I shall be presenting my analysis of an extract in Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare. This extract takes place in Act 1, Scene 1, lines 119 to 163. It is situated right after Leonato invites Don, Claudio, and Benedick to be his guests

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Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am a lecturer from the University of China, and I shall be presenting my analysis of an extract in Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare. This extract takes place in Act 1, Scene 1, lines 119 to 163. It is situated right after Leonato invites Don, Claudio, and Benedick to be his guests during their visit, and Pedro ends before Don Pedro offers to arrange Claudio’s marriage. This extract contains themes, characters and literary techniques which are vital in the construction of the play.The development of this extract assists in constructing the theme deception in the play. In the first half of the extract, deception is observed through Benedick and Claudio’s exchange.

When Claudio states, “Thou thinkest I am in sport: I pray thee tell me truly how thou likest her”( Line 131), audiences see that Claudio is unable to accept Benedick’s opinion of Hero, which is nothing more than a short, dark, and small women. Benedick’s constant doubt of Claudio’s love is also apparent when he says “Come, in what key shall a man take you, to go in the song?”(lines 137 to 138) The distrust between the two shows us that lies and deceit is common in the Elizabethan society. This theme of deception is further developed when Benedick comments, “Do you question me, as an honest man should do, for my simple true judgment, or would you have me speak after my custom” (Lines 122 to 124)

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This quote indicates that Benedick is capable to view women differently in his “true judgment” without relating them to his “customs”, which is his supposed hatred towards women. Here, the mask motif is strong as audiences witness two sides to Benedick, one a misogynist and the other, an individual with a more neutral view towards women. On the other hand, the theme of love is first established by this extract. This is seen in the first line, when Claudio’s attraction for Hero is first revealed, “didst thou note the daughter of Signior Leonato?”(line 119) This is followed by Benedick ...

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