Much ado about nothing Essay

Thus when Leonato impulsively believes Claudio’s words shaming of Hero he tries to destroy her completely, â€Å"Hence from her, let her die†. Additionally he angrily speaks of her loss of honour as a blemish from which he cannot distance himself through short monosyllabic language, â€Å"O she is fallen into a pit of ink, that the wide sea hath drops too few to wash her clean again†. Conflict is used to draw out the hidden truths that otherwise may not have been revealed. Leonato and his household publicly ‘publish’ that Hero is dead is a bid to punish Claudio and to redeem himself he must accept the hand of Leonato’s ‘niece’ which is really Hero, another example of deception within the play. She is masked implying that Claudio must wed blindly and a dramatic device used to hide feelings or create different character personas. The masking of Hero reveals that Claudio is truly repentant as he is willing to dedicate his life to an unknown woman for Hero and also that the society of marriage has little to do with love. The final irony within the play is the uncovering of Don John’s deceit. It is accidentally stumbled upon by the watch; Dogberry and Verges, two fools who Shakespeare uses as a witty device to create a malapropism. The characters use incorrect words without knowing their blunders to appear stupid and this is an example of comedy within the play that Shakespeare does not disguise subtly as he has previously, but puts bluntly to create the idea of a more modern slapstick humour. Dogberry, a dull witted fool, tries to give witty orders yet misplaces words unlike the intelligence of Beatrice and Benedick, ‘we have now recovered the most dangerous piece of lechery,’ which was intended to read treachery. Borachio admits the deceit to the court finally, ‘I have deceived even your very eyes; what your wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light,’ which is an example of how Shakespeare uses irony as a humorous yet thought provoking device. The theme of conflict is carried through to the plays close as when Borachio confesses to staging the loss of Hero’s innocence, Don Pedro describes this evidence as a sword that tears Claudio, ‘Runs not this speech like iron through your blood? ‘ and Claudio replies that he has already symbolically condemned himself, ‘I have drunk poison whiles he uttered it. ‘ In conclusion we as the audience can see how throughout the ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ there are many conflicts between different characters and around different themes in the play. Beatrice causes conflict, as she rebels against the Elizabethan stereotype of a woman and the role that she is expected to play by society. The audience at the time would have understood her difficulties and battles with societies prejudice against women. In this way Beatrice is seen to be a reflection of Queen Elizabeth I, the monarch of that time. Elizabeth was well known for not ever marrying, and it is clear that Shakespeare took some influence when writing Beatrice’s soliloquies from Queen Elizabeth’s speeches of the time. For example in a letter Queen Elizabeth’s wrote to the king of Sweden declining his proposal of marriage she says â€Å"†We do not conceive in our hearts to take a husband, but highly commend this single life. † The audience will soon hear Beatrice similarly say â€Å"Adams sons are my brethren, and truly I hold it a sin to match in my kindred. † Beatrice and Benedick have a strong conflicting relationship throughout the play as they are fighting against each other in a â€Å"merry war† and also against themselves and their true feelings, which are later revealed to the audience and each other, we hear Benedick say, â€Å"I do not love anything in the world as well as you. † The audience are happy to see this conflict end well and though we are sure that their â€Å"merry war† will continue and keep their love alive, it shall be with humour and affection. Another main theme in the play is that of betrayal and false accusations. When Hero is falsely accused by Don John and Claudio, this conflict brings about great dramatic effectiveness and dramatic irony as the audience knows the truth and are left wondering whether Hero will ever be acquitted. The matter is however solved, surprisingly by Dogberry, who nobody really takes seriously as he is ill educated. Leonato at first tells him to â€Å"be brief† and states â€Å"neighbours you are tedious†. However soon Dogberry and Verges reveal the truth and ironically become the saviours of Hero and Claudio’s relationship. As the plays title suggests, many of the characters take part in observing, listening, or ‘noting’. In order for a plot based on deceit to evolve the characters note each other often, for example when Beatrice is duped into believing that Benedick loves her the plotters conceal themselves in the garden so that Beatrice can note their conversation. â€Å"Look where Beatrice like a lapwing runs close by the ground to hear our conference,† notes Hero. Each line is a placed note for Beatrice to absorb and this is also relevant in the ploy to convince Benedick of Beatrice’s adoration. Shakespeare explores the theme of deception on a variety of levels by showing how deception can have both positive and negative affects. For example the success of deception is shown in the duping of Beatrice and Benedick into falling in love with each other, and alternatively the use of deception in Don John leading Claudio into doubting Hero’s fidelity and ultimately bring about her downfall. Throughout â€Å"Much ado about nothing† there are conflicts presented to the audience which address more serious events, including some that border on tragedy, yet bring about excitement and dramatic tensions in the play to hold the viewers attention, all of which are resolved happily as we see at the end the weddings of the two couples. Pia Charters 11G Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.