Much Ado About Nothing
Themes, Literary Devices, and
Whatever Else You Need to Know
Tragicomedy - Explained

Definition:
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of
tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's
time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious
play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the
play to lighten the mood.

Example:
The serious undertones of Don John’s plot and the reasons for it
make this play seem like a tragedy. But the presence of the
simples (Dogberry, etc.), the jokes, and the romance/weddings at
the end make this play a comedy.
Tone
 Mature
cynicism - Shakespeare is aware that the (social)
reality of courtship often takes away from the fun of
romance (ie. Flirting, chasing, etc.)
 Complications:
The
need to marry to improve social status
The need to marry to ensure inheritance (women cannot own
property, or really anything else)
The importance of virginal chastity (mostly for women)
Major Conflict
 Don
John makes it look like Hero is unfaithful to Claudio
and Don Pedro, who believe him
 The underlying conflict is that Don Pedro, Claudio, and
Benedick all suspect that marriage is a means of trapping,
controlling, and deceiving them – nonetheless, they all
want to be married
Themes
Ideal of Social Grace
Manner of Speaking
 Renaissance courtiers strove for colourful and dense language in
their daily interactions
 Metaphor and rhetoric abound
 Benedick, Claudio, and Don Pedro use the “witty banter” that
courtiers used to attract attention and approval in noble
households
 Part
of the goal is to make this “wit” look effortless
Ideal of Social Grace (con’t)
 Courtiers
also spoke fancifully about love: intricate
language (ie. When Claudio falls in love)
 Claudio and Benedick are under constant pressure to
maintain Don Pedro’s approval – they are constantly
working to speak wittily and appropriately in front of Don
Pedro
Deception as a Means to an End
 The
plot is based on deceptions: some of which are
evil; others that are harmless
Don
John’s deception of Claudio and Don Pedro? Evil:
Hero is shamed.
Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato tricking Benedick?
Harmless: even beneficial.
Deception as a Means to an End

Deceit is not inherently evil: it can be used for good or evil
 At
the second wedding: Hero and the other women are masked. This
shows that marriage – in this time – has little to do with love.
 Claudio is willing to blindly marry whichever woman because his
concern is in pleasing Leonato (rising in social favour) than in marrying
for love

Deceit is a way to create an illusion that helps one succeed
socially, which may be good or bad
The Importance of Honour

For a woman:
 Based
on her virginity and chaste behaviour
 If a woman lost her honour by losing her virginity before she was
married, she would lose all social standing
 This would also poison the woman’s entire family
 How do we see this in the play?
 As a woman, Hero cannot seize back her honour …
The Importance of Honour

For a man:
 Honour
depended on male friendships and alliances; was more
military in nature
 A man could defend his honour or that of his family by fighting in a
battle or duel
 … but Benedick can win back Hero’s honour for her by physical
combat
Motifs
•
recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices
that can help to develop and inform the text’s major
themes
Public Shaming



The shaming of Hero at the wedding would leave her and her family’s honour more
damaged than the committing of an unchaste behaviour (which she never actually
commits anyway)
The language used to shame her is extremely strong
Don John hopes that shame will cause Claudio to lose his place as Don Pedro’s
favourite

Once it’s discovered that Claudio is engaged to a “loose” woman, DJ believes that DP will reject
Claudio
Public Shaming
Shame is a form of social punishment closely connected to a
loss of honour
 Don John has grown up being constantly reminded of his own
shame: being the product of an illegitimate sexual relationship
 In the end, Don John is the one shamed

Motifs: Noting
Many of the players participate in observing,
listening, and writing/noting
 Characters note each other constantly!

 Hero
and Ursula make sure that Beatrice can note
them well so that their plot will succeed
 Each line the women speak is a carefully placed
“note” for Beatrice to think about
Noting
Don John’s plot, Dogberry and the other simples, the Sexton
 Noting (as in writing) unites Beatrice and Benedick: the love
sonnets they had written to each other are discovered and read,
providing textual evidence that notes and proves their love for
one another

Motifs: Counterfeiting


Counterfeiting: presenting a false face to the world
This idea appears often in the play:
 Deceiving
Benedick and Beatrice to believe that the other
is head-over-heels in love


Harmless, good fun
Concerns emotions
 At
the wedding ceremony, Claudio tells those present of
Hero’s “counterfeiting” a façade of innocence and purity,
while he believes her unchaste and impure


Grave, serious, threatening
Concerns her character, integrity, and honour
Symbols: objects, characters, figures, and colours used to
represent abstract ideas or concepts
Taming of Wild Animals:
 Courtship between Beatrice and Benedick
 Symbol
of a tamed savage animal represents the social
taming that must occur for both wild souls to be ready to
submit themselves to love and marriage
 Benedick compared to a wild animal: savage bull
 Beatrice compares herself to a wild eagle that can be tamed
by Benedick’s love

The bull of marriage referred to early on is a sadly
yoked, formerly savage creature; at the end, Claudio
refers to a bull that is still wild at heart, though
tamed-ish
Symbols: War

Images of war symbolize verbal arguments and other
confrontations
 “merry
war” between Beatrice and Benedick: their
“skirmish of wit”
 Leonato accuses Claudio of killing Hero with his words
 Benedick presents Claudio with a violent verbal challenge:
a duel over Hero’s honour
 Borachio confesses and Don Pedro describes this newfound information as a sword tearing through Claudio’s
heart

Claudio then refers to figurative suicide: “I have drunk poison
whiles he uttered it”
Symbols: Hero’s Death



Claudio’s powerful words force Hero to fall down in
apparent death
Leonato pushes Hero further into this “death” by
encouraging her to die
Friar Francis, Hero, and Beatrice convince Leonato of
Hero’s innocence and decide to maintain that she
really has died:
 To
punish Claudio
 Give Hero a respectable amount of time to regain her
honour – it is not lost, only publicly savaged
Hero’s Death

In a symbolic sense, Hero has died since Claudio’s accusation
has stained her name
 She
must symbolically die and be born again in order to marry
Claudio a second time
 This is a social ritual designed to cleanse her name and person of
infamy (famous for terrible reasons)
Dramatic Irony - Explained

Definition:
Dramatic irony is when the words and actions of the
characters of a work of literature have a different
meaning for the reader than they do for the
characters. This is the result of the reader having a
greater knowledge than the characters themselves.

Example:
When Beatrice and Benedick are talking during the
masquerade ball, Beatrice does not know who
Benedick is, but we – as the audience – know
perfectly well.
Character Foil - Explained

Definition:
A foil is a character who serves as a contrast to
another perhaps more primary character, so as to
point out specific traits of the primary character.

Example:
Don Pedro is used as a foil to point out what social
graces are supposed to be like; we cannot help but
compare most – if not all – other male characters to
him.
Suspension of Disbelief - Explained

Definition:
A willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and
believe the unbelievable; sacrifice of realism and
logic for the sake of enjoyment

Example:
At the second wedding ceremony, we can expect to
see which girl is Hero and that she is indeed Hero, but
we accept that Claudio and the others can not tell and
do not recognize her. The playwright and players
assume we abide by this suspension of disbelief.