Much Ado About Nothing is a play in which language is a key focus.

Authors Avatar

Much Ado About Nothing

A Play in Which Language is a Key Focus

In this coursework I will be analysing the play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ written by Arden Shakespeare. This addition is edited by A.R Humphreys, which was written in 1958. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a comedy from Shakespeare’s collection.

        In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, Shakespeare uses comedy and a touch of tragedy to send a message of deceit and noting as a key issue. The content of the play basically underlines the story of Claudio’s engagement of Hero, which is ruined by Don Pedro’s intervention and plotting. This then becomes more complicated when Hero fakes her death. Simultaneously another subplot is seen through Benedick and Beatrice, as they begin to fall in love regardless of their frequent battles of wit despite the hatred they have for each other. Both plots combine which leads into an affair of honour between Benedick and Claudio. Additionally there are two facetious local constables, Dogberry and Verges who try to expose the scheming of Don John and Borachio.

        The core part of my essay will discuss language and how Shakespeare uses different types of language for different characters. The style of the language is rather different from other plays that Shakespeare has written: as ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is written in one third prose then blank verse. Shakespeare therefore changes the tempo and turns it into a less formal and poetic style, in which it’s expected to be more in blank verse. In the way Shakespeare uses prose rather blank verse, in my opinion I believe he’s trying not to make class a big issue in terms of socialising. For example the only time the speech changes from prose into blank verse is due to class, as when characters like Dogberry are speaking to characters with a higher social class i.e. Don Pedro, Claudio, Leonato and Antonio at the confession scene (Act V scene І). Shakespeare does this to show how fickle the characters are to class, which also relates to the public, as there is a divide between social classes in society. Characters such as Dogberry and Verges use malapropism language, in which they find it harder to communicate to people with a higher hierarchy. Shakespeare does this to add comedy into the play as Dogberry frequently misuses words. I also believe that by Shakespeare employing malapropisms it shows that class is an important issue, as the truth is less likely to be heard from someone with a lower social background/class. For example the characters have different types of language according to their class, as the more important class is more likely to speak in blank verse, which relates to our society now as their use of language is expected to be more intellectual. Shakespeare does this, which relates to Dogberry’s character as he frequently mess up words by trying to use intellectual to prove him self.

        Language is a key focus, in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ as it’s heavily concentrated with metaphors and decorated by rhetoric. For example: Benedick and his companions try to show their social graces both in their behaviour and in their speech. Shakespeare does this to make fun at the fairy tale use of language of love, as when Claudio falls in love he tries to be the perfect ‘liegeman’ by using intricate language. For example Benedick comments,

Join now!

        ‘His words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange

        dishes’

                                                        (Act Π scene ІІІ, lines 20-21)

Here I believe that although the young attentive characters in the play seem casual in their expose of wit, they are endlessly struggling to maintain their social positions. Fashion can also be argued in terms of hierarchy as characters with a more important status wear a different standard of clothing. For example, from reading the book we don’t get the idea of what type of clothes the characters would wear, however in the Kenneth Brannagh film addition we get the sense of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay