In What Way Is the Gap between Appearance and Reality Explored in Much Ado about Nothing?
Summary:
The fact that every character in the play, no matter how important, is involved in some form of gull, deception or misinterpretation clearly shows Shakespeare's exploration into the depth of appearance and reality.
The fact that every character in the play, no matter how important, is involved in some form of gull, deception or misinterpretation clearly shows Shakespeare's exploration into the depth of appearance and reality. Much Ado About Nothing explores this gap of appearance and reality through the flaws of the patriarchal society in Messina, subject of perception, obscure truth as well as the humorous and destructive nature of such misconceptions.
What is disturbing about Messina's patriarchal society is that the appearance and obscure truth from the spoken word has a far greater value than what is in fact reality. The men who are at the top of this social hierarchy are those who base their lives around the virtues of honour, valor and nobility, or at least are supposed to be. Right from the start of the play Claudio is described to have the 'figure of a lamb and the feats of a lion', yet the narrative reveals that he is the most inconstant man of all. Noble figures such as Don Pedro and Leonato are too easily deceived, and justice in the city is upheld by Dogberry, the most intellectually challenged character in the play who ironically unravels Don Johns plot. This whole idea of appearance being more important than reality can be seen most presently in Act Two Scene One, where all the characters are having a masked ball. This microcosm of the play is a metaphor for just how everyone has a façade when around each other without revealing their true self. By creating a flawed patriarchal society in which appearance is valued over reality, Shakespeare not only shows how these flaws can undermine a society, but also mocks patriarchal societies of the Elizabethan era where many were judged on how they were perceived to be, and not how they really were.
Shakespeare also uses appearance and reality to address the nature of love in the play using both the gulling of Beatrice and Benedict as well as Claudio's shaming of Hero. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon first glance, describing her as 'the sweetest lady that ever I looked on', but when he find from Don John that she has been fornicating with another man, it does not take a second though for him to be disgraced. During the shaming Claudio confronts Hero saying that 'what a Hero hadst thou been, if half thy outward graces had been placed about they thoughts and counsels of thy heart'. This becomes both ironic in the fact that Hero never did do anything that was witnessed, and that when falling in love with Hero, Claudio only saw the outward graces and not the heart. Beatrice and Benedict, unlike Hero and Claudio, were brought together by a gull. Benedict, a misogynist, and Beatrice, a known man hater, both 'overheard' others telling of each others love. This 'illusion' brought the two together, but their love was only true when Beatrice demands that Benedict kill Claudio. It is this action of Benedicts that shows he loves Beatrice, because it is what a man is willing to do for a woman, a reality, that shows how much he loves her, much unlike Claudio who loves Hero like a jewel, an appearance. Here, Shakespeare shows how true love is created or destroyed through appearance and reality. The comedy of Beatrice and Benedicts gulls and the sorrow in the gull of Hero and Claudio also show how illusions can be entertaining but at the same time destructive.
Even the pun of noting in the title explores the difference between appearance and reality, and touches on the subject of the spoken word. Much of what happens in Much Ado About Nothing that causes gulls or misconceptions, whether intentional or not, are that of the spoken word, or obscure truth.
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