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Much Ado About Nothing

by William Shakespeare

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Character Dynamics and Relationships in Much Ado About Nothing

Summary:

In Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio and Benedick serve as contrasting character foils. Claudio, a conventional romantic hero, falls for Hero at first sight but is quickly swayed by deceit, leading to mistrust and cruelty. Benedick, initially cynical about love, engages in witty banter with Beatrice, revealing a deeper affection. Unlike Claudio, Benedick's love proves steadfast and genuine. Hero and Claudio's relationship is idealistic and superficial, lacking communication, while Benedick and Beatrice's bond is realistic, built on respect and trust. Despite Claudio's betrayal, Hero marries him, highlighting societal norms and her desire to restore her honor.

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How do Claudio and Benedick compare and contrast in Much Ado About Nothing?

Benedick and Claudio are alike in being good friends who have both been loyal defenders of Don Pedro against his brother's attempt to take his throne. They are both young and handsome. They like to spend time together. However, they have different personalities.

Claudio is more of the conventional romantic hero, of higher status than Benedick and less invested in the friendship. Like Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, he falls in love at first sight, saying of Hero, his new beloved:

Can the world buy such a jewel?

But Claudio also shows that love so quickly won might not be trustworthy. He allows malicious gossip from Don John to turn him against Hero and for all his love talk, treats her cruelly.

Benedick is the witty jokster who loves word play, such as punning and exaggeration. His banter with Beatrice is irreverent and unconventional, the opposite of Claudio's conventional love language. In contrast to Claudio, Benedick is determined not to fall in love—until he does so with Beatrice. But once this really happens, his love is solid—we can't imagine him turning on Beatrice as Claudio does on Hero. He may play the misogynist while Claudio plays the romantic knight, but in reality he is kinder to women than Claudio. Shakespeare seems to be suggesting that Benedick's unconventional love style is more to be admired that Claudio's flowery words.

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Why did Claudio refuse to marry Hero in Much Ado About Nothing?

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 see anything.  What he saw was Hero’s maid, Margaret, at a window, and he thought that it was something else.  Don John arranged the whole thing to discredit Hero.  They say some people are in love with love.  Don John is in love with hate.

In Act 2, Scene 2, Don John and Borachio designed the insult to Hero’s honor.  They would make it look like Hero was with another man, when really it wasn’t Hero at all—it was just her window.

BORACHIO

I can, at any unseasonable instant of the night,
appoint her to look out at her lady's chamber window.

DON JOHN

What life is in that, to be the death of this marriage? (Act 2, Scene 2)

Then Don John just had to make sure that Claudio went to the window and saw “Hero” doing the dirty deed.  He would then doubt his girl.   Don John tells Claudio that Hero has been “disloyal.”

DON JOHN

I came hither to tell you; and, circumstances
shortened, for she has been too long a talking of,
the lady is disloyal.

CLAUDIO

Who, Hero? (Act 3, Scene 2)

Claudio, being the rapscallion that he is, decides not to confront Hero until her wedding day, where he can disgrace her before everyone they know, and tell her then that he isn't going to marry her!  He calls her a “wanton” and while everyone is completely confused, he hurls insults at her.

Out on thee! Seeming! I will write against it:
You seem to me as Dian in her orb,
As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown;
But you are more intemperate in your blood
Than Venus, or those pamper'd animals

That rage in savage sensuality. (Act 4, Scene 1)

This is, in some ways, one of the most tragic scenes in all of Shakespeare.  Poor Hero has done nothing wrong, and dies a symbolic death.  Her reputation ruined, Claudio believes the worst of her without reason.  He was deceived, and she has no recourse.  The solution that they come up with is to tell everyone she is dead, but in some ways, she is.  Claudio refused to marry her, but no one else would either.  Everyone will believe his accusations.

Claudio's behavior after this is just as bad.  He agrees to marry a "substitute" for Hero, as if women were all interchangeable.  The substitute turns out to be Hero, but why would she want to marry this clown anyway?  The truth is, she has little choice.  Even after the truth comes out, the smear he has done to her will follow her ever after.  It may be Don John's work, but it is Claudio's fault for not believing in her goodness.  He said he loved her.  He should have given her then benefit of the doubt.

All of this is just much ado about nothing.  They made a big deal about something that didn't really happen.  However, to Hero, it will follow her forever.  This play tells us what can happen when rumors get started just for fun, or because a person has a bitter heart.  Don John just enjoys causing grief.  He wants revenge because he can't have what they have, and revenge on his brother for being the legitimate one.  Hero and Claudio have nothing to do with this, but they get caught in the crossfire.  So the next time you pass along a piece of juicy gossip that seems innocent, think about who you might actually be hurting.  Is it really nothing?

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Describe the relationship between Hero and Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing.

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 have no problem supporting that concept.  We are told that Claudio looks “upon her with a soldier’s eye / That liked, but had a rougher task in hand.”  Those feelings develop into love while Claudio is away, and it seems that Hero reciprocates his feelings.  The reason I see their love as idealistic is because there isn’t much talking that the two of them actually do.  In fact, Claudio enlists the help of other characters to help woo Hero.  It reads like something straight out of junior high.  Their relationship is very superficial through most of the play.  They like the idea of being in love with each other; however, their relationship is almost brought to an end for really nothing other than a failure to communicate with each other and trust each other.  

A big key to understanding the relationship between Claudio and Hero is to compare it to the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice.  Their relationship is the more realistic, true love.  It is based on mutual respect, trust, and communication.  They don’t happily get along all of the time, but they are capable of looking past each other’s rough edges in order to see the love that is buried deeply between them.

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How are Benedick and Claudio foils in Much Ado About Nothing?

Claudio is a good deal less experienced in the ways of the world than Benedick. As such, he has none of the latter's world-weary cynicism when it comes to relations with the opposite sex. Claudio regards love and marriage in pretty much the same way as everything else in life—seriously. His stubborn loyalty to the dictates of convention means that he has a profound sense of duty, and always tries to do the right thing. Benedick, on the other hand, is much more of a free spirit; he laughs in the face of convention. But then he laughs in the face of just about everything. He has a ready wit and a keen sense of humor which stand him in good stead in his many bouts of witty wordplay with Beatrice.

Claudio's touchingly naive view of the world allows him to be easily taken in by the unspeakable Don John. One can't imagine Benedick falling for such shenanigans. Simply put, Claudio is somewhat immature, and there's not much sign of character change by the end of the play. Yet it is ultimately the more urbane, sophisticated Benedick who comes round to Claudio's romantic view of love, though even during their marriage ceremony, he and Beatrice still can't resist a spot of verbal jousting.

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How are Benedick and Claudio foils in Much Ado About Nothing?

Claudio and Benedick can be regarded as foils to one another for several reasons.  First, Claudio is the young soldier ("my lord Lackbeard"), while Benedick is a more seasoned veteran of battles.  Claudio is also the eager one concerning love and women - he falls head over heels for Hero, while Benedick scoffs at the idea of giving his heart to only one woman.  However, also on the subject of love, we find that Claudio, despite his sudden passionate regard for Hero, is also quite untrusting of Hero - he believes anything Don John, a known villain, tells him about Hero's virtue.  On the other hand, Benedick remains loyal and steadfast to Beatrice, once he is convinced of her love for him.  He even leaves his service to Don Pedro after Hero's disgrace, showing his loyal dedication to Beatrice and her family.

Give Much Ado About Nothing several close reads - I'm sure you'll find even more ways in which Claudio and Benedick are foils to one another!  Good luck!

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

I'm not sure if she melts into his hands, although she is clearly still willing to marry him despite the garbage he dumped on her.  It seems to me like she is more concerned with making sure everyone knows that she was, indeed, an innocent maid.  She doesn't say, "Oh, thank goodness, Claudio, I'm so glad you still want to marry me!"  Instead she says,

One Hero died defiled; but I do live,
And surely as I live, I am a maid. (5.4.65-66)

She makes a public declaration that her jerk of a fiance slandered her to "death," but her innocence has been proven and so now she can live again.  Now, the times being what they were, she couldn't very well say, "My jerk of a fiance...," but she was given two very strong lines, letting the world know that she was mistreated by this man who her father has agreed upon to be her husband.

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

Love conquers all, and the attention span of teenagers is short.  Yes, Hero is concerned with her reputation, but she is more concerned that Claudius' feelings for her have diminished.  Once he again swears his love for her, she melts into his ignoble hands in the hope of a "happily ever after" ending.  Like #5 says, the play is a comedy.  It's supposed to end happily with everyone smiling on his/her way back home.

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

I've always seen Claudio and Hero as nothing more than a foil for Beatrice and Benedick.  Beatrice and Benedick were once dating, and several lines imply they had a spectacular break up.  Each is left not trusting the other or the other's gender as a whole.  Hero and Claudio also have a spectacular break up where each feels ultimately betrayed by the other.   However, the reactions of the two women are very interesting.

Beatrice protects her heart and won't marry anyone, not even when the Prince asks if she would consider him.  As a woman of the era, she can't legally turn him down, but no one questions her ability to decide for herself that she will not marry even the Prince unless she can have another husband for everyday use because he is too fine for her.  Hero is almost slavishly eager to go back to the man who betrayed her.  Certainly, this has something to do with restoring her honor, but it also nicely juxtaposes against the suffering Beatrice has heaped on Benedick after their breakup.

Benedick has to turn on his friends and pledge himself to Beatrice to gain her trust, and even then, she's a little suspicious.  Claudio only has to show up for the wedding, and he's back in.  Hero is, at least in part, a foil character for Beatrice.  

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

I wondered the same thing when I first saw the play. I wouldn't give the jerk the time of day if he treated me that way. However, I live in the 21st century. I have the option of never marrying and making a living on my own. Keep in mind the era in which the play was written. Unless a woman was born into a very wealthy family, a good marriage was the only option for her. We need to be careful about placing our own standards and mores on works written in different eras.

Visit the links below for more information.

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

I'm going to tackle this fine question from two directions: the idealistic and the cynical.

Let me start with a cynical answer: this is a comedy. Shakespeare was giving audiences what they expected. The lovers marry. That's what happens at the end of a comedy.

 And the idealistic answer? Love. She loves him so much that she'll forgive all.

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In Much Ado About Nothing, why does Hero marry Claudio despite their history?

Oh, I think that is such an excellent question!  To be defamed by a man that you trusted in a public setting, to have him show no remorse at your supposed "death" until you were proved innocent of your crime... who would want him for the long run?

Consider the time period, however.  A women's reputation was all that she had.  She could not own property or act of her own free will, so she had to safeguard her reputation to make sure that she was not put out by her family and friends.  This is what her father Leonato says upon Hero being accused:

why, she, O, she is fallen(145)
Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea
Hath drops too few to wash her clean again,
And salt too little which may season give
To her foul tainted flesh!

He claims at this point that she is as good as dead to him, for in losing her reputation, his own reputation has been tainted as well.  This is why the death scheme is enacted, to give some hope that Hero might be exonerated.

The only way for her to be clearly and definitively declared innocent, however, is for Claudius to accept her as his wife.  If, in the end, she had not married him, then she would be supposed to still be tainted.  She has to be wed to him, as was originally planned, if she hopes to regain her full reputation.

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In Much Ado About Nothing, what are three contrasts between Claudio and Benedick?

The biggest contrast is in demeanor.  Claudio is an emotional character, but Benedick is a rational one.  Claudio is caught up by the idea of love, swept away by his attraction to Hero.  He does not consciously think of the idea of marriage and what it means - he just knows that he wants Hero.  He speaks poetically about her, and Shakespeare portrays him as practically swooning in the first act.

But now I am returned and that war-thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging soft and delicate desires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is.

If you have read Romeo and Juliet, think of Claudio as a slightly older, slightly more mature version of Romeo.

Benedick, however, is a man of wit.  He constantly lectures on the drawbacks of marriage, explaining with intellectual consideration all the reasons he may appreciate women:

That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks

But he makes it clear that he will not marry as he considers it a type of slavery to "yoke" himself to a woman.

Another example of this contrast comes in the false accusation against Hero.  Claudio, in jealousy and a fit of emotion, believes and acts upon what he has "seen."  However, Benedick remains behind.  He questions it, he considers the testimony of Hero, and he rationally concludes the truth.

However, although Claudio is less gullible than Benedick, he is also less stubborn.  When he realizes that he was wrong, Claudio admits his mistake freely and performs repentance for it.  He is willing to marry a cousin of Hero's as punishment for his "crime" and does not argue.  Benedick, however, is not so easily moved.  Although he has clearly demonstrated his love for Beatrice, announced it openly to her, he is quick to deny it in mixed company.  He is backed up against his earlier protestations that he would never marry, and so doesn't want to admit that he was wrong.  He actually says this to himself:

When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.

He is showing us that he can't accept that he was at fault - he must change the situation to make it seem as if he was correct all along.  Ultimately, as Claudio must admit that he was too quick to judge Hero, Benedick must admit that he was too stubborn, and they both are rewarded in the end.

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What caused Claudio to refuse to marry Hero in the garden scene?

In act 1, scene 3, of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Don John is expressing his discontent with his situation in life to Conrade, one of his disreputable followers.

DON JOHN. I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause, and smile at no man's jests; eat when I have stomach, and wait for no man's leisure; sleep when I am drowsy, and tend on no man's business; laugh when I am merry, and claw no man in his humour. (1.3.10–14)

Borachio, a drunkard, and another of Don John's followers, comes to tell Don John that Claudio, a young Florentine who is a favorite of Don John's brother Don Pedro intends to marry Hero, the daughter and heir to the governor of Messina's.

Borachio says that he overheard the Prince confide to Claudio that he "should woo Hero for himself, and having obtained her, give her to Count Claudio" (1.3.52–53).

Don John remarks, "This may prove food to my displeasure" (1.3.54–55), and he goes off with Conrade and Borachio to hatch a plot against Claudio and Hero.

It's Borachio who comes up with the plan in act 2, scene 2.

BORACHIO. Go then; find a meet hour to draw Don Pedro and the Count Claudio alone; tell them that you know that Hero loves me...They [the Prince and Claudio] will scarcely believe this without trial. Offer them instances; which shall bear no less likelihood than to see me at her chamber window, hear me call Margaret, Hero, hear Margaret term me Claudio; and bring them to see this the very night before the intended wedding—for in the meantime I will so fashion the matter that Hero shall be absent—and there shall appear such seeming truth of Hero's disloyalty that jealousy shall be called assurance and all the preparation overthrown. (2.2.29–43)

Don John agrees to the plan, and he and Borachio go off to make preparations.

In act 3, scene 2, Don John meets with Claudio and Don Pedro and tells them that he believes that Hero is "disloyal" to Claudio. Don John offers to prove it to them.

DON JOHN. Go but with me to-night, you shall see her chamber window ent'red, even the night before her wedding day. ...

If you will follow me, I will show you enough; and when you have seen more and heard more, proceed accordingly. (3.2.94–96, 102–104)

An interesting aspect of the play is that the audience never sees the "disloyal Hero" scene played out.

Instead, in act 3, scene 3, a drunken Borachio boasts to Conrade that he just earned a thousand ducats from Don John for his villainy, and, in a disjointed and roundabout way, he describes the scene to Conrade.

BORACHIO. ... But know that I have to-night wooed Margaret, the Lady Hero's gentlewoman, by the name of Hero. She leans me out at her mistress' chamber
window, bids me a thousand times good night—I tell this tale vilely; I should first tell thee how the prince, Claudio and my master, planted and placed and possessed by my master Don John, saw afar off in the orchard this amiable
encounter.

CONRADE. And thought they Margaret was Hero?

BORACHIO. Two of them did, the prince and Claudio; but the devil my master knew she was Margaret...away went Claudio enraged; swore he would meet her, as he was appointed, next morning at the temple, and there, before the whole congregation, shame her with what he saw o'ernight and send her home again without a husband. (3.3.131–148)

The next day, during the wedding ceremony, Claudio does, indeed, shame Hero in front of the whole congregation. He refuses to marry her, says "She knows the heat of a luxurious bed," calls her a "wanton," and tells her that she is "more intemperate in your blood / Than Venus, or those pamp'red animals / That rage in savage sensuality" (4.1.38–39, 42, 56–58).

Don Pedro joins in and refers to Hero as a "common stale" (4.1.62), a common prostitute, and shortly thereafter, Hero faints and falls to the floor, seemingly dead. Claudio leaves her at the altar.

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What distinguishes Claudio from Hero in Much Ado About Nothing?

Although initially these two characters seem similar in terms of their shyness and their youth, it is clear that as the play progresses we question Claudio's character more and more. Hero appears to be the stereotypical figure of a meek, mild and submissive woman. Note the way in which she utters but one line in Act I scene 1 for example. Her goodness, purity and innocence are obvious. However, we begin to suspect that there is something rather disturbing about Claudio with the way in which he is so quick to accept the "proof" of Hero's infidelity and especially the way in which he publicly chooses to shame her at their "wedding." He never questions the "proof" that Don John has shown them and chooses to damage both Hero's and Leonato's reputation in public in the most overt way possible. Note the words he uses to do this:

But you are more intemperate in your blood

Than Venus or those pamper'd animals

That rage in savage sensuality.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that Claudio shows great cruelty and viciousness in the way that he denounces his bride-to-be, and a readiness to believe the worst that speaks of a jealous disposition and an obsession with honour. Whilst the two do get back together, we are left with the rather unsettling thought that Claudio has shown himself to be unworthy of his bride.

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