Much Ado About Nothing

Characteristic of Shakespeare, since Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, a vast amount of puns, or play on words, can be found all throughout the play. Listed below are a few:The first pun can...

There are a couple of reasons why Don John tries to sabotage Hero's wedding. One reason is that Don John blames Claudio for preventing him from overthrowing his brother. Apparently, when Don John...

Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship changes throughout the play. Before we even meet Benedick, Beatrice asks pointed questions about him. Leonato reveals that “There is a kind of merry war betwixt...

Claudio refused to marry Hero because he thought that she was cheating on him. Claudio was tricked, by Don John, into thinking that Hero was cheating on him with another man. He did not actually...

In Act II, Scene 3, of Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato successfully “trick” Benedick into falling in love with Beatrice. Benedick has “railed so long against marriage,”...

Leonardo describes the relationship between Benedict and Beatrice thusly, There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedict and her. They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between...

Sexism was rampant in Elizabethan society. Women were categorized by extremes, as either virgins or wanton women (promiscuous)--no middle ground. Women who talked a lot were placed in the wanton...

Claudio and Benedick would not appear to have much in common. They do have similar life experiences as soldiers and both are energetic young men who appreciate life. However, this is where the...

His relationship to Beatrice is immediately established as one of a familiarity. If Beatrice had just referred to Benedick by his real name, than the audience would have no understanding of the...

Beatrice changes dramatically over the course of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. At the beginning of the play, she is witty, intelligent, independent, and unconventional. In a way, she poses...

Despite its light-hearted title, Much Ado About Nothing has some of the darkest moments in any of William Shakespeare’s comedies. This somber note is primarily sounded by Claudio. The theme of true...

Shakespeare uses Don Pedro and Don John as foil characters, each being the exact opposite of the other. To put it simply, the difference is that Don John is a bad man, and Don Pedro is a good man....

A reader could describe the relationship between Hero and Claudio as idealistic instead of realistic. A previous answer mentioned that it was love at first sight between the two characters. I...

In the early acts of the play, both Beatrice and Benedick can be described as two characters who love to hate each other. Both characters are very similar and it is their similarities that make...

I like to play a game whenever I read a piece of literature. It's a game to find as many themes as possible. I fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind, and then dive into the topic deeper...

As Beatrice says to Benedick in Act 1, Scene i of Much Ado about Nothing, "I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me." (129-130). It is clear that she does not think...

The simple answer lies in the fact that Don John is a bastard, and as such can't be eligible for the same kinds of honors or recognition as his brother, who is of legitimate birth. Even though Don...

Typical of both Beatrice's and Benedick's character traits to show disdain for each other and to mock each other, even in this final scene, at first they publicly deny that they love each other....

Benedick makes a very sexist speech, but he is not really as bad as he seems. He is just in love. Benedick is in love with Beatrice (and she with him), but neither will admit it. He likes to play...

I agree with much of what the answer before me has already expressed—we're not really given all that much information as to the nature of the war which preceded the events of Much Ado About...

Don John spoiled the wedding because he was bitter and wanted to make his brother look bad. He was the illegitimate brother, you see. Don Pedro was the legitimate brother. Don John wanted to make...

Beatrice has been hurt by Benedick before the play begins. This has colored her view of marriage. A highly intelligent and witty woman, she claims that she rejects marriage as an option for...

Honor is a much-desired quality in most people but historically it has been the cause of many disturbances, rifts and killings. Honor means different things to different people and such is the...

Hero and Leonato enjoy a close father-daughter relationship. She is characterized as a sweet-natured young woman and an obedient daughter to her father. This depiction of her character is what...

In the scene referenced above, Benedick is claiming that "he did not think he would live till he was married." He is claiming that he didn't actually change his mind, he just lived...

One reason why Benedick and Beatrice insist for so long that love is for fools is because they are both too proud to admit that they love the other. They both pride themselves on being independent,...

Beatrice loathes men in 1.1, especially the Benedick. For example, in lines 29-30, she resolutely declares, " I would rather hear my dog bark at a crow/than a man say he loves me." In 2.1, her...

The songs appear in Act 2, sc. 3, and in Act 5, sc. 3. The first of these songs is in the scene where Claudio, Don Pedro, and Leonato plot to trick Benedick into believing that Beatrice loves him....

A common mistake! Beatrice and Benedick don't hate each other. When the announcement of the arrival of the soldiers is made, Beatrice makes some insults of Benedick. However, Leonato calls the...

Well, the main "baddie" or villain of the play is definitely Don John, the bastard brother of Don Pedro, who at the beginning of the play has just had his rebellion against his brother's rule...

A static character is one who does not fundamentally change throughout a text, and a dynamic character is one who does. A round character is one who is complex, perhaps even contradictory, and...

Jealousy abounds in this play in a variety of characters (and is surprisingly lacking in some characters, such as Don Pedro's lack of jealousy when Beatrice weds Benedick after she has turned down...

When Benedick begins to feel that he is in love with Beatrice, he also begins to feel blue because he now sees himself as the victim of his own joke. He, like, Claudio, used to mock men who fall in...

He will be a bad lover only if being a good poet and being prone to extravagant romantic gestures are the required qualities of a good lover. Benedick tries to write poetry for Beatrice, but it...

Benedick's first soliloquoy consists of two main parts -- the humorous ridicule of Claudio's change from soldier to lover, and the explanation of how he, Benedick, is immune to the blandishments of...

The reason why Beatrice asks the messenger if Benedick has returned home from the wars is that they have a love-hate relationship. They are the sort of people who absolutely love to hate each...

Benedick means that, first, he and Beatrice know one another too well to overlook each other's faults and thus "woo peaceably". Second, he means that they aren't naive like some people and because...

Don John, having unsuccessfully rebelled against his brother, Don Pedro, and been defeated in battle, turns to other stratagems to make trouble. He feels especially malevolent towards the...

In Much Ado About Nothing Balthasar is a servant and musician whose actions parallel those of the made leads, Don Pedro and Claudio. Balthasar flirts with Margaret during the masque and later...

Hero describes her cousin Beatrice as a very selfish person who judges men harshly. Hero describes Beatrice in this manner in order to persuade her to amend her ways and fall in love with...

In literature, foils exist to emphasize the contrasts between two different characters. In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Hero make interesting foils to one another thanks to...

An oxymoron is when a phrase is constructed using contradictory words or ideas that are placed next to each other. Some examples of this in common speech are the classic "jumbo shrimp" or the...

After Benedick has been tricked into believing that Beatrice has feelings for him, they meet for dinner. William Shakespeare writes: Beatrice: Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to...

In Much Ado About Nothing, honor is a concept that governs the social lives of the characters. To have honor is to be respected. Without honor, a character is essentially exiled from the life of...

Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing opens at the home of Leonato, the governor of Messina in Italy. Leonato, his daughter Hero, and his niece Beatrice are told by a messenger that Don Pedro and...

One lesson learned from the theme of identity is that too much of a woman’s identity is tied up in her chastity. In the seventeenth century, women had no rights. When Hero is denounced on her...

Hero and Beatrice are just about as opposite as night and day. Their one similarity is that both are witty and tease each other in their own way.We first see Hero's modest wit portrayed in the...

The aftermath of war is significant in that it establishes the main characters, giving us an insight into their various personalities. Immediately, we can see that Don Pedro is a take charge guy...

One example of suspension of disbelief can be seen in the moment at the masquerade in Act II, scene 1, when Don Pedro pretends to be Claudio in disguise to ask for Hero's hand in marriage on...

When Benedick is lured into believing that the lady, Beatrice, loves him, it is when he is hiding and listening to two men of his own social station (or higher), the Count Claudio and Don Pedro,...