In what way does Shakespeare's play 'Much Ado About Nothing' reflect the stereotypical views held about women by Elizabethan men

In what way does Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ reflect the stereotypical views held about women by Elizabethan men

Introduction

Much Ado About Nothing exemplifies a kind of deliberately puzzling title that seems to have been popular in the late 1590s. Indeed, the play is about nothing; it merely follows the relationships of Claudio and Hero, and in the end, the play culminates in the two other main characters falling in love, which, because it was an event that was quite predictable, proves to be much ado about nothing

The pronunciation of the word "nothing" would, in the late 16th Century, have been "noting," and so the title also apparently suggests a pun on the word, "noting," and on the use of the word "note" as an expression of music. In II.3, Balthasar is encouraged to sing, but declines, saying, "note this before my notes; there's not a note of mine that's worth the noting." However, Don Pedro retorts, "…Note notes, forsooth, and nothing," playing on Balthasar's words, and also demanding that he pay attention to his music and nothing else. In addition, much of the play is dedicated to people "noting" (or observing) the actions of others (such as the trick played on Beatrice and Benedick by Leonato, Hero and Claudio). They often observe and overhear one another, and consequently make a great deal out of very little.

Furthermore, women were very oppressed and maltreated during the time, and their status in society was very low. Their names were tarnished with classes, such as “Goddess,” “Adulterer,” “whore/wife” and “Shrew”, and each woman was classed under those headings. They were classed as “nothing” and this title, again, could be a play with those words, as the play is mostly about women, and how they manipulate men, and how men manipulate women – hence, the woman (“Nothing”) being the main character, consequently the title, Much Ado about nothing (women).

In Elizabethan times, there were four main types of stereotypes of women - Woman was a whore or wife, woman was a Goddess, Woman was an adulterer, and woman was a shrew/scapegoat.

In the early modern period, women were considered to be chattels owned by men, either as prostitutes or wives. They were sold by other men, pimps or fathers. A husband was what a woman should hope and pray for. She could not earn a living for herself, other than as a prostitute, and therefore, needed to be kept by a man.

Many poems have been written, and still are, deifying and glorifying women. An unmarried woman must be innocent, pure and virginal to be adored by men. This sort of adoration was favoured in court, of course, headed by the virgin Queen, and has become known as courtly love. Male courtiers would write poetry in the name of their adored, whom they would never touch. Goddesses such as this were denied any sexual power with which to challenge or entice men. They were assimilated to marble statues, by being placed on high pedestals devoid of voice, emotion, independence or power. This sort of depiction of love effectively silenced women.

Virginity was a virtue and adultery an inexcusable sin, because adultery gave women sexual authority over the two men concerned and set men against each other. There were many jokes about “cuckolds”: Men who had been betrayed by their wives were said to grow horns, which everyone except himself, could see. A “cuckold” man was a weak one. There were many famous plays, especially in the Restoration, about men trying to regain their power after being “cuckolded”. It is noticeable in ‘Much Ado’ that Hero effectively dies after her supposed liaison with Borrachio. This almost serves as a caution to women, who should not use their sexuality to gain influence, or like Hero, they will be as good as dead to all men.

The other threat adultery posed was in the property chain. Property was handed down through male children, the fear of a bastard in the family was great (In the play, it is the bastard who causes the most trouble). If there were only daughters in the family, an heiress who proved unchaste was deprived of her inheritance.

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The shrew is the only category defined in terms of intelligence and not sexuality. A shrew was any woman who spoke up for herself. She of course, needed taming. The shrew was therefore, the most dangerous category as far as men were concerned, as these were women who could challenge their power and superior place in society. The shrew was a favourite target among satirists, who blamed the, for all the faults in the world. When made fun of and belittled by the power of popular theatre, the threat became less.

In this play, Hero plays the role of a woman (she portrays the goddess) who is the daughter of the king. She falls in love with a count called Claudio, who then plan to get married. On the eve of the wedding, the bastard in this play, Don John, sets up a woman who looks like Hero to have a “liaison” with a ruffian, Borrachio, in attempt to frame Hero. He then shows this to Don Pedro, his brother, and Count Claudio. On the day of the wedding, Claudio shuns away Hero and jilts her at the altar. Hero’s father and the friar then plan to pretend that Hero has died, and hold a funeral in her name. This clears her of the slanders placed on her. At the end, Claudio thinks he is marrying another one of the kings’ daughters, but in fact, its Hero.

Hero is very quiet throughout the play, and when Claudio proposes to Hero for the first time, Beatrice speaks on behalf of Hero. Hero represents women as property throughout the play, who is exchanged between men. On page 76, Claudio says “Give me this maid your daughter?” This represents the fact that, in the Elizabethan times, women were given away – a husband was what a woman should hope for. Also, a question that could be asked is – did Claudio really love Hero? One of the first questions Claudio asks Don Pedro is “Hath Leonato any son my Lord?” This suggests that he is finding out whether he will inherit all of Leonato’s wealth before he finally decides that he loves Hero. Here, the stereotype of women as objects comes about, as the woman involved in this case is only used as an object for Claudio to get to Leonato’s money. When Don Pedro replies, “no child but Hero” he immediately delivers a speech about how much he loves her, “how fair young Hero is”. This shows Hero is just an object in Claudio inheriting Leonato’s wealth. This speech seems to be sincere but is he simply being shallow? The fact that Claudio says he is in love with Hero having only known her well for a few days raises the question as to how sincere Claudio really is. “My liking might too sudden seem”. This quotation shows that he realises that it may seem odd that he has fallen in love with a potentially rich maid too quickly. However, we should remember that the idea of “love at first sight” was very popular in Shakespeare’s day. In this way, Shakespeare portrays the stereotypical view of women by Elizabethan men as objects to gain money. After the disastrous wedding we see Claudio, Benedick and Don Pedro talking. We see Claudio behave in a manner, which shows that he does not feel guilty despite “murdering Hero”. In fact he begins to make jokes, “We had like to have our two noses snapped off with two old men without teeth”. One would expect Claudio to be deeply upset and show some guilt instead of his almost light-hearted manner. Is this the behaviour of someone who has just lost someone they love very much? This shows that Shakespeare portrays that the stereotypical view of women by Elizabethan men was that they were no use to men after the man had no chance of gaining any money.

Hero is turned into a goddess twice by Claudio – once before the disastrous wedding and once during the second wedding. Claudio calls her: “Dian,” which shows that he thinks of her as a goddess. Dian was the goddess of the moon and chastity. This suggests that he contemplates Hero as a goddess and as a chaste and virginal woman. During the second wedding, Claudio says “Another Hero” which shows that he sees that Hero has been cleared of all her previous unchastities and she is pure again through her death. This shows the grim, unnerving and almost disturbing fact that in Elizabethan times, women were preferred in death rather than in life – they were pure and chaste in death. This led way to some rather perplexing problems, such as necrophilia. This also shows that, now has another chance at Leonato’s money, he is willing to love Hero again.

By framing her, Don John places her into a category of an adulterer. Claudio does not believe the woman he loves, but moreover, believes Don John who is portrayed as evil, just because he is a fellow man. In this way, during Elizabethan times, women were always repressed. They were never believed, and a man’s statement was always superior to that of a woman. This shows the true extent of the inequality of women to men. This is another factor to show how little Claudio loved Hero. Not even Hero’s own father believes Hero’s account of the events, which shows the extent of the inequality between men and women. This is shown when Leonato says: “Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wish’d for.” This shows that, upon hearing the attesting of the men over his daughter, he would rather die to cover up the shame. This proves the inequality between men and women.

Beatrice is the shrew in this play. She is outspoken throughout the play. She has a love/hate relationship with Benedick throughout this play. At the end, she ends up marrying Benedick.

Beatrice says to Don Pedro: “I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.” This shows that in her opinion, she was born to answer back and to be a shrew. She is a woman both intelligent and outspoken, a witty creature who faces men as equals. Although clearly related to Katharine, Beatrice is not a shrew. She is a witty and lively lady who is liked by all in spite of her deviation from accepted female behaviour. In this way, Shakespeare is trying to send a message that whichever way a woman is portrayed, she is still loveable and she is still accepted in society. She fascinates Don Pedro, who has never met a person like her before. Nonetheless, this is a world where war is the main occupation and the most revered virtues are courage and the soldierly arts; it is a world where a man is believed and a woman is not — in public, a woman speaks only when spoken to. She mentions that she wouldn’t mind being a man so that she could prove herself, and if she was a man, she says she would be heard, and not always restrained.

Beatrice is called a shrew by both men and women, and yet actively desires to be tamed. This is shown as she has a relationship to Benedick. This gives the Elizabethan audience an idea that shrews need to be tamed, and that will be the only way Beatrice will be acceptable to society. Whichever way, she is still loved by the audience in both roles – as a wife and as a shrew. Beatrice is seen as the strongest female characters in this play, as she has the audacity to stand up to people in this play, and she can twist people to her likings.

At the end of the play, the shrew is tamed, as Benedick says “Peace I will stop your mouth.” After the kiss, Beatrice never speaks again throughout the play. This indicates that the shrew has been tamed, as Beatrice seems to have a love for speaking throughout the play. At the end of the play, she switches from Shrew to wife. I think that this shows she has a desire to be tamed, otherwise she would have spoken after the kiss in the play. Shakespeare is trying to show in this, that all Shrews desire to be tamed.

Benedick and Beatrice always had a “merry way” going on throughout the play. The words “merry war” suggest that Beatrice is violent.

She says she wants to marry for love, and not for money, which shows that she does not listen to authority and her elders, as in the Elizabethan times, people used to be given away and did not used to marry for love, but rather, for money and fortunes. This is shown when Beatrice says to Don Pedro: “Your Grace is too costly to wear every day.” This tells me that she does not want to marry for money and fame, but for love.

We can make many assumptions on the Beatrice and Benedick relationship and how it may have grown throughout the previous acts and scenes. We can tell from this small passage that Beatrice and Benedick have a love/hate relationship which may have come from past relationship let downs. Beatrice: “indeed my lord, he lent it me awhile, and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one. Marry, once before he won it off me with false dice, therefore your grace may well say I have lost it.” The two seem to have the same ideas on marriage even though we learn through the play that this is not true, they both know it is important to get married but have different viewpoints on the matter, they both appear to want their individuality. We can see this idea in the passage provided and many other parts of the play when Beatrice says: “just, if he send me no husband; for the which blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and evening. Lord, I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face I had rather lie in the woollen.” Benedick, meanwhile, says: “the savage bull may; but if the ever sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bulls horns and set them in my forehead; and let me be vilely painted, and in such great letters as they write 'Here is a good horse to hire' let them signify under my name 'Here you see Benedick the married man'”

Each of the two know deep down that they do love each other and only when their friends plot against them do they end up declaring their love for each other. Benedick has protested in the past about loving Beatrice and we get this idea from this passage and numerous other passages throughout the play, when Benedick says: “Love me? Why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured: they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her; they say to that she would rather die than give any sign of affection.” This shows that Shakespeare is trying to portray that shrews actually do want to marry, whether it is their will or not, and that they all desire to be tamed. This shows that a stereotype of shrews in Elizabethan times is that they all want to be tamed, even if they express that they don’t want to.

Beatrice is also not happy about feeling love for Benedick and we get this when Beatrice says: “As strange as the thing I know not. If it were possible for me to say I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not. I confess nothing nor deny nothing. I am sorry for my cousin.” This passage also shows the confusion of Beatrice, she does not take Benedick seriously and is mainly thinking of Hero during this conversation.

Margaret is a servant. She is used in the plot of Don John to frame Hero for cheating on Claudio with Borrachio. She should be placed under the adulterer category, yet she isn’t. She shares no blame in the plot to frame Hero, yet she plays a major part in it. With Borrachio calling her Hero, she knew what she was doing, yet she did not stop herself. The fact that she was not reprimanded shows that only those women that were a threat were reprimanded. Hero was a big threat, so she was admonished, but Margaret, even though she took part in the deed, was not held responsible because she was a servant and held no importance and no threats whatsoever. Margaret and Ursula should also fall under the category of a shrew, as they are constantly speaking ill about men, yet they do not get placed under any of those categories, as they are servants and are no threat. They do not have, and never did, have a high place in society. This is because they are seen as unskilled, and people who take up the job as servant because they have a low level of education. Servants were made to carry heavy loads and made to basically act as dogs of their owners, as they were luxury-providers for the luxury consuming.

The women that were placed under categories were those that had a high place in society, and so, were thought of as high. Those that were not placed into categories were those thought of as unimportant to have a place in society.

Regarding reflections and stereotypes, it is my personal opinion that women were treated as objects – people to blame in the time of problems, items to use when it suited the men and the lowest of the low in the social hierarchy.

The title poses the question: “In what way does Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ reflect the stereotypes views held about women by Elizabethan men.” To answer it, I shall share the background to this play – In the past, women have been repressed and been treated inequally with men, initially because of the misconception that men were (and some people still portray that they are today) stronger than women. The men did all the jobs, including theatrical productions, in which, some played the role of women. They were seen as objects of material desire, and were placed into categories, such as shrew (who would speak out and had to be tamed), Adulteress, Whore/wife or goddess. Women still ARE portrayed as objects of material desire, with the pornographic world booming because of this.

Also in the past, women were seen as holding more sexual power than men, as they could make two men turn against each other by having an affair. This is still true today; the affair-rate in Britain has been exploding over the last 50 years. Majority of the top jobs are performed by men, even though the percentage is slowly sliding downwards, as more women demand equal rights.

Another Hierarchy is that of social class – people were split up into the top class, people like the king and people who were rich, the middle-class, people who were not rich, but not poor. Then, there was the poor class, who could not afford too much, and were very poor. In this play, not many people tell the truth. One of the only one’s in the play who speaks the truth is Dogsberry – one of the poorest people in the play. He is adamant that the truth should prevail. This shows that even though he is a “commoner”, he is still better than the upper-class.