the two couples in Much Ado About Nothing?

Much ado about nothing is centered on the love and friendships of two pairs of young

lovers in Messina. It was probably first performed in late 1598 or early 1599. It is always

important when reading Shakespeare to remember that Shakespeare was writing for an

Elizabethan audience so therefore we will interpret and respond differently to the

situations presented to us. In Much Ado About Nothing the two couples are Beatrice and

Benedick, and Hero and Claudio. Both are very different couples so our response to each

is varied. Beatrice and Benedick could be looked upon as a more ?modern? couple

compared with the very conventional Elizabethan coupling of Hero and Claudio.

The love presented in Much Ado is realistic and critical, the romantic heroes are not

perfect. The theme of love is introduced right from the start of the play when the soldiers

arrive at Messina for their vacation. Claudio immediately falls for ?the jewel? Hero. He

almost immediately confesses his love for her ?that I love her, I feel?. Benedick replies to

Claudio?s confession with cynical, deflating replies and comments which

inventive, friendly and playful. It is easy to generalise Beatrice?s relationship with

contrast to Beatrice and Benedick?s down-to-earth mockery ?Would you buy her, that you

their conflict starts off as clever and snide insinuation but soon degenerates to blatant, bad

dramatically in the audiences estimation, he makes a ?fetish of honour arisen form his

effect of prose and verse which highlight the differences between the two couples and

an illusion which prevented any emotional developments until Don Pedro?s deception

Shakespeare has purposefully not used one so as to highlight the sincerity of their love and

today are unwilling to accept male dominance which therefore makes the Hero/Claudio

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2151
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)