The idea of Deceit
Claudio and Don Pedro are deceived into thinking that Hero has lost her virtue by sleeping with another man. Beatrice and Benedick are tricked, or deceived into thinking that each one loves the other which leads to a real romance within this trickery. There is even deceit in the staged death of Hero after she is shamed at her own wedding for a crime she did not commit. Leonato publishes an announcement that Hero has died in order to answer the question of who wronged her name and virtue.
Also the idea of ‘song’ being important to the drama. Page 381 “The Song”. It even discusses the idea of men being deceivers. This notion of song and dance being important to the plays is echoed throughout many of Shakespeare’s works. In Much Ado, songs are played during pivotal moments during the play:
DON PEDRO
Come, shall we hear this music?
CLAUDIO
Yea, my good lord. How still the evening is,
As hush'd on purpose to grace harmony!
Act 2 Scene 3
This music and song comes right before the men talk of Beatrice’s ‘love’ for Benedick. its as though music leads the way for crucial mood changes in the scenes. these songs are entertainment for both the characters as well as the audience. Balthasar also has a song in Act 2.3 in which he talks about the treachery of men, “...the fraud of men was ever so...” (Line 71). Through the art of entertainment the characters are allowed to say as they feel in a cathartic manner that does not lead to repercussions. At the end of the play, after all has been put right, Benedick addresses the group saying, “Come, come we are friends. Let’s have a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten our own hearts and our wives’ heels” Act V.4 Lines 15-17. When all is said and done, song dance, and thus entertainment proves to be an escape from the follies of the world.
Virtue and Virginity: Hero is wrongfully accused of shaming her family by losing her virtue and virginity before her marriage to Claudio, and to a man that is not her fiance. on the day of her wedding, Claudio and Pedro scorn Hero publicly calling her a, “rotten orange” (IV.i.30). At the news of his daughters ‘dishonor’ even Leonato chimes in and says, “the wide sea / Hath . . . / . . . salt too little which may season give / To her foul tainted flesh!” (IV.i.139–142). Family honor and Hero’s virtue is so important that at the news of her disgrace, Leonato threatens to kill his own daughter.
Benedick as the fool, or jester of the play: Benedick falls for the ploy that ultimately makes him fall in love with Beatrice. At a masked ball one night, Beatrice is dancing with Benedick unknowingly and speaking of him saying, “...Why, he is the prince’s jester, a very dull fool” Line 131 Act 2.1. At first it appears that Beatrice’s words are of mere wit and slander, but these words prove seemingly true. but, at his defense, Beatrice too falls for the same trickery that her ladies incite upon her, so does that make her a fool as well?
Claudio and Don Pedro are deceived into thinking that Hero has lost her virtue by sleeping with another man. Beatrice and Benedick are tricked, or deceived into thinking that each one loves the other which leads to a real romance within this trickery. There is even deceit in the staged death of Hero after she is shamed at her own wedding for a crime she did not commit. Leonato publishes an announcement that Hero has died in order to answer the question of who wronged her name and virtue.
Also the idea of ‘song’ being important to the drama. Page 381 “The Song”. It even discusses the idea of men being deceivers. This notion of song and dance being important to the plays is echoed throughout many of Shakespeare’s works. In Much Ado, songs are played during pivotal moments during the play:
DON PEDRO
Come, shall we hear this music?
CLAUDIO
Yea, my good lord. How still the evening is,
As hush'd on purpose to grace harmony!
Act 2 Scene 3
This music and song comes right before the men talk of Beatrice’s ‘love’ for Benedick. its as though music leads the way for crucial mood changes in the scenes. these songs are entertainment for both the characters as well as the audience. Balthasar also has a song in Act 2.3 in which he talks about the treachery of men, “...the fraud of men was ever so...” (Line 71). Through the art of entertainment the characters are allowed to say as they feel in a cathartic manner that does not lead to repercussions. At the end of the play, after all has been put right, Benedick addresses the group saying, “Come, come we are friends. Let’s have a dance ere we are married, that we may lighten our own hearts and our wives’ heels” Act V.4 Lines 15-17. When all is said and done, song dance, and thus entertainment proves to be an escape from the follies of the world.
Virtue and Virginity: Hero is wrongfully accused of shaming her family by losing her virtue and virginity before her marriage to Claudio, and to a man that is not her fiance. on the day of her wedding, Claudio and Pedro scorn Hero publicly calling her a, “rotten orange” (IV.i.30). At the news of his daughters ‘dishonor’ even Leonato chimes in and says, “the wide sea / Hath . . . / . . . salt too little which may season give / To her foul tainted flesh!” (IV.i.139–142). Family honor and Hero’s virtue is so important that at the news of her disgrace, Leonato threatens to kill his own daughter.
Benedick as the fool, or jester of the play: Benedick falls for the ploy that ultimately makes him fall in love with Beatrice. At a masked ball one night, Beatrice is dancing with Benedick unknowingly and speaking of him saying, “...Why, he is the prince’s jester, a very dull fool” Line 131 Act 2.1. At first it appears that Beatrice’s words are of mere wit and slander, but these words prove seemingly true. but, at his defense, Beatrice too falls for the same trickery that her ladies incite upon her, so does that make her a fool as well?
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