Much Ado About Nothing … and love and wit and men and women…

The first 200 words of this essay...

Much Ado About Nothing:

...and love and wit and men and women...

Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is just as applicable to the relationships of men and women today, as it was four hundred years ago. While the behaviour of Claudio regarding Hero might seem out of date - and indeed, offensive to some - the interaction of Beatrice and Benedick seems all too familiar. This 'sub-plot' outgrows it's intended purpose early on in the play; and it's conclusion is far more rewarding to it's audience than that of the 'main plot'. There is much to be learnt in the language of these two characters so obviously made for each other about love and men and women.

Upon our introduction to the ensuing 'much ado', we first encounter Beatrice as she asks about Benedick returned from the war: 'I pray you, is Signior Mountanto returned from these wars or no?' (Act I;Scene i;22) Her immediate inquisition alludes to a relationship of some sort between them. Her reference to Benedick as 'Signior Mountanto' implies not only her berating opinion of Benedick, but to her use of irony in her vernacular. Shakespeare would not have introduced her to the