In Much Ado About Nothing, the main themes of the play, is deception and love. The main aim and theme of this play was to unite lovers and destroy relationships. It gives us perfect examples of fairy tale endings, and Elizabethan requirements. It shows us how religion and belief can dictate whether you get married or not, this is all down to the era that they were in. We are able to question what the true meaning of love is these days, without having to think about our status, and whether we are pure or not.
In Claudio and Hero’s case, having their relationship destroyed by Don Pedro, was a key part in the play. Don Pedro used deception to trick Claudio into thinking Hero was having an affair, and was not a virgin. This was such a big deal, because when a woman gets married, she has to be a virgin. Deception drew these two lovers apart, and left Hero confused. Hero’s father Leonarto said ‘Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wished for’. This idea then made Hero use deception on Claudio, by pretending to be dead. By doing this, it made Claudio realise his love for Hero, and that in fact she wasn’t having an affair. However, using this deception, made them reunite as lovers.
In the Elizabethan era, everything dictated whether you can be married or not. Your status was also a highly important factor, if you were looked down on within society, you would lose your status, and you would have a hard time trying to find a husband. You also had to be a virgin, because otherwise you would have been seen as not pure, and nobody would want to be with, but nobody cared about whether the man was a virgin or not. This is why, when Claudio thought Hero was cheating on him, he instantly refused her, and left her broken hearted, because in fact she had not been cheating. Also, if you were to get a divorce, you