The Evaluation of Reality in Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing is a play about deception, irony, false convictions, and genuine love. Within the concept of raveling these four main factors into one plot, Shakespeare uses vivid characters, a metropolitan atmosphere, and a grave story line. Although the tone of the play is seen as solemn, Shakespeare underlines the characters with comic relief and false knowledge to add to the climax of the narrative. Shakespeare often benignly uses themes in Much Ado about Nothing that reflect upon gender, gender roles, and the differences between men and women. Many critics have reviewed the aura that revolves around Much Ado About Nothing. While some people tend to overlook the seemingly meaningless plays they see, critics are still pondering the thought process of Shakespeare himself.

The most pivotal aspects of understanding a play for some people lies in the notion of viewing it personally, but I can argue that the play on paper not only alleviates my understanding of the play, it heightens the vibrant detail in the writing. While some rely on the visual features of a play like vocals, costumes, and backgrounds, I can intensely relate more fully to the words on paper than through the actions upon a stage. In observing that a play on paper and a play on stage are two completely different concepts, I have come to acknowledge that people can learn by both measures of entertainment. Shakespeare on stage and Shakespeare on paper are two wildly diverse ideas that can be easily intertwined by the human mind. Many ideas and themes are presented through both prisms that force the mind to think not only logically but also psychologically.

In psychologically evaluating Shakespeare's plays, one must first understand the tools that he uses to demonstrate main purposes in a play. One of Shakespeare's key tools in Much Ado about Nothing is the idea of atmosphere. Messina is one of the greatest cities of interest during the time of Shakespeare's writing; it is a deep-rooted fallacy of crookedness and irony. The Messianic society is one of excessive materialism and dangerous corruption; Shakespeare modeled his Messianic society after the values and virtues of Venice, which was blatantly focused on stature and wealth. Within this harsh culture, it is no wonder that love is lost and tangled between reputation and significance.

Another primary difference between stage and paper is the seemingly trite idea of fabricating love throughout the story. Benedick listens in to the conversation of Leonato, Don Pedro, and Claudio in their attempts to convince Benedick through deceit that Beatrice loves him. Hero and her attendant Ursula have conspired to have Beatrice overhear their staged conversation in the orchard, where they will trick Beatrice into believing Benedict loves her. Shakespeare also uses the same tool to illustrate the scheme of false beliefs to persuade Benedick of Beatrice's love for him. Once Beatrice has left the garden in grave excitement, Hero states, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps" (Shakespeare III, i, 106). Hero is insinuating in great irony that she and her attendant are fabricating a love between Beatrice and Benedick, when in actuality; they are both in love with one another but have not yet realized it. It is also by eavesdropping that Don John convinces Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is by nature promiscuous and not virtuous enough to be betrothed to Claudio. Shakespeare aims to prove that even good men say slanderous things when Claudio says, "O, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do" (Shakespeare IV, i, 19-21). His love for Hero does not outweigh a couple of seconds of defamatory imagery brought on by the tainted characteristics of Don John. Shakespeare uses the naivety of Claudio, Hero's father, and the easily manipulated city of Messina to prove how vulnerable a blossoming metropolitan can be.

One particular recurring theme explicitly expressed throughout the play is the idea of gender war. A prime example of warring genders is the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick; constantly at odds with one another, they are unrelenting in their witty banter. Shakespeare uses both vivid imagery and brilliant staged criticism to bring light to their blossoming relationship. Reading the "merry war" and watching it being performed contrast slightly in manner, approach, and projection. Within the context of warring genders and a mild love story, the two come together naturally through mixed emotions and heartfelt affection.

Perhaps the most critical and least understood aspect of Much Ado about Nothing is the theory of false knowledge. It is by false knowledge that Hero's good reputation is tarnished by the bad nature of Don John; it is by trickery and deceit that Benedick is duped into believing that Beatrice is in love with him and that Benedick is in love with Beatrice. Shakespeare seems to unravel a deafening pattern that destroys reputations, causes social obliteration, and revolutionizes the culture in which the characters live. Many characters in Much Ado about Nothing are led into deceptive mazes, confusing disbeliefs, and nurturing corruption.

In my opinion this is one of the greatest plays to have acted out in a modern day setting, especially in a black box theatre as most Shakespearean plays were performed. Between the separating of genders in seating to the masquerading of identities, this play is easily one of the greatest classics in English Literature. Considered essential to the play's tone and structure, Shakespeare has no qualms about using deception as one of the key themes in the brute story of love and war. This is not the first one of Shakespeare's plays where we see the idea of appearance versus reality; Shakespeare displays in Much Ado about Nothing that characters within the plot fail to act logically. Perhaps the key in understanding the reasons why the characters behave the way they do is to first understand the thought process of Shakespeare himself.