Illustration of Hero wearing a mask

Much Ado About Nothing

by William Shakespeare

Start Free Trial

In Much Ado About Nothing, how and why do the following characters change from the beginning of the play to the wedding? Hero, Claudio, Benedick, and Beatrice

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

I'm not sure that Hero really changes very much from the beginning to the end of the play. She remains very trusting of Claudio, despite the fact that he publicly shamed her and refused to marry her at their wedding.

Beatrice and Benedick both learn that they really can trust one another and that marriage won't be such a horrible thing after all. When the play begins, they both swear they will remain single, and especially that they will have nothing to do with the other. But through the manipulations of their friends, they learn that what they wanted all along was truly marriage to one another. In addition, Beatrice learns that Benedick is truly a trustworthy man because of his willingness to fight Claudio for Hero's honor.

Claudio, I think (I hope!), has come to realize that he really can trust Hero to be faithful to him. Twice he was led to believe that she was disloyal to him (both times by Don John - come on, Claudio, catch a clue!), and both times he was shown that she really was "a jewel"!

Check the links below for more information - Good luck!

Approved by eNotes Editorial Team
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Benedick starts the play as someone who claims to want to be a bachelor forever, and a self-proclaimed "professed tyrant" (I.i.169) to women.

He does not want to fall in love, and prefers the life of a soldier. This changes completely however, when Benedick falls in love with Beatrice. Soon, he has forgotten all about his previous ideals, and is helplessly in love.

See eNotes Ad-Free

Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Approved by eNotes Editorial Team