasar sings beautifully, the song is
also given a prominent role in both the opening and finale and the message
appears to be embraced by the women in the film.[15]
Deception
In
Much Ado About Nothing, there are many examples of deception and self-deception.
The games and tricks played on people often have the best intentions – to
make people fall in love, to help someone get what they want, or to lead
someone to realize their mistake. However, not all are meant well, such as when
Don John convinces Claudio that Don Pedro wants Hero for himself, or when
Borachio meets 'Hero' (who is actually Margaret, pretending to be Hero) in
Hero's bedroom window. These modes of deceit play into a complementary theme of
emotional manipulation and the ease with which the characters' sentiments are
redirected and their propensities exploited as a means to an end. The
characters' feelings for each other are played as vehicles to reach an ultimate
goal of engagement rather than seen as an end in themselves.
Masks and mistaken identity
People
are constantly pretending to be others or being mistaken for other people. An
example of this is Margaret who is mistaken for Hero, which leads to Hero's
public disgrace at her wedding with Claudio. However, during a masked ball in
which everyone must wear a mask, Beatrice rants about Benedick to a masked man
who turns out to be Benedick himself but she acts unaware of this at the time.
During the same celebration, Don Pedro, masked, pretends to be Claudio and
courts Hero for him. After Hero is announced "dead," Leonato orders
Claudio to marry his "niece," who is actually Hero in disguise.
Noting
Another
motif is the play on the words nothing and noting, which in
Shakespeare's day were near-homophones.[16] Taken literally, the title implies that a great fuss
("much ado") is made of something which is insignificant
("nothing"), such as the unfounded claims of Hero's infidelity and
the unfounded claims that Benedick and Beatrice are in love with each other.
The title could also be understood as Much Ado About Noting. Much of the
action centers around interest in and critique of others, written messages, spying, and eavesdropping. This attention on others is directly mentioned several
times, particularly concerning "seeming," "fashion," and
outward impressions.
Nothing is also a double
entendre; "an O-thing" (or "n
othing" or "no thing") was Elizabethan slang for "vagina", evidently derived from the pun of a woman having
"nothing" between her legs.[4][17][18]
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