It is said that true lovers have a unifying trust of each other but Claudio proves an insecure and mistrusting courter. Having achieved Hero’s love, Claudio awaited the day when they would get married until Don John’s warning to him. John says that “the lady is disloyal” and calls her “every man’s hero”, implying that she is a whore. (51) Claudio doesn’t question the allegation, he just jumps to action. He says,
“If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her tomorrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there will I shame her.”
(III.ii.112-14)
Jackie Shead said in her Are our eyes our own that “A decent lover might threaten Don John with a duel if he failed to support his accusations; but Claudio is already planning revenge on Hero for her possible misdeeds, not on her accuser for possible slander.” Claudio plans even before seeing the scene at the balcony that he would shame Hero at the altar if he saw anything. Having seen a possible Hero make love to an unknown man at her balcony, that very same revenge is what he goes through with at the altar the next day. He refuses to marry “a rotten orange” who “knows the heat of a luxurious bed.” As she blushes at this accusation, Claudio says it is out of “guiltiness not modesty.” This harsh defamation of Hero, in front of all the townspeople over a questionable accusation, lowers Claudio’s character and leads to the “death” of Hero as proposed by the Friar. It is seen as the darkest scene in Shakespeare’s writing due to the degree of the slurs, for which once again Claudio is the cause.
After Claudio’s disturbing accusations, Hero is put into hiding and declared as dead. The actions of Claudio that follow are almost equally as disturbing as the altar scene itself. The morning after the wedding, a grieving Leonato and his brother encounter Don Pedro and Claudio in the streets and there is an ugly fracas over Hero’s ‘death’. The only textual sign of Claudio's reaction is an indignant response to the charge that his villainy has killed Hero. This encounter is followed by Benedick’s challenge and he is informed by Claudio that “[he and Don Pedro] had like to have had our two noses snapped off with two old men without teeth”. (83) There is not only little sign of mourning for Hero here, but mockery of her relatives' enraged grief. Don Pedro reports in humorous vein Beatrice's feelings for Benedick and concludes “the old man's daughter told us all”, which Claudio confirms with “All, all”. (85) The “old man's daughter” is, of course, Hero. Not only is there no sign of remorse at Hero's death; there is no discretion in referring to her. When Benedick, his challenge delivered, departs with “you have killed a sweet and innocent lady”, the remark does not affect Claudio either. (86) He says that Benedick is “in most profound earnest and for the love of Beatrice,” brushing aside his charge. (86) Claudio only starts repenting his actions at the altar after Hero is proved innocent, but his remorse is rather upsetting as well. He first accepts punishment and offers to fulfil any penance Leonato devises, but adds “yet sinn'd I not, but in mistaking.” (89) Shead explains that “on closer scrutiny, it looks remarkably like: The only sin I committed was in making a mistake. This is dubious, given the calculated spite in his public humiliation of Hero and his callous response to her 'death'.” The repentance he has shown is truly disturbing because he never actually admits his mistake. He just takes it as a mistake one could make rather than looking at his overreaction after the mistake. The slandering that Hero received isn’t even close to the repentance that Claudio felt. The most disturbing part about this is that in the end Claudio still receives Hero’s hand in marriage.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy with a happy ending but it is well known for its disturbing elements as well. The norm around critics of the play is that the controversial character Claudio is generally seen as the reason behind those elements. Claudio starts as a war hero and honest lover but turns into a shrewd fortune hunter, an insecure lover as well as a slandering villainous character. In the end he receives a happy ending through his proposed marriage with Hero but he proves to be a true courter, one who plays the lover. That’s all he really does. He plays a lover but subsequently fails to come through for his love, which leads to the many disturbing aspects of this play.
