Much Ado About Nothing

In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare exposes mankind’s ignorant judgement and tendency to misinterpret others through the development of several relationships between the main characters of the play. The source of this human flaw, which is also the cause of all the conflict in Shakespeare’s play, is the lack of communication between people. Not only does the play reveal the faulty judgement of mankind, but it also illustrates mankind’s gullibility. Shakespeare discusses these issues in a comical context, thus portraying mankind’s inability to correctly perceive the world as a laughable and absurd flaw. Throughout the play, we see the development of two initially contrasting relationships: Claudio and Hero, who were mesmerised by each other in the beginning, and Benedick and Beatrice, who were constantly insulting each other.

Benedick and Beatrice’s relationship reflect the idea of misinterpreting others as they made communication difficult with each other by judging without consideration or thought. Although their affection for each other was obvious, they insisted that they would never marry or fall in love, let alone with each other. While both displayed their disdain for the other and their immunity to love, Benedick and Beatrice were easily deceived and manipulated to change their demeanour as well as attitude towards the idea of being in love. When their friends arranged for them to overhear conversations about the other’s love for them, they immediately reflect upon their arrogant and prideful character and decide to openly express their love. From the start, Benedick and Beatrice avoided clear communication, building a barrier between themselves that illustrated their unwillingness to show their love for one another. The two would’ve been happily in love if they communicated their feelings instead of displaying hatred and contempt. On the other hand, the conflict that arises between Claudio and Hero also demonstrated mankind’s limited ability to accurately interpret others. Although Claudio was head-over-heels for Hero, he was quick to believe that she cheated on him when he saw a woman, who appeared to be Hero, with another man. Instead of discussing the matter with Hero, his wife-to-be, Claudio decided to publicly disgrace her at their wedding. Claudio did not hesitate to accuse Hero of sleeping with another man, which showed his vulnerability to be manipulated by others. This small misunderstanding that resulted from miscommunication damaged Claudio and Hero’s relationship. 

Similar to the conflict between Claudio and Hero, I once got into an argument with a friend because she thought I was trying to exclude her from a conversation. When I was having a conversation with a classmate, my friend walked up to me and asked me what the discussion was about. I told her that it was about a Bible study group and that it’s not relevant to her because she wasn’t in the group. Although I had no intention to offend her, she got mad at me because it seemed as if I didn’t want to tell her and purposefully wanted to exclude her. The conflict was resolved when I explained my words and their meaning as well as the situation to her. Communication is key in all human interactions. Each conflict that arose in the play revolved around the idea of miscommunication and ignorant judgement. Both the union of Benedick and Beatrice and the falling apart of Claudio and Hero illustrate mankind’s limited ability to accurately perceive and interpret the world. 

Reflection:

I found it quite difficult to understand the dialogue in the play because it was in old/Shakespearian English. However, it wasn’t hard to see the recurring issue of miscommunication between the characters. Writing this essay really helped me to dive deeper into the play and see how much I can relate to the conflicts in the play. It was interesting to see how such a small miscommunication between Claudio and Hero led to such a dramatic conflict. I like how this essay prompted me to think more about the significance of communication in making relationships work.