• Home Page
  • The Theme Of Love In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

The Theme Of Love In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Improved Essays
Show More
“Much Ado About Nothing.” is a romantic comedy written by the famous poet William Shakespeare. The novel takes place in the early Sixteen hundreds, it features a young woman who is wrongly accused of adultery. Who later is found innocent and recoiled with her lover. It also features another couple, Beatrice and Benedick they both are witty, smart and swear never to be tricked by cupid 's arrow and fall in love. While Shakespeare focuses on the themes of love, lies and deception, he also uses his characters Benedick and Beatrice to show how the influence of others, and love can cause of an unforgettable transformation.

Beatrice is the niece of King Leonato and the cousin of Hero. Beatrice is very clever with her words, and is known for …show more content…
“ I will in the interim undertake one of Hercules labors, which is to bring Signor Benedick and lady Beatrice into a mountain of affection, th’ one with th’ other.”(2.1.305) Don Pedro feels they are perfect for each other due to their similar personalities. The plan starts when Don Pedro has one of the King’s waiting men play a love song in front of Benedick. Don Pedro and the King then have conversation about Beatrice and how madly in love she with Benedick, but she will never get the courage tell him. After Benedick hears this news, he is be side himself first, he questions the news but then swears it must be true because the King is too respectable to lie. “ I should take think this is a gull but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it. Knavery cannot, sure hide himself in such a reverence.” After Benedick hears their conversation he realizes that all of Beterices flaws he saw before are only apart of her unique beauty, and he is in love with her for that.“They say the lady is fair; ‘ tis is a truth, I can bear them witness. And virtuous: ‘tis is so, I cannot reprove it… it”s is not addition to her wit nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.’’ Benedick decides at this point he will not be a bachelor anymore and marry Beatrice. Benedick is ready for the remarks he will get for marrying Beatrice because he denied marriage for so long but he will accept them because he truly does love Beatrice and can accept the fact people change. “ I may chance have some odd quirks and remarks of wit broken on me because I have railed on long against marriage but doth not the appetite alter?” (2.3.208) The plan then continues with Hero the King 's daughter and her servant. They walk while praising Benedick and gossiping about how Beatrice is too proud and scornful to notice that Benedick has love for her, knowing

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Much Ado About Nothing Summary
    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Much Ado About Nothing Summary

    A summary of Much Ado about Nothing Much Ado about Nothing is a comedy play written by the famous author, William Shakespeare. The play is set in Messina about 1500 A.D. In the start of the play, Don Pedro of Aragon and his noblemen visit their good friend Leonato in Messina after having crushed an riot led by Don John, the prince’s half-brother. With him is the misogynistic and witty Bendick, the former flame of Leonato’s sharped-tonged and fierce niece Beatrice. The former couple are both very stubborn and proud.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Beatrice Character Foil
    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Beatrice Character Foil

    After a few wedding problems, Benedick and Beatrice finally declare their love for each other and get married alongside Hero and Claudio. In the play, Hero is the respectable and polite maiden just wishing she could have a husband to love. On the other hand, Beatrice is a stubborn and feisty woman who could do without a husband until the day she died. Even though they are complete opposites, they found ways to love each other as friends and they both highlight their characteristics as well. In the play, “Much Ado About Nothing”, by William…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Conflict In Much Ado About Nothing
    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Conflict In Much Ado About Nothing

    He is saying he truly loves her and would do anything for her. The fact that Benedick would kill his own friend because Beatrice asked him too, shows us that this is in fact, true love. Benedick and Beatrice have known each other for a while. We know this because after Benedick and Beatrice have one of their ‘battles of wit’, Beatrice says “I know you of old”. It is clear to us, the audience, that Beatrice and Benedick have a hidden love for each other.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Beatrice And Benedick In Much Ado About Nothing
    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Beatrice And Benedick In Much Ado About Nothing

    History has shown that no good can ever come from revenge. Throughout the plot of the drama, Beatrice, and Benedick are tricked into confessing their love for eachother, and Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar. At the end, Claudio agrees to marry Leonato's “niece,” but it is actually Hero. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare, Hero and Beatrice are character foils of each other because of their personality traits, opinions, and how they interact with other characters. One reason Beatrice and Hero are foils of one another is because of their personality traits.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Representation Of Claudio In Shakespeare's Nothing By William Shakespeare
    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Representation Of Claudio In Shakespeare's Nothing By William Shakespeare

    Benedick maintains the belief that ‘he will live a bachelor’, although as the play proceeds, his feelings become clear and that he is ‘horribly in love’ with Beatrice. Beatrice and Benedick deceive each other again at the masquerade ball. While Beatrice pretends to not know that she is dancing with Benedick, she begins to insult him by calling him the “prince’s jester” and that “none but libertines delight in him”, all the while Benedick believes that he is deceiving Beatrice into thinking that he is someone else. There is another example of deceit at the masquerade ball involving Don John ‘the Bastard’.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Sacrifice In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sacrifice In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    The sacrifice of the precious in order to satisfy the expectations of the self and of society often leads to pain and destruction. This is true in the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing, when Claudio forfeits his marriage to Hero and sacrifices a life of happiness with her because he suspects her of infidelity. His willingness to abandon her reveals in him pride and a deep value for female chastity. Claudio’s pride in his power and control, as well as his rigid conformity to societal gender norms, provides insight into the way Shakespeare uses this play as a commentary on personal convictions and cultural expectations.…

    • 1267 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Similarities Between King Lear And Much Ado About Nothing
    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Similarities Between King Lear And Much Ado About Nothing

    It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt (A discussion on the similarities and differences in Shakespeare’s King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing) When renting movies nowadays, the movies are often organized according to their genres. There are thrillers, comedies, rom coms, action/adventure, horror, etc. The list goes on for ages. Before there were movies, there were plays. Shakespeare is the most famous playwright in history.…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Deception In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare
    • 1895 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Deception In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare

    Similarly to Benedict, Beatrice reveals her negative feelings about men and courtship. During her first meeting with Benedick, she states, “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me” (129-130). By saying this, she puts herself out of reach for Benedick, hoping that a relationship with him will never happen. It is clear that Beatrice would prefer to have Benedick hate her. Shakespeare establishes her neglecting view on Benedick to show how influential the deception must be to bring her to accepting Benedick’s love.…

    • 1895 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Issues In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare
    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Gender Issues In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare

    By doing so, Shakespeare was able to show the true patriarchy hidden in society for Claudio thought it was more important to apologize to the father of the victim that the victim herself. Because of that, the belief of being superior and that Hero was merely a “jewel” (I.1.154) was so ingrained in him, so much so that he only idolized her as an object. This shows how Claudio (not Hero) was a “rotten orange” (4.1.29), for he may look handsome on the outside, but on the inside, for he has a rotten personality. Benedick on the other hand, as cliche as it may sound, was converted through love from a man who wanted to be a bachelor into a man that like Beatrice, protected others in times of need. At first, Benedick voices an ideal patriarchal man who complains that Beatrice “speaks poniards, and every word stabs.”…

    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Tragic Undertones In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare
    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Tragic Undertones In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare

    In the play Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare prevents these tragic undertones from overwhelming the comic aspects of the play by using other characters and their personalities. As you read during the play the characters has a big part to play in the way the play goes. For instances in the play Hero’s pretending to die of humiliation this makes her death more realistic than it should've been. The play creates a strong sense of tragic undertones while the comic aspects join in and combines to make the play more interesting to viewers and readers. In Act 4 scene 1 at the end everything seems to be irregular and not normal.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Importance Of Relationships In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Importance Of Relationships In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    People should, depending on situation and their motivation, get involved in relationships, whether for better or worse. Benedick constantly quarrelled with Beatrice, swearing that “until all graces be in one woman, one woman shall not come in my grace” (Shakespeare, 2.3.29). But when Benedick overheard Don Pedro and Leonato discussing Beatrice’s love for him, he began to soften up to Beatrice. Likewise, Beatrice fell in love with Benedick when she eavesdropped on a conversation explaining Benedick’s wholehearted yet concealed love for Beatrice. Without the help of Leonato, Don Pedro, Hero, and Ursula, Benedick and Beatrice would have still been fighting with each other.…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Much Ado About Nothing Deceit Analysis
    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Much Ado About Nothing Deceit Analysis

    Claudio stated “Then down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses: ‘O sweet Benedick, God give me patience.’” (2.3.154-156). When Claudio says this, Benedick’s love switch turns on yet he swears that he only has to love her because she loves him. Out of this lie, Benedick and Beatrice put their differences, or more like similarities aside…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Themes Of Love In The Courtship Of Benedick, And Nothing
    • 2794 Words
    • 12 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    The Themes Of Love In The Courtship Of Benedick, And Nothing

    "The courtship of Benedick and Beatrice has a beautiful observed reality, a poise and maturity, a refreshing humour which makes the operatic main plot seem absurdly unreal. " It is clear that Beatrice and Benedick are in love from the first we see of them; it is not simply through the Prince's intervention that the seeds of love are sown between them. When Beatrice is informed that Don Pedro and his party are coming to Messina, her first thought is for her 'Senior Mountanto'. Within four spoken lines of his arrival Benedick is quarrelling with his 'Lady Disdain'. From the very beginning then their thoughts and speeches are occupied with each other.…

    • 2794 Words
    • 12 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Relationship Between Men And Women In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Relationship Between Men And Women In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    It was only through Benedick that Beatrice would be able to get what she wanted. Benedick was a respectable soldier, which meant that he had the means to confront Claudio and in this manner, restore Hero and her family’s honor. Benedick, by challenging Claudio, would be viewed in a heroic light, while Beatrice would simply be seen as a bystander because she could not challenge him herself. This shifted Beatrice’s position as a vocal and strong woman to a confined woman who could only accomplish something with the aid of a man, perpetuating a sort of damsel-in-distress image, “ I cannot be a man with wishing, therefore I will die a woman with grieving,” (4.1.316-317). The depiction of women in this position is common in Shakespeare’s work; in The Merchant of Venice, Portia, a young heiress, was only given power when she disguised herself as a young, male law clerk.…

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Much Ado About Nothing Critical Review
    • 1791 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Much Ado About Nothing Critical Review

    Much Ado About Nothing Background Although Shakespeare is known for his tragedies, his comedies exemplify his natural genius. As is the case with his other 38 plays, the plot of Much Ado About Nothing is also borrowed. Critics have noted two possible inspirations for this comic play. One is Matteo Bandello’s Novelle, dealing with the love story of Sir Timbreo and his fiancée Fenicia Lionata and the other one is Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso on the romance of Ariodante and Ginevra.…

    • 1791 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings