An Understanding Evil in Shakespeare´s Much Ado About Nothing

Don Pedro agrees to aid his company, Claudio, in asking Hero to marry, but Don John thinks otherwise and plans to sabotage the proposal by framing Hero. When Claudio and Don Pedro are fooled, Claudio decides to publicly shame Hero. After the wedding, it is revealed that Don John was the one who sabotaged it, and Don Pedro and Claudio feel guilty and contrite. Don Pedro is disgraced while Don John decides

Claudio had been tricked into believing he was going to marry “Antonio’s daughter”, who is really Hero. Claudio is easily tricked, but not always for bad causes.

How ironic that Claudio’s quick decision to shame Hero at the alter shows his extreme lack of honor and virtue.  Rather than stand by his fiancée’s side, he chooses to believe a rumor and instantly disowns her.

For example, before Claudio arranged a marriage he asked Don Pedro, “Hath Leonato any son, my lord?” (Shakespeare 10). In the quote Claudio is asking if Leonato has a son, because he wants to make sure that Hero inherits all shares of Leonato’s money so that when they are married he can have money. Another example is when Claudio said, “I look’d upon her with a soldier’s eye, that lik’d, but had a rougher task in hand than to drive liking to the name of love.” (Shakespeare 11). In this quote he reveals that he only liked Hero, but with the motivation of money he instantly changed and began to recently love her. Being in love with somebody because of their money or fortune is not only wrong but unhealthy for any type of

This theme of appearance versus reality is common throughout the play in the number of times deception is used among the characters. Deceit, and misinterpretation of the events causes tension among Claudio and Don Pedro (Act 3 Scene iv). After Claudio fell in love with Leonato's daughter Hero, Don Pedro woos the young lady for him. As Don Pedro does this jealousy arises in Claudio thinking his love is being taken away by the Prince.

Shakespeare has demonstrated the ramifications of human nature that have arisen through the misunderstandings of the characters. Shakespeare does this by effectively conveying the dramatic technique reversal. The purpose of the technique is to show the reader the complexities of human nature by demonstrating that even a common example of misunderstanding could change the direction of one's life, and the perception of an object. This is evident through the quote “That I love her, I feel” in Act 1 scene 1, said by Claudio about Hero, which is later contradicted with the quote “There, Leonato, take her back again. Give not this rotten orange to your friend”, who is referencing Claudio’s betrayal. Claudio believed that the person Borachio was making love to was Hero instead of Margaret, due to the succession of Don John’s master plan. During this scene, Claudio displays a sense of misunderstanding by falsely concluding that his fiancée had been ‘unfaithful’ to him. Reversal is shown when Claudio is enraged by the fictitious actions of Hero when he abandons her at the day of their wedding. Shakespeare has demonstrated misunderstanding through the dramatic technique, reversal to explore the complexities of human nature.

Don John's malevolent plan to ruin Claudio and Hero's wedding was to take effect the night before they were to wed. The malicious Don John constructed, or rather misconstructed, the scheme that insinuated Claudio's belief in Hero's faithlessness. It is Don John who reports to Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is having an affair, and he who stage-manages an elaborate charade featuring his own henchman Borachio and an unwitting stand-in for Hero to lend credence to this fiction. Perhaps the most significant thing to be noted in connection with this deception is that the spectator does not witness the crucial scene in which Claudio overhears the counterfeit exchanges between Margaret and Borachio that persuade him of Hero's guilt. We learn of this episode only at second hand, when Borachio boasts of his exploit (Lucking).

Characters in this play have experience love in different ways; starting with Claudio that falls in love with Hero from the first time he sees her, and decided to get married. “In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on,” (1,1,168) it would seem that the love Claudio has for Hero is a result of first attraction on looks, however, Claudio’s character seems to be immature and inexperienced. Later in the play, when Claudio is suspicious of her, he instantly forgets the love he had for her, and that love turned to a full of hatred. On the other hand, Hero’s willingness to forgive Claudio is just as disturbing as Claudio’s rejection of her. She does not fight for her pride after what Claudio did to her but instead marries him willingly. “And when I lived, I was your other wife, And when you loved, you were my other husband,” (62, 5, 4) this line shows how forgiving and innocent Hero is as a character.

Much Ado about Nothing predominately revolves around the endeavours of two couples, the younger of which in more distinction; Claudio and Hero. As many could say that another element of Shakespearean comedies could be love, it would seem a more defined term is the love between two younger people, this young couple in particular then faces hindrances that are thrown their way, eventually working through them. Whereas there is still Beatrice and Benedick who work to overcome their egomaniacal ways and eventually initiate a romance, it would seem Claudio and Hero’s complications seem to have more significance to the storyline of the play. This is also due to the fact that the elements of comedy and key plot points are in relation to their complications, such as being the younger couple and facing the mistaken identity ordeal. Nevertheless, Hero and Claudio, being the young couple, face a string of tribulations in which define them as a couple, the majority of these, come from Don John’s

Claudio only saw Hero for a brief moment upon returning from the war, and immediately desires her. Don Pedro agrees to woo the beautiful woman in Claudio's name at the upcoming celebration. He succeeds and summons Claudio who proposes to Hero immediately. As soon as Don John hears of the engagement between Hero and Claudio the audience learns of his desire for Hero. In deep resent of his brother and Claudio, Don John accepts Borrachio's plan of deceiving Claudio into thinking that Hero is promiscuous for the dual purpose of shaming one of his prestigious brother's followers and preventing Claudio and Hero's marriage. Borrachio's plan included having an amorous encounter with

Much Ado about Nothing is a romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Deception is a repeated theme throughout the play and it performs an essential role in the matters relating to romance. There are two couples who unwittingly are participants in the matchmaking and the match breaking schemes of others. There is Claudio of Florence and Benedick of Padua who arrive at Leonato’s house in Messina with Don Pedro, after being away in battle. Then, there is Hero, Leonato’s daughter, and heir, as well as her devoted cousin, Beatrice. In Much Ado about Nothing Shakespeare uses language and literary devices to reassure the audience that love will persevere and prevail in the end. He achieves this by juxtaposing Benedick and Beatrice with Claudio and Hero.

In this comment, the audience get a glimpse of his character, youth and inexperience, and may well question Claudio's feelings and wonder whether they are genuine and to be trusted. In addition, the fact that Claudio asks Don Pedro about Hero's family and whether she has any brothers suggests that he could be thinking about money and inheritance; "Hath Leonato any sons, my Lord?" (1:1:261). This implies that Claudio could be calculating and shows a materialistic, mercenary interest in marriage. Are Claudio's feelings entirely based on the sight of Hero, or is money governing his intentions?

The first use of trickery in Hero and Claudio's relationship is when Claudio's friend, Don Pedro, pretends to be

He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion. He hath indeed better bettered expectation than you must expect of me to tell you how. (Act 1, scene 1, line 12). This is the first we hear of the reputation of Claudio, from it we learn that he is mature, a good soldier, and has exceeded expectations. Leonato, having only heard good things about the young man, treats Claudio with respect and allows this very young man to marry his only daughter. This is an example of the saying ‘your reputation precedes you’. Benedick’s reputation is very apparent throughout the play: a Joker. At the Ball, Benedick in disguise, asks Beatrice about what she thinks of him, and she describes how most see him: 'Why, he is the Prince 's jester, a very dull fool, only his gift is in devising impossible slanders. None but libertines delight in him, and the commendation is not in his wit but in his villainy, for he both pleases men and angers them, and then they laugh at him and beat him. ' (Act 1, scene 7, line 2). Don John and Don Pedro have opposite reputations and perceptions of their characters. Don Pedro is a war hero, the prince, highly respected and trustworthy. He is the authoritarian, the one to look to for advice and input. We can see this when Leonato says: If you swear, my lord, you shall not be forsworn. [To Don John.] Let me bid you welcome, my lord, being reconciled to the

       Shakespeare does this through the characters of Hero and Claudio. Claudio suddenly becomes very enamored with Hero when returning from the war. Rather we should say that he has become quite