Shakespeare re-examined certain themes over and over, in
both his tragedies and comedies. One of the predominant themes is appearance versus
reality, and another common theme is jealousy. All of Shakespeare's comedies revolve
around love relationships, since, by definition, a comedy must end in at least one
marriage, but a twist on the traditional love relationship that Shakespeare often
employs as a theme is the battle of the sexes (mostly as a witty war of words) as a sign
of true love.
Appearance versus reality is announced as a
theme of this play in the very title: Much Ado about
Nothing (or Noting, which is
how the word would have been pronounced). Many characters are taken in by scenes
enacted by other characters in order to fool them into believing something that is
potentially false. In Act II, scene iii, Benedick is duped by Leonato, Don Pedro and
Claudio into believing that Beatrice is desperately in love with him. Act III, scene i
has Ursula, Hero and Margaret pulling the wool over Beatrice's eyes about Benedick, and
the end of Act III, scene ii suggests that Don John will show Don Pedro and Claudio a
scene in which Hero will enact her unfaithfulness. This scene is not enacted onstage,
but all of these scenes highlight the theme of appearance versus
reality.
Jealousy is thematically examined in the responses
of Claudio to what he suspects is Hero's involvement with other men in both the dance
sequence of Act II, scene i and the scene mentioned above, but also in the actions of
the comic villain, Don John, who is jealous of the place that Claudio holds in her
brother Don Pedro's affections.
The battle of the sexes in
this play is enacted (famously) between Beatrice and Benedick who, even as they are
pledging their troth to each other in Act V scene iv, are still finding ways to battle
each other, and must have a truce signaled by Benedick's line, "Peace! I will stop your
mouth," after which he kisses Beatrice.
For more on these
and other themes, please follow the links below.
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