Much Ado About Nothing

Using Much Ado About Nothing, explore Eric Bentley's view that in Shakespearean comedy "the tone says life is fun. The undertone suggests that life is a catastrophe"

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's comedies most famous for the cheery repartee and bawdy humour exhibited by the characters throughout. Presenting the main characters as jovial, Shakespeare is able to portray a cheerful perspective of life. However, there is a portentous undertone lurking behind the seemingly innocuous banter throughout the play, which facilitates the movement of the play towards the direction of black comedy.

The element of comedy is used to cloak the true purpose of life – to procreate. Noticeably, the word "nothing" in the play's title was an Elizabethan euphemism for the female genitalia. Using the characters, Shakespeare has played on this term by frequently introducing vulgar puns, for example when Beatrice dubs Benedick "Signor Mountanto" (1.1.28) – Mountanto meaning "upward thrust" - and later says "he is no less than a stuffed man. But for the stuffing – well, we are all mortal" (1.1.54-55). Claudio and Hero's relationship epitomizes a stereotypical perception of love; they are the couple that the Elizabethan audience were most likely to warm to. Hero is depicted by Claudio as a "jewel" (1.1.69), which connotes splendour and beauty, however later on in the play he says: "What have I to give you back, whose worth may counterpoise this rich and precious gift?" (4.1.25-26), challenging his prior appraisal of her; this exposes the cracks in their relationship. Shakespeare has issued her with very few lines throughout the first scenes, aiding the build-up of her respectable temperament, and she could conceivably be a representation of Shakespearean society's notions of an ideal woman. Despite Beatrice being the woman that the modern audience would most likely find amusing and relate to, the Elizabethan audience would deem Beatrice a frightening representation of the female gender. Although the majority of the play is in prose to conform to the spontaneity of comedic jousting, Claudio's confessions of love for Hero are written in verse, which denotes a sense of romance that is almost hollow and synthetic within their seemingly idyllic relationship. From the beginning of the play, it is clear that their relationship is flawless and resembles that of a "fairy-tale" romance. Conversely, Benedick offers an alternative view of love, suggesting that the origin of love is more pragmatic; it is sexual, and "the world must be peopled". Therefore, this is a clear example of the bitter undertone, which is encased in an ostensibly jovial façade.

The more sombre story occurs when Hero is accused of being traitorous to her betrothed, temporarily destroying her seemingly impeccable personality.