English Literature

In Shakespeares play Much Ado About Nothing is based upon deliberate deceptions by which the characters are fond of plotting in order to fulfill their illusions. The noble characters used deceptions to make people fall in love, to make someone realize their mistake and to help someone get what they want. But villains used deceptions for the purpose of revenge and to eventually make evil plots. Much Ado About Nothing is also a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare that illustrates the elements of pretense and disguise in order to complete the main purpose of the narrative. The Play is set in Messina, Sicily that concerns about a pair of lovers named Hero and Claudio who are due to marry in a week. There are many examples of deliberate deceptions in the play since the plot is basically based upon this. Deception in the play is used as a means to an end. The plays characters  become caught up in the illusions that they help to create with one another temporarily. Most of the games and tricks played on people have the best intentions- to make people fall in love, to make someone realize their mistake and to help someone to get what they want. But not all however have good consequences.
    The initial trick in the play has been given lightheartedly by Shakespeare. Claudio after seeing Hero, Leonatos daughter who happily welcomes them for passing by the city after a successful battle under Don Pedro, easily falls in love to the young woman. He soon announces his plans or intentions to court her. Despite Benedicks contradictions towards Claudios plans in courting Hero since Benedick is a long time adversary of Leonato, it is unsuccessful in the face of Don Pedros encouragement. During a masquerade ball, the men used the opportunity to disguise Don Pedro to woo Hero on Claudios behalf. But Don John, Don Pedros illegitimate brother and who often despises his brothers social authority, took the opportunity to get even on his brother by telling young Claudio that Don Pedro is actually wooing Hero for himself. Apparently, Don John is using Claudio and Heros love to get even on his brother Don Pedro by creating a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of the lovers. Meanwhile, Claudio becomes furious at Don Pedro after hearing the false testimonies of Don  John. The misunderstanding is quickly resolved though and Claudio wins Heros hand in marriage.
    Similarly Beatrice, Leonatos niece and Heros cousin with a very sharp tongue, and Benedick, an aristocratic soldier under the fighting team of Don Pedro, are fooled into thinking that each loves the other . Don Pedro and his men harbor a plan to matchmake Beatrice and Benedick while waiting for the matrimonial ceremony of Claudio and Hero. Don Pedro is being encouraged to harbor such plans especially after hearing Benedict says that he will never get marry and after seeing that Beatrice and Benedick often resume to witty war of insults. The people around wants to stop them arguing as they are clearly meant for each other. And so the deception begins. The men under Don Pedros leadership proclaim Beatrice secret love and affection for Benedict knowing that the latter is eavesdropping on the conversation. A group of women led by hero on the other hand do the same likewise to Beatrice. Struck by the the fact that they are apparently thought to be too proud to love each other and not willing to bear the reputation of pride, Benedick and Beatrice  express the love of the other (though they eventually love each other in the near future). Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with each other.
    Meanwhile, Don John who is apparently the villain of the play whose evil actions are motivated by his envy of his brothers higher social position and authority plots to ruin Claudio and Heros wedding plans by casting a dark reputation upon Heros character. In his plot he has his companion Borachio who should make love to Margaret, Heros serving woman , at Heros open window in the middle of the dark night. In order for the plot to be effective,  Don John leads Don Pedro and Claudio to spy below. Borachio who is part of Don Johns evil plots calls Margaret  Hero . The two men, Claudio and Don Pedro, are convinced of Heros infidelity believing that the woman making love is indeed Hero . As a result, Hero angrily refuses to marry Hero at the day of the wedding ceremony itself. Claudio and Don Pedro humiliate Hero publicly before a stunned congregation.  Hero s family members decide to pretend that Hero died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about her innocence to come to light. Fortunately, the nights watchman overhear Borachio and his other men bragging about their crime. The police as a response ultimately arrest the villains. Everyone eventually learns that Hero is really innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, extremely grieves for her. Leonato, Heros father, tells Claudio to tell everybody in the city that Hero is really innocent. And as a additional punishment, Leonato wants Claudio to marry Leonatos niece-- a young lady who they say looks like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the other men, preparing to marry the mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Benedick on the other hand got the courage to propose to Beatrice and the latter willingly accepts it. The play ends with a merry dance with joyful lovers as they are about to celebrate their double wedding.
    The masking of Hero reveals that the social institution of marriage has to do with love. Claudio immediately accepted Leonatos offer to marry a woman totally unknown to him,  For this I owe you here comes other reckonings. Which is the lady I must seize upon . Apparently, Claudio is ready and willing to commit his whole life to a stranger event though he did not even see her face. His willingness is to both appease his conscience for slandering an innocent woman publicly and perhaps to renew his name before Leonato who gave him a great deal of favors in the past. Each of the main characters in the play are victims of deception. Likewise nearly every character in the play at some point plays a part of consciously pretending to be what they are not-- Don Pedro acts for Claudios behalf in wooing Hero, Don John acts the part of a sincere friend, concerned for his brothers and Claudios honor, Leonato together with the family act as if Hero were dead and all the main characters in the plot pretend for Benedick and Beatrice sake in order for them to reconcile and eventually fall in love. But not all consequences of deceit are essentially evil. In fact in the play, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between what is a good and what is a bad deception. Even though Don John succeeds in fooling Claudio and Don Pedro into thinking that Hero has been sleeping with another man before the matrimony, at the end Claudio and Hero are reunited and even more in love after Claudio asks for a sincere apology. At first their love is founded by each others appearance but the tragedy deepens their feelings. Likewise Beatrice and Benedict are fooled into thinking that they love each other but actually does fall in love as a result. Their love has been nurtured immediately into the point of marriage and commitment. Meanwhile, the title Much Ado About Nothing seems that it has no relevance to the plays plot. The strong themes and ideas seems to oppose the title since the characters truly exerted efforts to fulfill their own purposes. The games and tricks are created by the characters itself and not the fate. This shows that the title and the plot are not always in complement. Perhaps Shakespeare could have intended this to fool the readers while lacing the play with themes of deceptions and love.
    In this play, Shakespeare presents the viewers about the realms of truths and illusions. Since the play is full of characters plotting and deceiving, it illustrates that deception is truly ingrained in humans social behaviors. The characters used deception to create various illusions to reveal and conceal something. The love stories of Claudio and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice have a glimpse of illusions. Their intentions and emotions for each other are truly transparent but they can not immediately and directly reveal their true feelings. Both fall in love upon sight and appearance. The notion of physical attraction to the opposite clearly demonstrates the concept of sexuality as the characters have not even spent enough time with each other to dismiss their feelings to be of love already. But Claudio can not create an illusion as simple as the portrayal of himself as a suitor. The characters of Claudio and Hero are Shakespeares social illusion of true love-- a love that is not straightforward which demonstrates that honesty in terms of love do not go hand in hand. Benedick and Beatrice however are unconsciously well versed in the intricacies of illusions. They disguise their affection with verbal sparring and insults creating a facade of hostility. They are successful only at fooling themselves but not the people around them.