Summary:
Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing illustrates how anger, jealousy, and betrayal can fashion love to be fickle.
It is said that "love is blind," yet the emotions that oppose it are equally as blinding and powerful, obscuring the truth that was evident before. These opposing emotions create a chaos that Shakespeare portrays as the fickleness of love. Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing illustrates how anger, jealousy, and betrayal can fashion love to be fickle.
Beatrice and Benedick have an ongoing "merry war" (1.1.59), yet it is not very "merry." The words they exchange are consistently witty, cruel, and directed at each other's hearts. Benedick calls Beatrice "Lady Disdain" (1.1.114) and thinks that she is indefinitely "possessed with a fury" (1.1.185), whereas Beatrice calls Benedick a "disease" (1.1.82). Although the arguments appear to be in jest, one of them always takes it personally. These word wars are quickly forgotten and the fog of anger is cleared from their eyes the moment they overhear that they are loved. Don Pedro, scheming, takes on "one of Hercules' labors" (2.1.382) and forges the ridiculous couple together.
When they hear of this supposed love, the anger is driven away, and they both bid their "[c]ontempt, farewell" (3.1.110) and their "pride, adieu" (3.1.110)! In just moments their outlook on love was radically altered.
Similar to Beatrice and Benedick's emotional evolution, Leonato's feelings towards Hero are inconsistent and unpredictable. In the beginning he is a "father that so loves his child" (5.1.8) and his "joy of her so overwhelmed" (5.1.9) and towards the end of the play he cares more for himself than reasonably possible. Leonato's "griefs cry louder than advertisement" (5.1.32) and while his daughter has been ruined he feels that the wrong is on him. Saying with bitterness, "Marry, thou dost wrong me, thou dissembler, thou" (5.1.54), Leonato selfishly challenges Claudio. Furthermore, Leonato goes as far as attempting to kill Hero, calling death the "fairest cover of her shame" (4.1.115). Leonato is overwhelmed with anger which blinds his fatherly love for her. It takes the kind words of the faithful friar to calm Leonato's rage. Moreover, only with the conviction of Borachio and Conrad does Leonato's "love" abruptly return, implying its shallow fickleness.
Whereas the first couple are blinded by love, and Leonato is blinded by anger, Claudio is blinded by jealousy and the sting of assumed betrayal. Claudio undergoes the most drastic and numerous changes of all the characters in the play. His relationship with Hero is unusual, because he has few conversations with her, and the mere sight of her confirms his love. Claudio believes "she is the sweetest lady that [he] ever looked on" (1.1.81-82), which provides him with enough conviction to ask for her hand in marriage. Later, while talking to Don Pedro, Claudio mentions that he "looked upon her with a soldier's eye, [t]hat liked, but had a rougher task at hand" (1.1.289-290) before he left, which proves that his love has no foundation and is only skin-deep. Even the love and trust that Claudio has for Don Pedro falters when he believes that "[t]he Prince woos for himself" (2.1.172) and is drowned with jealousy and a sense of betrayal. After freely falling back in love with Hero, Claudio irrationally believes the words of Don John the Bastard, and in turn believes what he sees, deciding to "marry her tomorrow" (3.2.120), and " shame her" (3.2.121) publicly at the wedding. Claudio's sense of betrayal returns, yet now he is powerfully blinded by anger. The blindfold of rage that engulfs Claudio's thoughts will not be penetrated by logic, he decides not to confirm Hero's actions before disgracing her in public. This also provides conviction that he was not well aquatinted with Hero, and that his love is only superficial.
Therefore, the question remains, is love blind? In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing he doesn't prove that love is blind or not, as much as he shows that love is vulnerable to powerful misguided emotions. In the play, love survives, despite, the fickleness that it so consistently reveals. In the face of anger, jealousy, and betrayal, love appears weak, yet it triumphs in the end, and as a result perhaps proves that love is not blind.
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