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'men Were Deceivers Ever'

Summary:   In Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing',the significance of Act IV, Scene I centres the predominant themes and symbols of the play, drawn together in the dramatic climax of the scene.

'Men were deceivers ever'

'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare was first performed at the turn of the 16th century. For four hundred years it has been loved as a comic account and exploration of the subjectivity of love. It is as light-hearted as the title would suggest. 'Nothing' was an Elizabethan euphemism for the female genitalia. It was also pronounced during this period as 'Noting', referring to the spying and eavesdropping that occurs so frequently in the play.

The opening passage of Act IV, Scene 1 encapsulates both the dramatic climax of the plot and an insightful demonstration of the play's most important characters and themes.

Talk of love made an appearance within the very first scene of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Claudio, returning victorious from battle, wonders how he might win the 'jewel' that is Hero. The chapel, in which they are now to be wed, welcomes a congregation of misunderstandings and will witness the tragic denunciation of Hero.

Until the devious plans of Don John interrupted, the main characteristic of Hero and Claudio's relationship was their conventionality. Shakespeare based the steps of their love and courtship upon the traditional path of wooing, winning and finally committing, or as Beatrice would have it 'wooing, wedding and repenting'. In contrast to the relationship of Beatrice and Benedick, the union of Hero and Claudio appeared easy.

In a Shakespearean play, five acts signify five stages of drama and storytelling. These are exposition, development, crisis, deeper crisis and resolution. Act IV contains the height of tragedy and devastation for the protagonists. The formerly repressed violence and aggression of Don Pedro and Claudio is released in the brutal defamation of Hero, as she stands ready to be married to the man she loves. At this moment, the audience and characters despair, as highlighted by Leonato's wish for death.

'Hath no man's dagger here a point for me"'

It is in this passage that the audience gains extraordinary understanding of the personalities and moral aptitude of many of the main characters. The atmosphere of panic and fear, as well as the actions of slander, reveal most truthfully the nature of each involved.

Shakespeare confirms Hero's innocence through her simple denials and plain-told disbelief and hurt. The audience already understands her character's virtue, the certainty of her virginity and the constancy of her affection. Now, all pity is for her, as the wrongness of Claudio's words is continuously emphasised by the dramatic irony he unknowingly possesses.

'What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!'

Previously, Claudio's romantic idealisation of Hero has been incessant. His fierce aggression at the ceremony stems from the realisation that Hero is more than a projection of his own self-ideal. In Kenneth Branagh's 1993 film production, the malice within Claudio is taken to a point of physical violence. This slight exaggeration, though conveying his distress, frustration and cruel intent to hurt and shame, omits the childish essence most inherent to his character.

Claudio's attachment to Don Pedro is now presented as a negative alliance, binding them more tightly to the lies of Don John. The latter alone, does not confuse his untrue words with poetry. Rather, he takes enjoyment in stating them with a straightforward and unaffected manner. 'Sir, they are spoken, and these things are true.'

As would be typical, Benedick provides a slightly inappropriate, witty commentary. The scene can be seen as a test of the truth behind each of their former dispositions. Claudio's darker side is revealed but Benedick maintains his jovial demeanour, confirming its genuineness.

'How now? Interjections? Why then, some be of

laughing, as ah, ha, he!'

The character of Leonato is used by Shakespeare to express the gravity of the situation. His reaction to the accusations made of his daughter, reflect the unrivalled superiority of honour, even over humanity, in Elizabethan times. Leonato's entire concern is for himself. This is characterised by his overwhelming use of 'I' and the possessive 'mine'.

'But mine, and mine I lov'd, and mine I prais'd,

And mine that I was proud on - mine so much

That I myself was to myself not mine,'

The fear of shame prohibits Leonato from acting as a true father should. He absorbs the insults of Don Pedro and Claudio upon Hero, rather than try and stop the hurt they are causing his daughter.

The most significant themes of 'Much Ado About Nothing' are deliberate deception, self-deception and human fallibility. All are at work on this passage. It is the epitome in the battle between reality and illusions.

Malevolent and benevolent are the two strands of deliberate deception. Both are present within Act IV, Scene I. Don John instigates the cruel trickery. The naivety and ignorance of other characters allows it to work. It is the most destructive deceiving force. Its potential to harm and create havoc is conveyed in the sinister atmosphere of Act II, Scene II. Benevolent deception as inspired by the Friar is the only vision of hope in the scene. Rather than further complicating matters, it is seen by Shakespeare and his audience, to counter the hateful lies of others. The ideal is truth, but a more practical morality stems from lies based on good intentions.

Self-deception is the subtlest force. It underlies both the idolatry of Hero by Claudio until this time, and his sudden certainty that she has betrayed him. The illusory nature of Claudio's love is revealed through his ease in berating Hero and causing her to suffer. Throughout the play, the cynics have been compelling and charming while the romantics are flawed. Though not an attack on love (on the contrary, it is later shown as the only solution), Shakespeare does communicate the misconceptions that so frequently accompany it. The scene is staked with questions.

'Is this face Hero's? Are our eyes our own"'

It is not only our minds that can be at fault; our senses may also deceive us.

'Myself, my brother, and this grieved Count

Did see her, hear her, at that hour last night,'

Claudio's initial naivety makes him blind to the insincerity that plagues every endeavour of all men. However, it is ironic that this ignorance fuels better deeds on his part, than when he opens his ears to conspiracy. What he believes to be 'growing up' in fact makes him appear and act heartless.

Hero's actual fidelity is highlighted by the history of her name.

'To make you answer truly to your name.'

In the myth of 'Hero and Leander', Hero is the loving wife who will die to save her husband. This is also a premonition of the plan construed by the Friar, to act out her death and force Claudio and Don Pedro to find remorse over their actions. 'Die to live'

The passage is also crucial in understanding the make-up of relationships between men and women of the time. In the Elizabethan era, women had a role as either wife or whore. Beatrice is an intelligent rebuttal of this view (explaining her contemporary popularity). However, Hero becomes involved in this discussion in Act IV, much against her will. She has been a faithful fiancé looking forward to matrimony and yet she is brutally accused of being a disloyal 'wanton' and 'common stale' She is labelled as a whore, and yet is not one; she desires to be a wife but the cruelties of fate will not allow her this either.

The constraints upon women are also demonstrated by the display of Hero as a possession to be given away, or paid for.

'Will you with free and unconstrained soul

Give me this maid your daughter"'

The atmosphere and impact upon the audience of this passage is one creating dark frustration. Our exclusive knowledge of the truth elevates the tragedy behind the damning words of Claudio and Don Pedro. Suspense and tension are built in the introduction, before the accusations begin, by the cold irony of Leonato's certainty. He dismisses Claudio's initial rejection by blaming the grammar of the priest. He is oblivious to the shameful intents around him. 'I dare make his answer. None'

The exaggerated pause of line 50 'No Leonato' marks a turning point. From here on, no statement can be withdrawn, the doom of the wedding day is sure, and the humiliation of Hero is complete. This is signified by Leonato's reaction; first an anxious question of the prince, and with all hope lost, a regression to disbelief. 'Are these things spoken, or do I but dream"'

The language and imagery of Shakespeare conveys the dramatically tragic and yet melancholy ambience of the scene. In contrast to the previous humour of the malapropisms of Dogberry and Verges, Act IV, Scene I echoes a Shakespearean tragedy. Claudio speaks words of a depth hidden even from him; ridden with irony and moral reflection.

His reference to Hero as a 'rotten Orange' reveals her position as a possession, his feelings of disappointment and his constant judgements based on the way things look. An emphasis upon the way Hero looks and seems, always accompanies his statements of love for her. An Orange can appear perfect, but once bitten into, taste rotten.

It is also a suggestion of the narcissistic representation of himself that he has placed upon Hero; that which tainted his 'love'. Beatrice once referred to Count Claudio as 'civil as an orange'. This simile is then echoed within the metaphor he now associates with Hero. It is not plain hypocrisy that he describes, but also a betrayal of something he considered to be controlled by him.

'You seem to me as Dian in her orb,

As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown:

But you are more intemperate in your blood

Than Venus, or those pampered animals,'

The images of the goddesses Diana and Venus (the first of chastity, the second of sensuality) reflect the previous description of Claudio as 'lamb' and 'lion' and therefore once again mark the importance of his own ego in the feelings he once had for Hero. The lines also symbolise the exaltation of women to goddesses during courtship and marriage.

'To see a woman as a goddess is to silence her as a human being'.

The oxymorons Claudio utters as he exits express the pain of his disillusionment as well as suggesting a remaining degree of desire for Hero. The contradictions belong to the circumstances rather than her simple heart.

'But fare thee well, most foul, most fair! Farewell,

Thou pure impiety and impious purity!'

Shakespeare elevates the scene through use of blank verse. Sarcasm and tragic irony on the part of the male characters is at the centre of the cruelty in which they indulge. Continuous reference to 'sign and semblance' emphasise the theme of perception. This also presents itself within Claudio's belief that Hero's modest blushes in fact prove her guilt. The unfaithfulness Hero is accused of is as illusory as the love Claudio once felt for her.

The opening passage of Act IV, Scene 1 draws the complex structure of story, theme and language created by Shakespeare, into the foreground. Suddenly the delicacy of such an operation as to write this play becomes clear. As much as with the tragedy and heartbreak of the scene, I admire the small details of construction such as the implications of the name 'Hero'. These associations are then drawn upon, and yet not with arrogance. Subtleties are allowed to exist almost to a point of invisibility.

As Hero 'swoons' to the floor it is of the song of Act II, 'sigh no more' that I am reminded. The messages behind every line flourish in their openness to interpretation, and seem not simply directed at the audience but exist partially for the sake of the characters.

'Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever:'

Another aspect of the scene that is still greatly appreciated today is the accurate portrayal it provides of the silencing of women. A character such as Beatrice creates the perfect outlet for views contrary to the traditions of the time, but the pain suffered by Hero also allows, in another way, for a criticism of the strongly patriarchal society. Her apparent lack of honour is treated 'dishonourably' and the playwright, in turn, condemns this. Shakespeare also mocks the pains men go through to see their partners as something other than human. On one level, Act IV displays the male fear to grant women their sexuality or moral independence.

Such categories as 'tragedy' or 'comedy' are often assigned to the plays of William Shakespeare. 'Much Ado About Nothing' and Act IV, scene 1 in particular, reveals the irrelevance of such labelling. Though wit reigns over many of the characters, social commentary and philosophical dialogue over love and life, are at the core of the play. Manipulation of the Elizabethan euphemisms 'nothing' (the female genitalia) and 'will' (male sexual desire) confirm Shakespeare's identification with his audience and his wish to simply make them laugh. The depth that follows the bawdy humour is what makes 'Much Ado About Nothing' a text to be studied, and more importantly, enjoyed!