Much ado about Nothing - 'The road to happiness is strewn with difficulties and dangers.' How true is this of Hero and Claudio, or Beatrice and Benedick?

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The road to happiness is strewn with difficulties and dangers.’ How true is this of Hero and Claudio, or Beatrice and Benedick?

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s comical plays, including complications within the lives of his characters on their way to finding happiness. These difficulties and dangers are commonly found evident within the relationships of both pairs of star-crossed lovers, namely Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick. From these situations arise interest and amusement, also adding delight when all is resolved in the form of marriage.

The characters of Hero and Claudio belong to the tradition of romance, in which lovers endure misfortunes and tribulations, before winning through to happiness in the end. Their love is based on each other’s appearances, not their minds, as Claudio says to Don Pedro:

‘O, my lord

When you went onward on this ended action,

I looked upon her with a soldier’s eye,

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That liked, but had a rougher task in hand

Than to drive liking to he name of love;

But now I am returned and that war-thoughts

Have left their places vacant, in their rooms

Come thronging soft and delicate desires,

All prompting me how fair young Hero is,

Saying I liked her ere I went to wars.’        I.1.275-84

Because their love does spring from the eye, they must rely on their parents and friends to pass judgment, therefore allowing trickery and deception, simply because they do not know each other well. This deception within the play came when Don John, ...

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