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In the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, the characters Benedick, Beatrice, Hero and Claudio all have very different relationships. Beatrice and Benedick have never been civil with each other, and whenever they meet, they often have a skirmish of words between the two. They have known each other of old and seem to enjoy fencing insults back and forth between them, using insults to convey their true feelings of affection towards one another. The relationship of Claudio and Hero, however, is much more simple. Claudio and Hero are deeply in love, and they show it, instead of containing it in the way that Beatrice and Benedick do. When contrasting the two relationships, the audience can see the vicissitudes of each relationship clearer.
These vicissitudes are able to bring out the themes of love, the contrast of appearance and reality, and deception. The merry war that exists between Benedick and Beatrice is contrasted in the play to the bashful sincerity and comely love that exists between Hero and Claudio. Benedick and Beatrice have always had a skirmish of wit. The merry war that exists between them is intensified when the audience contrasts their relationship with the pure and virginal love that exists between Hero and Claudio. Shakespeare also uses these contrasting types of loves to bring about the central theme of the play, love. The two couple show two contrasting types of loves, one of heart-felt love between Hero and Claudio, and one of seemingly extreme distaste for the other shown between Benedick and Beatrice, while the two are actually burying their affections for each other.
Shakespeare is able to use these two couples relationship to extend the theme of love to show that love can be expressed in varying ways. Furthermore, the playwright contrasts the relationships of Benedick and Beatrice to the relationship that Claudio and Hero have to bring out the theme of appearance and reality. Benedick and Beatrice have always claimed that they have no interest in the opposite sex, and when contrasted with the open declarations of love made by Hero and Claudio for each other, and this is further intensified. Benedick makes the claim that he is loved of all ladies but truly [he] loves none. Beatrice, on the other hand, claims that she would rather hear [her] dog bark at a crow than hear a man swear he loves her. Hero, however, openly declares to Claudio he is in her heart.
When contrasted with the open declarations of love between Hero and Claudio, the audience sees the relationship of Benedick and Beatrice as one where they despise each other to the point where Lady Disdain (Beatrice) and Signor Mountanto (Benedick) never meet but trade insults at each other none the less. As the play progresses the affections that Benedick and Beatrice have for each other are revealed, and the audience are surprised at the extremity of the affections that they have for each other. Beatrice, normally a wild hearted, quick tongued character, claims that she will tame [her] wild heart to [Benedick's] loving hand. The surprise that the readers feel at the declaration of affection is brought about by seemingly extreme distaste these characters have for each other, which is further intensified by the contrast created when compared to the love that exists between Hero and Claudio. When the love between Benedick and Beatrice is declared, a further theme of the contrast between appearance and reality is introduced. The playwright uses dramatic turnaround of the seemingly hostile relationship of Benedick and Beatrice into a love affair to put across the point that things are not always what they seems to be.
The appearance of Benedick and Beatrice's relationship is that they have a strong feeling of detestation for each other, however, when Benedick is calling Beatrice a rare parrot teacher, what he is actually trying to convey is that Beatrice is a fair lady. When Beatrice tells Benedick that she would never want a man to love her, what she means is that she wants Benedick [to] love on, [and she] will requite [Benedick]. It is occurrences such as these that allow the playwright to convey to the audience that them of the contrast between appearance and reality. When comparing the relationships between Benedick and Beatrice, and that of Hero and Claudio's we see that both involve a lot of deception. The playwright introduces the theme of deception through the relationships of these two couples.
Hero and Claudio are first brought together by Don John dressing up as Claudio and wooing Hero for [Claudio]. The relationship was brought about by the deception by Don Pedro of Hero. Benedick and Beatrice's relationship also starts in deception. Benedick and Beatrice both claim that they are uninterested in the opposite sex, through Don Pedro's plan of deception, however, careful conversations are staged so Benedick can overhear Don Pedro and Claudio talking about the undying love for Benedick that Beatrice swears every night, and the staged conversation of Margaret and Ursula talking about the sonnet that Benedick wrote to Beatrice showing his love for her, is overheard by Beatrice. Both of which are fictitious. When Benedick and Beatrice learn of these fictitious facts that there true, their bottled up affection for each other was released, and at the end of the play, they get married.
When the two relationships are compared, the deceptions that are prevalent in them are easier to spot. If the audience accidentally overlooks the deception that is prevalent in one of the relationships, it is still in the back of the audiences mind, therefore when the second deception in the play is acted out, the audience is more likely to notice it. Therefore, Shakespeare is able to use the relationships of Benedick and Beatrice and the relationship of Hero and Claudio to compare aspects of deception. Furthermore, deception is prevalent in the relationship between Hero and Claudio when Borachio wooed Margaret, the Lady Heros waiting gentlewomen, by the name of Hero and causes Claudio to think that Hero knows the heat of luxurious bed and that she has been unfaithful to him.
Borachio's actions jeopardise the relationship of Hero and Claudio, and further extends the theme of Deception in this play. Furthermore, when Borachio's deception of Claudio is compared to the deception of Don Pedro, Claudio, Margaret and Heros of Benedick and Beatrice, the reader is able to see deception in this play more clearly, as they are repeated, and therefore emphasized in the mind of the reader. Furthermore, the deception of Borachio and the deception of Don Pedro, Claudio, Margaret and Hero are contrasted to show the varying aspects of deception. The deception of Borachio was one of evil intent, with the only objective of revenge Claudio.
The deception of Don Pedro, Claudio, Margaret and Hero, however, is one of good intent, with the objective of bringing Benedick and Beatrice together. The playwright contrasts the two deceptions to show that deception can be used both for good, and for evil. When comparing the outcome of the relationships between Claudio and Hero, and Benedick and Beatrice, the theme of love is once again shown. At the end of the play, Hero and Claudio are back together after their initial break-up, and the love that they have for each other has increased due to the hardships that they have been through. When the happiness that Claudio and Hero have is compared to the happiness that Benedick and Beatrice feel after Benedick wrote a halting sonnet fashioned to Beatrice, and when Beatrice writ in her own hands [a sonnet]containing her affection for Benedick, the reader is able to once again feel the love that is in the book.
Shakespeare uses the happiness these two couples generate by being together to convey the theme of love once again in this play. The play Much Ado About Nothing uses the contrasting and comparing of the relationships between Beatrice and Benedick, and Claudio and Hero to bring out many of the themes of the play. Shakespeare uses the contrasting types of relationships to emphasize the vicissitudes of the relationships, and then uses the difficulties that are prevalent in the relationships to highlight the themes of this play. [/b]
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