Comedic Play - Much Ado About Nothing

Circa 1599, the comedic play Much Ado About Nothing was written by the playwright William Shakespeare. The play, being set in a different contextual time period, has made it hard for readers to fully grasp the concepts and actions by characters in the text, without first exploring the values the society held in high regard. The plot is set in Messina, in which Leonato, the Governor of Messina and his household meets with Don Pedro, the Prince of Arragon and his royal companions after a newly ended war to celebrate. The play revolves around two developing relationships, Claudio and Hero, Beatrice and Benedick. Both relationships occur in a patriarchal society and are affected by deception with either malevolent or benign intentions which then results in, extreme actions to take place with falsely condemning Hero ultimately leading to her metaphorical death. The play however concludes on a happy note with the elated lovers all having a joyous dance before their double wedding. As the characters live in a phallocentric society, the value placed on male pride and honour, female roles and social hierarchy are extreme. Our awareness of the contextual society, along with Shakespeare's implementation of various literary and figurative techniques, helps to deepen our knowledge of the text, as well as the reasons regarding the character's actions.

The importance of masculine pride in the eyes of the men in society is clearly depicted through the characterization of Don John the ‘bastard', giving the reader a deeper understanding to the reasoning behind his deception. Above all values to men, their pride and honour is the highest ranked, it is this that shapes who they are and what they stand for. Without it, they may as well have been stripped of their person and consequently, will bring about jealousy towards others. Don John, the Prince of Arragon's ‘bastard' brother being a main example of a man whose pride and honour has been stripped. As struggles for power were a common occurrence between members of the same royal family, ‘bastard' offspring were always considered a huge threat towards inheritance and property. Through this fear, Shakespeare has constructed the character of Don John, envious, bitter and malicious, the play's antagonist; ‘bastard's' being characterized this way has been a common trend in many of Shakespeare's plays.

The opening of Act One, Scene Three is where Don John is first truly introduced in the play. In this scene, Don John's true feelings regarding his status as a ‘bastard' are revealed when he metaphorically states ‘I have decreed not to sing in my cage.' The metaphor translates to him deeming himself a captive, trapped in a cage and will continue to be who his is, and not change for the whim of others. The imagery gained of Don John is that of a bird, who once was free to do what he wants but due to his ‘status' all