Theater 100

Even though Much Ado About Nothing is consistent with Shakespeare’s guidelines for a comedy – no one dies – the element of death is even more vividly presented and dominating of the narrative, when Hero is made to pretend that she is dead, so that Claudio’s love can be shown to repent. Additionally, the dynamic between Benedick and Beatrice is initially murky, where both swear off each other, but blossoms into love in the end; this is another distinct Shakespearean characteristic, which is that conflicting elements are resolved as the plot unfolds.

Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina, Italy, and primarily features the relationship between the two protagonists, Beatrice and Benedick. With a host of other characters and plot twists, it is easy to get lost in them, at times, but in the end it becomes clear why the play hinges on the Beatrice-Benedick “love story” to deliver its core thematic understanding. I found Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship to be extremely allegorical of Much Ado About Nothing’s take on the nature of love – which, is the one emotion, or rather a feeling, that makes individuals the most insecure. While Beatrice and Benedick initially swear off each other and engage in a constant battle of wits, it is easy for the audience to ascertain that underneath the friction lies a mutual desire or yearning, which is too fragile for both the protagonists to admit or express to one another. As we see both of them immediately changing their minds about each other – from being outright scornful to being “madly in love” – only after learning from people that the other loves them. These exchanges – where Benedick is made to hear that Beatrice loves him but is too scared to tell him so because she thinks he would mock her by Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato and the same is done in the case of Beatrice – are exquisitely positioned by Shakespeare and are made to highlight the insecurity that love might entail because it is the most vulnerable a person can be, largely because of its state where one has to be unabashedly honest. Benedick and Beatrice are only comfortable expressing their own love for each other, when they hear and are satisfied by the information that the other loves them. Shakespeare also provides an insight to another kind of love, which he masterfully shows between Claudio and Hero. It’s of the passionate kind, where they fall in love the moment they look at each other and are unafraid in telling each other so. But, this passion between the two soon boils into jealousy – a common disease amongst lovers – where, Claudio is made to see questioning sights that would suggest Hero’s disloyalty to him by Don John (a character you immediately start hating, and is made even easier to hate in the film because of Keanu Reeves’s performance) and like any jealous lover, he falls into the trap. The play soon becomes about these misconceptions, and very closely relates to its title. What I found very interesting was how Claudio, the man, was charged by Shakespeare of being the distrusting lover and was good enough a reason for Hero, the woman, to be told to “Sigh No More.” (Side note: Being a huge Mumford and Sons fan, I finally got to hear this famous sonnet, based on which is one of their first few albums by the the same name).

Much Ado About Nothing is very versatile as a comedy, I feel, simply because of the number of social and epochal issues, Shakespeare provides us insight with – public shaming of women, the importance of honour in society and court room politics. It is also rightly considered as such a classic because of Shakespeare’s plot genius, the quality and literary might of the dialogues, the use of metaphorical and allegorical themes and complex character – but most of all, because anybody who has ever been in love has felt all these myriad emotions that are embodied by these characters.