Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a play that brings into perspective the turmoil of love. Set Italy, Hero and Beatrice are our two main heroines who fall in love and have trouble staying in love. It all begins when the Prince, Don Pedro, comes to their home bringing with him Don Claudio and Don Benedick. Benedick and Beatrice have never met but they both are in a verbal war--this is their problem.Hero and Claudio are in love and become engaged, but the Prince's brother, Don John, wants to cause discontent with the house. Claudio is hopelessly in love with Hero, but he is unsure of himself and is easily led to believe lies regarding Hero. Don John uses Claudio's doubts to make him believe that Hero is cheating on him. At the wedding, when Claudio accuses Hero of these crimes, she denies these. Don John is so believing in his lies, that Claudio can not see the pain and hurt within Hero's eyes. If a guy really truly loves a woman, then he has to be able to hear her side of any story, no matter what he wants to believe. By trusting Don John's words and visions, Claudio has lost all chance at happiness and only because he believed someone else and didn't hear from the one who was involved. What an idiot. In the case of Beatrice and Benedick, they are so into fighting each other that they can't see how perfect they would be together.
It takes the manipulations of Don Pedro, Beatrice's uncle--Leonato, Don Claudio, and Hero to make these two see each other as soul mates rather than enemies. In this instance, lies help this couple to achieve extreme happiness. Beatrice and Benedick exchange wits constantly until Don Pedro realizes that they are a perfect match. Neither can believe they love each other until the manipulators start the lies around. A classical case where lies are not always bad unlike with Claudio and Hero.
The one thing that stands out for me is that Claudio says he loves Hero, but will believe anything anyone will tell him about her. How can Claudio say he loves her and yet believe everything? When a man truly loves a women, he should believe her and only her; and if he has visible proof to doubt her, then at least be man enough to hear her side of the story before casting accusations. To relate this to my own personal life would be a joke. I have never been in a position where my boyfriend has accused me of something without hearing my side of the story. The one question I would have to ask is how can Claudio do this to himself and Hero?
Written by J. Morgan 1999
© 2005-2008 J. Morgan
