Choose one question from each act and write a paragraph in response (three paragraphs total). Before you select the question, make sure there are no questions left unanswered—you should respond to unanswered questions first. This is a good reason to post early—you will have more choices available.
Act One
What is the backdrop for the arrival of Don Pedro and his men? Why is this significant to the plot of the play?
What is the substance of Don Pedro’s private conversation with the lovesick Claudio? Why is Don Pedro in such a hurry, do you think? Is it a good idea for him to woo in Claudio’s place? Why or why not?
How do we know that Beatrice and Benedick are in a “skirmish of wit”? Who seems to be winning? What is said that leads the audience to believe these two have a past, and why is that important, particularly when we reach Act 3 and Don Pedro’s “trick”?
Attached Files:
File Much Ado Acts I-III.mp3 (9.579 MB)
File MuchAdoActsI-III.rtf (376.972 KB)
This week, we will address the following topics:
Drama
The Writing Process
Analyzing Literature
Literary Research
[The audio file is the same as the text–because this is a long explanation, the audio is offered for those who prefer it. You don’t need to use both unless you’d like to do so].
Politics
There are a lot of things to discuss in Much Ado About Nothing, so the following isn’t the only theme you can or should think about. It’s just something that often we don’t think much about as we read the play and is actually pretty important: politics.
Why are the Prince (Don Pedro) and his men even in Messina?
Politics is why Leonato allows the prince and his men to eat his food and sleep in his home, why he throws a party for their victory–it’s also why Leonato believes that Don Pedro may offer marriage to his daughter Hero. Leonato is the Governor of Messina ( a city in Italy), and good ties to the royal family are important not only for political stability, but for money, troops, even survival. Leonato and Don Pedro are “old friend(s),” according to Don Pedro. By this, he means that he is grateful that Leonato is footing the bill to host, feed, and entertain the officers and their troops, showing his gratitude for and his generosity to his prince.
It’s also why, just before the party, Leonato says to Hero (his daughter), “If the prince do solicit you, in that kind, you know your answer . . .” He’s telling her that if the prince asks to marry her, her answer will be “yes.” It would be a marriage that would bring about great political advantage for her father, giving him direct ties to the royal family, and while he would not force the prince to make an offer, she is not to turn it down if he does. There is at least the speculation, then, that such a marriage offer is possible. Beatrice (Leonato’s niece) seems pretty happy not to be under the same orders.
If Leonato has the expectation that an offer of marriage MIGHT come–then the Prince must know it as well. Do you think that perhaps this might be why the Prince is so enthusiastic about Claudio’s infatuation with Hero? Why he pushes Claudio to make the offer right away rather than waiting? Claudio doens’t want to appear too hasty, as if he’s just after her money and connections. However, almost the first thing Claudio asks is “Doth Leonato have any son?” Claudio here is asking whether or not Hero will be Leonato’s heir–will she be wealthy when Leonato dies. The Prince says that Hero is the only heir, and Claudio then agrees to propose.
The Prince can then encourage Claudio to make his move while extricating himself without offending his host. It’s a good match for his friend, a good match for Hero.
After all, Claudio is the hero of the hour. He’s a newly-minted war hero, he’s become the Prince’s right-hand man, he’s from a noble family himself (he’s Count Claudio). So while it’s not as good as the prince, it’s close. And with the Prince’s approval, it’s a highly advantageous match for Hero (not to mention that while we don’t know the age of Claudio or Hero, it’s his first battle, and she’s really kind of timid, which makes her seem young. It might that be the Prince finds her too young, but Claudio is more the right age–we don’t know, but an argument could be made here).
Then, we find out something else–the Prince doesn’t make a marriage offer to Hero, but he DOES make one to Beatrice.
When Beatrice complains that she must cry “Heigh ho” for a husband, the Prince says “Lady Beatrice, I will get you one.” He means he’ll find a husband for Beatrice. But she says, teasingly, that she’d rather have one of his father’s “getting” by which she mean “begetting”–if you’ve read your Bible, you know that means his issue, or his sons. So she’s kind of implying that she’d marry one of the princes…but when he takes the plunge, she immediately turns him down. Ouch.
Well, goodness, this is an awkward situation, because Beatrice doesn’t want to marry Don Pedro, but he’s a prince and a powerful one. He’s a good friend to her uncle, who apparently is allowing her to live with him, so she doesn’t want the prince to be angry at being rejected, and she WAS kind of flirting with him a second before. Besides, she’s witty, but she’s never truly cruel (we can argue that she’s cruel to Benedick, but that’s another discussion entirely).
Beatrice saves the situation, because she turns it into a joke on herself–she tells Don Pedro that he’s “too costly to wear every day,” and that she was born to speak “mirth but no matter.” In other words, she would not be happy as a political wife, that she isn’t suited to be the wife that a Prince with his reputation requires. Fortunately for her, the Prince understands and seems to take it well. (We can argue that based on his later actions, but we’ll leave it there for now).
Beatrice and Benedick
Now, this leaves us with some questions–is Beatrice really so opposed to the Prince on his own merits? Or is it that her heart is already given over to someone else? Even the Prince, thinking on her words, tells the others, “She were an excellent wife, for Benedick.”
And the plot thickens.
All of this hinting around may explain why Beatrice and Benedick fall in love so fast when they’ve been previously devoted to insulting one another. Hate and love are two sides of the same intense emotion, and it’s possible there’s been something in their past that turned the relationship sour (Beatrice hints at it when she says “You always end with a jade’s trick/I know you of old”). Remember, too, that Benedick is portrayed as a sort of “ladies’ man,” which may have caused an issue before. We’re never given details about this, just the clues. And in that conversation with Don Pedro (the prince), Beatrice admits that she once gave Benedick her heart, but that he had won it from her with “false dice.” She’s determined not to lose her heart to him again, lest she prove “the mother of fools.”
The largest of these clues telling us that they may have had a previous relationship is the ease with which they are brought together. It shouldn’t matter, should it? Overhearing your friends and/or family saying that someone you hate is actually in love with you might more commonly end up giving that person an advantage in their arguments. Instead, both are thrilled to hear it and willing to give up the battles of wit immediately, to “requite” the love that’s being offered. Their friends may believe their scheme very successful, but it seems more likely that being “allowed” to love the other person is just the final straw that allows each to admit their feelings for one another.
Beatrice and Benedick are not a political couple.
Don Pedro, Don John, and Hero and Claudio
Now–our second couple (or, many critics believe, our first couple), are Hero and Claudio. Claudio trusts the Prince enough to allow him to woo Hero for him. Knowing that Leonato is expecting him to make that offer, the Prince does so–but the proposal he tenders is one between Claudio and Hero. Poor Hero, right? Passed around like one husband is as good as another? In any case, the Prince woos Hero for Claudio, but Claudio has a little serpent whispering in his ear, telling him that the Prince is double-crossing him. Who is it?
Don John, also a Prince, but not in charge–he’s the jealous “bastard” (illegitimate) half-brother who has done something pretty awful to fall out of favor (To remember the difference between the characters/names, think, Jealous John, Prince Pedro).
So here we’re back to politics again. Don John used to have the position that is now being filled by Claudio, who, let’s face it, is too young and gullible for this kind of responsibility. He’s shown great prowess on the field of battle, but politics is a different game. Who does he believe? Don Pedro, who’s been his best friend? Or Don John, who’s been disloyal? Of course, he believes Don John. Even Benedick is like, “Dude, the Prince wouldn’t do that to you!” (“Do you think that the Prince would have served you thus?”)
Claudio tries to run off, Beatrice brings him back, Hero is made over to Claudio, Claudio is relieved, all is good. Right? Nope.
We’ll be seeing more of Don John later. But we can already see trouble brewing. Claudio doesn’t really have an idea of what it means to be married, which seems to indicate that this is more a political marriage than a love match. Right before the marriage, in Act III, scene ii, he has this exchange with the Prince:
Don Pedro. I do but stay till your marriage be consummate, and
then go I toward Arragon.
Claudio. I’ll bring you thither, my lord, if you’ll
vouchsafe me.
Don Pedro. Nay, that would be as great a soil in the new gloss
of your marriage as to show a child his new coat
and forbid him to wear it.
In other words, my boy, you will have a new wife–you’ll be busy. Claudio doesn’t realize how significantly his life will change once he is married–he has no idea his loyalties will have to change, that his priorities will be in Messina unless Don Pedro calls for him. So it’s easy to see how he gets hoodwinked by Don John. Don John’s first gambit having failed, he moves to the next. He pays one of his men, Borachio, to take Margaret (the waiting gentlewoman) to Hero’s room and do some rather naughty things to her while standing in the window. Then he situates Claudio and the Prince in the orchard to watch the show. (One topic for the final essay might be–who really is the villain of this play? You could choose Don John, Borachio, or even Don Pedro, honestly).
We know why Claudio’s fooled–he’s young and honestly, not very bright yet. He’s still thinking with, well, not the brain in the head that rests on his shoulders. But the Prince–he’s been around, he knows his brother is not happy with him, and for crying out loud, they’re standing in the orchard! That’s not going to be right up against the house–so all they’d be able to see were shadows…
Honor
Still, there’s this thing called honor. It’s not just a word, it’s a code, and breaking it would be unthinkable–if you have no honor, you are finished in society. Other men won’t do business with you, won’t support you in political debates or positions, won’t socialize with you or your family. Therefore, all the men adhere to it. As a result, they can’t begin to imagine that the man who’s on the outs with the Prince could POSSIBLY make such a thing up in order to embarrass them both.
Claudio’s honor is at stake because to be cuckolded (cheated on) by his intended is a personal humiliation. Men will snicker and sneer, they won’t trust him to lead–if he can’t keep his intended or wife at home, what good is he?
Don Pedro’s honor is at stake because he’s the one who has promoted and sanctioned this marriage for his friend. The word will be that he was fooled by a little girl–and his position may be made vulnerable (perhaps enough so that Don John could raise his own army and west control away?).
And here’s where it gets interesting–despite all the friendship and good will Leonato has offered the Prince, the bonds of political connection do not hold up well under the strain of Don John’s accusations and “evidence.” Don Pedro does not, as we might reasonably expect, go to his friend Leonato and call the wedding off in private.
We aren’t sure what’s going to happen, only that Don John is up to no good and our “honorable men” are falling for it. That our honorable men are about to do something that is not honorable at all.
Benedick isn’t around for Don John’s show–so we don’t know yet what he’ll do.
There’s more going on, of course, but this is probably enough to whet our appetite for our conversation this week.
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