Honesty In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Well written post! I agree I do think they had both character confess their love to draw more drama to the play. During the story you would think that they could never be together by the way both character express negativity to each other all the time, however when they both were setup to fall in love, you can sense that was coming ( flirting is the 1st step). During the story there was a lot of deceptions some character played a role to be a person that they are not. Such as hero being lied on- perceive as a horrible person, benedick pretending to not like woman “ I love none” (act 1,125), Beatrice deceive Benedick just so she can see if he really loves her, etc.

In the play, Beatrice and Hero are shown to have very different personalities. Beatrice is independent and confident while Hero is shy and quiet. While Beatrice and Hero are talking about Don John towards the beginning of the play Beatrice says, “How tartly that gentleman looks I never can see him but I am heartburned and hour after” (Shakespeare 3). This line shows that Beatrice is not afraid to speak her mind. This also shows Beatrice using her wit and not being quiet or soft-spoken.

The audience may understand the concept of love and romance flowing within the characters because it was to portrayed that way but the critics would argue the fact that some of the characters like Beatrice and Benedick were made to fall in love with each other through deception. As simple as the characters were, the situations arousing in the play became more complexed as scenes passed by. What led to the trouble and chaos in the play also led to the solution in the end, when Claudio and Don Pedro were deceived into thinking by Don John that Hero was unfaithful. That very same idea also solved the problem in the end when Leonato, Hero’s father, deceived Claudio by making him believe that she is dead and that it is his duty to clear Hero’s name by reading out on her tomb and marrying the said niece who looks just like Hero. Again the plotting against own is present where the said niece turns out to be Hero and she comes back to life again.

Throughout Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare develops the theme of deception through Beatrice and Benedick, who change their points of view on how life should be lived as a result of their experiences. The first encounter that we witness between Beatrice and Benedick has them

While they are conversing, Beatrice plainly states that she wants Benedick to “kill Claudio...a villain, that hath slandered, scorned, dishonoured [her] kinswoman (Shakespeare 74-75).” Beatrice makes very bold actions, and she is not afraid of doing so. This shows how Beatrice and Hero are foils of each other because Hero takes actions that are safe and pleasing to others, while Beatrice does what she wants and doesn’t care about what others think of her actions. Another example of this occurs during the Masquerade Ball. Beatrice talks with Don Pedro and is quoted to have said, “My cousin tells him in his ear that he is in her heart (Shakespeare 27).”

To compares their relationship to Hero and Claudio we all can see the differences. Many people love the romantic and “love at first sight” story but to me the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick is much more interesting. Beatrice and Benedick never did get along in the beginning. They can not have a normal conversation without insulting each other.

When Beatrice asks Benedick to duel Claudio for her, he agrees and plans to duel him. Benedick and Claudio are best friends who had fought in battle together, but the love of a woman completely changes Benedick’s allegiance from his fellow soldiers to his new love. Before falling in love with Beatrice, Benedick would have done everything possible to protect his brothers in battle. Now, love has emboldened him to make a choice that he would not have previously made. Benedick’s sacrifice of a meaningful friendship proves that he is now completely devoted to his relationship with Beatrice and is willing to do whatever necessary to preserve that relationship.

Hero express that you must manipulate someone's love life no matter the consequences when she explains, “some cupids kill with arrows, some with traps” (3.2.112). You must use trickery, to reveal their true feelings for the other person. In Much Ado About Nothing trickery and deception are central themes in the play. At least, every character in this play have been a victim of trickery or deception. This comes to show that manipulation can reveal the true feelings and thoughts about one another.

Othello falls for Iago’s lies because he sees Othello as a trustworthy man. The reason Othello’s trust in Iago is high, it is because of his honesty, giving him the name “Honest Iago,” and Othello has also known him for years. Throughout the whole story, Othello is lead to believe Iago’s lies and would trust him more than anyone else even his wife Desdemona. With Iago trying manipulate Othello, it works well causing him to do things leading to disbelieve the close people around him.

This is shown with their views on marriage. Hero is willing to marry whoever her father asks her too and when Leonato finds out that Don Pedro seeks marriage with Hero, he encourages Hero to marry and says to Hero, “Daughter, remember what I told you. If the prince does solicit you in the kind, you know your answer” (II.i.57-58). Beatrice, however rebels completely against marriage and says “If he send me no husband; for the which blessing / I am at him upon my knees every morning and evening” (23-25).

In Much Ado About Nothing, wit was the down fall to many of the characters, but it was also used to provide the audience with comedic relief. Beatrice‘s and Benedick’s pride in their cleverness, Claudio’s assumptions and gullibleness, and Dogberry’s lack or wit and intelligence lead to the misunderstandings and Discoveries throughout the play (Dennis 224). Dennis is saying that each character had a fatal flaw that Shakespeare highlighted by having something terrible or having something ironic happen to them. This shows how he used the elements and levels of wit to captivate the audience by leaving the characters blind to what was really going on. The audience knew the plan for Beatrice and Benedick, but their own confidence in their wit betrayed them.

In his play, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare has his characters participate in the practice of deception and dishonesty of others - after all, the foundation of Shakespeare’s play resides within a lie. One of the major deceptions in the play is executed by the Illyrian countess, Olivia, as she repeatedly claims to need solitude to mourn her brother’s death in order to avoid Duke Orsino and his obsession towards her. This deception contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole by adding the thematic message, deception and dishonesty is sometimes the better option when it comes to love.     From the beginning of the play, Olivia is introduced as the grieving countess that has recently lost a brother.

Benedick spent quite a while saying that he would never get married; he even went as far to say that he would “die a bachelor,”(II.iii.25). But, after overhearing Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato discuss Beatrice’s love for him, his perception on the idea of marriage changed, which they were quite aware of. While commenting on Benedick’s appearance, Claudio states, “I hope he be in love,”(III.ii.28) to which Benedick replied, “ I have the toothache,”(III.ii.28). It is clear that Benedick was trying to change the subject to avoid discussing his interest in Beatrice out of embarrassment for his feelings. Despite believing that Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato do not know of his love for Beatrice, it was they who planted it in his mind that Beatrice loved him first, but they play along to make him feel

In William Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well, Mariana states “no legacy is so rich as honesty” (All’s Well that Ends Well). This statement allows Shakespeare to make the claim that honesty serves as a necessity for a successful legacy.

It was a set up marriage and she would just try to make the male proud. Relationships, in the modern day, are more egalitarian than they use to be. This allows Benedick and Beatrice to represent more of a modern time ideal couple, than Claudio and Hero. A great quote about relationships is “ Respect is as important as love in a relationships”