Shakespeare challenges the notion of conventional marriage in Much Ado About Nothing using the characters of Beatrice and Benedick Essay Example For Students

Shakespeare challenges the notion of conventional marriage in Much Ado About Nothing using the characters of Beatrice and Benedick Essay Shakespeare wrote many of his plays to discuss and criticise the society he lived in and the strict regulations that were attached to it. Much Ado About Nothing is a romantic comedy. Without detracting from the obvious frivolity that the audience can see on stage, the play invokes many issues about courtship and marriage and Shakespeare deals with them, Shakespeare uses love and relationships to closely examine and comment on how relationships developed in the society he lived in. Love is the prevalent theme through the play, with the younger characters all in love. The title of the play, Much Ado About Nothing, suggests that love is a major theme, because, at the time, the word Nothing was a slang word for female genitalia. The three couples in the play, Claudio and Hero, Beatrice and Benedick, together with the relationship between the more minor characters of Borachio and Margaret, comments on how relationships does not only affect the couple involved but affects everyone who is close to them. It also discusses the link between the motive of a union and the products that arise from it. The different characters all have conflicting motives. Hero and Claudios relationship is founded mainly on an aesthetic basis and the playwright makes sure that their relationship is tested greatly. Where in one instance, under the strain of a slanderous accusation, Claudio listens to the notorious liar and scoundrel, Don John, over the pleas of his future wife. This breaks their relationship and Claudio jilts Hero at the altar. Margaret and Borachios relationship, symbolises the Upper Classes view of the relationships that the lower classes partook in. This purely physical and animal relationship is a destructive force within the play, as it is their sexual embrace at Heros window that almost destroys the marriage of Hero and Claudio. The only relationship that seems to run into very little problems is the unconventional partnership of Beatrice and Benedick. Despite the fact that the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick seems to be the most unconventional, Shakespeare seems to prefer them. As well as giving the relationship no real obstacles, he elevates their language by putting it into prose, a style of writing which at the time was reserved for holy scriptures, learned arguments and legal documents. No doubt, the church would have been outraged to hear that an unconventional relationship was being put into the same category as the Holy Scriptures. If we compare the language given to Beatrice and Benedick, to the verse used in speech between Claudio and Hero, we can see the elevation of Beatrice and Benedicks relationship and more importantly, the denigration of the relationship of Hero and Claudio. With the criticism of the relationship of Claudio and Hero, Shakespeare is denouncing conventional Elizabethan thought on love and marriage At first the relationship between Claudio and Hero appears to be idyllic. Claudio seems to be attracted to Hero, In mine eye, she is the sweetest lady I have ever looked upon, but within the same conversation Claudio already shows an ulterior motive for a future union, Hath Leonato any son my lord? Claudio asks Don Pedro whether Leonato has any heirs to his fortune. If Leonato had any other heirs, the prospect of marrying Hero would be slightly less inviting, as Hero would not inherit Leonatos estate. Although modern audiences balk at this open show of shallowness, Shakespearean audiences would have found this quite the norm. In relation to Hero herself, Claudio is only interested in the physical attributes of Hero, since he makes no mention of her other possible virtues and attributes. Claudio also does not seem to know much about Hero, thus explaining why he is asking Benedick about her, yet he is willing to marry her. tempmagic Magic in Shakespeare's The Tempest Tempe EssayThroughout the ages, clothing and appearance has been an important aspect in wooing a partner. The changes of appearance of Claudio and Benedick when they are wooing their respective lovers, adheres to the convention at the time. Claudio seems to be taking the convention as if it was gospel, Benedick sees this as slightly hysterical, What fashion will you wear the garland of? about your neck, like an usurers chain? or under your arm, like a lieutenants scarf? You must wear it one way, for the prince hath got your Hero. When in love with Beatrice, Benedick does try and change his appearance, however Beatrice is not impressed. She has already showed her disdain for a man changing his appearance when in love, He who hath a beard is more than a youth: and he that hath no is less than a man: and he that is more than a youth, is not for me, and he who is less than a man, I am not for him The play also deals with the impact on the way women were treated by their male relatives at the time on their relationships. Elizabethan women were merely the possession of their male relatives, however, the steadiest relationship in the play contains two equal partners and Benedick show respect to Beatrice. This is also coupled with the fact that, in part, been initiated by men and women working together. Beatrice fell in love with Benedick due to Hero and Margaret, together with Beatrices involvement in creating Hero and Claudios second relationship. The fear of a change in the way women in society were perceived that was so redolent in Elizabethan times is criticised in Much Ado About Nothing. It appears that Shakespeare is making a damning observation of Elizabethan society. During the dramatic denunciation scene, only Friar Francis, Beatrice and Benedict are even inclined to consider Heros innocence. Friar Francis states this clearly: by noting of the lady. I have marked/A thousand blushing apparitions trust not my age, /My reverence, calling nor divinity, /If this sweet lady/lie not guiltless here, /Under some biting error. A supposedly wise and rational man, Leonato, however, cannot even perceive the innocence of his own daughter. He immediately sides with the male characters, Claudio and Don Pedro and notes that they would not lie: Would the two princes lie, and Claudio lie, Who loved her so, that speaking of her foulness, Washed it with tears? Hence from her, let her die. The misguided perceptions of the male characters were reflective of the views of women at the time. This meant that marriage did not involve the emotions of the woman; she was just a bargaining chip, in the merger between two families. Shakespeare is vehemently attacking this dismissive attitude of time that women being nothing more than possessions, in the play. In the play, only when the man respects hi s woman does the relationship work. Through the magnificent power of Shakespeares hand, a simple story that is truly Much Ado About Nothing, becomes a commentary on the idea of love. True love becomes illuminated through its reflection in its own foil the ideals of courtly love. As William Kittredge said that courtly love must involve a love that is extremely idealised and superficial, with the vassal or servant-like suitor, who is often a valiant knight, devoting himself completely to an ideal woman who is often the daughter of a powerful man. The true relationship of Beatrice and Benedick compared to the relationship of Claudio and Hero, gives the reader not only a better understanding of the power of the literary foil, but also a foil into which that reader can reflect and better understand himself.