Much Ado About Nothing: Tragic Analysis

Little Ado About Tragedy by Tiffany Chapple Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy riddled with potentially tragic circumstances. Shakespeare manages to assimilate the potentially tragic with the comedic in a variety of different ways; through his use of silence, metaphor, mockery and by providing immediate solutions. Using these techniques, Shakespeare manages to downplay the potentially tragic and blend it into the comedic in Much Ado About Nothing. Daalder (2004) examines the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About nothing, explaining what he calls a “pre-history” between the pair. In this pre-history (the events that occurred between them before the events of the play) he suggests that Beatrice and Benedick were involved
in a relationship. This can be seen in the allusions to the past made by Beatrice about Benedict (II.1, p.26); “Indeed, my lord, he lent it me a while, and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one. Marry, once before he won it off me with false dice. Therefore your grace may well say I have lost it.”
In this passage, Beatrice clearly states that Benedick lent his heart to her for a time, before taking it back; that there used to be a romantic relationship between them before Benedick ended things. Of the line “a double heart for his single one,” Daalder says that Beatrice must have given her heart to Benedick, loving him in return but Benedick won her heart with “false dice,” pretending to love her and tricking her into loving him. Therefore, Benedick had only pretended to give his heart to Beatrice while she had given hers to him. Keeping his own heart but adding Beatrice’s to it leaves Benedick with two hearts. Beatrice, this passage implies, was unable to take her heart back even knowing that Benedick was false. So, even before Don Pedro has begun his conspiracy to make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love, we can see that Beatrice is still in love with Benedick. But what of Benedick’s feelings for Beatrice? In the beginning of the play, Benedick appears just as disdainful of Beatrice as she seems of him. But is this Benedick’s true opinion in the matter? I think not. In Act I, scene 1, (p.8) when Claudio asks Benedick his opinion of Hero, Benedick answers curiously, with a question. “Do you question me as an honest man should do, for my simple true judgement? Or would you have me speak after my custom, as being a professed tyrant to their sex?”
Hunt (2000) derives from this passage the fact that Benedick carries two modes of speech. One mode, little used, is honest and true and the other which he usually uses is therefore made false in this comparison. Benedick thus admits that he only pretends to hate the fairer sex, subsequently we can conclude that he only pretends to dislike Beatrice. This idea is encouraged in the minds of the audience by Benedick’s next reference to Beatrice, in the same scene (p.9). “There’s her cousin, (Beatrice) an she were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of May doth the last of December.”
In this description Benedick uses conventions of Elizabethan poetry taken from the chivalric code, in which, idealised figures of beauty were described in terms of spring and flowers (Thomas, 2009); as in Shakespeare’s sonnet XVII; “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
When Benedick uses this kind of poetic reference to Beatrice, the audience may therefore take it as a sure sign of his admiration for her, though he continues to hide this fact from Beatrice. Dobranski (1998) goes further in his analysis, suggesting a more carnally aware relationship. Apparently, in early modern Europe, the promise of marriage (from an honourable man - as the audience must assume Benedick generally is) was enough of a safeguard for a woman to engage in sexual activity. Unfortunately for the female, the man would often rescind his offer after sexual relations had taken place. This practice was apparently so widespread that it was given the terms “dare la burla” and “gettare la burla,” to give the trick and to throw the trick respectively. Therefore, it can be seen that when Beatrice reflectively states “You always end on a Jade’s trick, I know you of old.” (I.1, p.7) she could be referring to a time when she was seduced by Benedick before being jilted. Further evidence to support the idea of a carnal relationship can be found in various remarks made throughout the play. For instance, in Act II scene 1 (p.28), Beatrice says “I am sunburnt.” The word burnt in early modern England could also mean parched and dried up, a meaning which Dobranski points out, could indicate a sexually transmitted disease as in “a burnt whore.” (p.248, note15) This is a particularly interesting point as Beatrice consistently links Benedick with disease throughout the play. The most memorable line to this effect is; “He is sooner caught than the pestilence, and the taker runs presently mad. God help the noble Claudio! If he have caught the Benedick, it will cost him a thousand pound ere a be cured.” (I.1, p.5-6)

But Dobranski goes further still in his dark analysis of the play’s themes. Dobranski says that Beatrice may be alluding to a lost child in the passage (II.1, p.26); “Indeed, my lord, he lent it me a while, and I gave him use for it, a double heart for his single one. Marry, once before he won it off me with false dice. Therefore your grace may well say I have lost it.”
Interpreting the passage in this vein, Dobranski pays close attention to the grammatical antecedent “it.” In the first sentence “it” clearly refers to Benedick’s heart but in the second and subsequently the third sentences, this becomes less clear. Thematically, the second line ought to refer to Beatrice’s heart as Benedick tricked her into loving him. However, grammatically, the antecedent should remain constant and “it” would still refer to Benedick’s heart. This ambiguity carries into the next line. What has Beatrice really lost? Her heart? Benedick’s? Dobranski suggests these options but he also raises other possibilities. Beatrice could be referring to her virginity, the “game of courting” (p.240), or she could be referring to a child. Her and Benedick’s child. In this way, Beatrice’s giving Benedick “use” for his heart (possibly referring to usury and interest) could mean that Beatrice’s exchange of “a double heart for his single one” is the exchange of his love for hers and a child’s; that’s two hearts. Benedick also makes fleeting allusions to an absent child with his attempted poem to Beatrice in which he “can find out no rhyme to ‘lady’ but ‘baby,’” (V.2, p.89) inextricably tying Beatrice (in Benedick’s view, at least) with the presence of a child. Dobranski even points out a new level of the pun filled title of Much Ado About Nothing in relation to the idea of a miscarried child. In his interpretation the nothing referred to in the title becomes, not a nothing as such, but a nobody. Furthermore, he points out, “ado” means not only a fuss but a labour of some kind, as in childbirth. In this way, the title shows that Beatrice went through much ado for nothing. The possibility of a previous sexual relationship between Beatrice and Benedick, though alluded to vaguely, never becomes concretely revealed to the audience. The exact nature of their history is never explicitly revealed because the main action of the story, with a similar plot arc (in which Claudio essentially “throws the trick” by leading Hero to believe that they will be wed before throwing her over) would underscore the darker themes of the story. Much Ado About Nothing, with this dark pre-history dramatized, would become a play more about the inconstancies and betrayal of man than about courtship in general and would therefore lose much of its comedic appeal. In this way, Shakespeare uses silence in the previous relationships of these characters to maintain a lighter tone. Arguably the scene with the most potential for tragedy in Much Ado About Nothing is Act IV scene 1, in which Claudio publicly accuses Hero of being unchaste. Taking the stakes of the play to be honour (Mueschke, 1967), one can see Hero’s complete destruction in this scene. By denouncing her publicly, Claudio strips Hero of the possibility of marriage to anyone and robs her of her good name. Death, Leonato makes plain, would be preferable; “Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wished for.” (IV.1, p.65) Leonato cries for literal death but the Friar changes this into a symbolic death; Hero’s honour has been slain by slander and she must therefore adopt the mantle of death. It is interesting to note the fact that the Friar suggests that she pretends death to escape the imprisonment of her slandered name, when it is the Friar in Romeo and Juliet who plans for Juliet to pretend death to escape the imprisonment of her family and their expectations. (Hunt, 2000.) Obviously, the plan fails for Juliet but it works for Hero. Is the success of this plan then, the only thing which prevents Much Ado About Nothing from becoming a tragedy? Shakespeare has already seeded the proof of Hero’s innocence in before Claudio denounces her so the audience is already assured that things will turn out well. The Friar’s plan adds to this reassurance by immediately telling the audience how things will work out for Hero. Another way Shakespeare downplays the lasting emotional impact of the denouncement scene is the silencing of Hero thereafter. The audience is not made privy to any agonies of spirit she might be undergoing. This absence limit’s the audiences sympathy with Hero’s predicament. Dennis (1973) claims Dogberry’s examination of Borrachio and Conrad (Act IV scene 2), which immediately follows Claudio’s denouncement of Hero, is a commentary of the injustice Hero has suffered. Structurally this scene echoes the one that has come before. Dogberry begins by questioning the villains, as Claudio began by questioning Hero, then moves on to an outright accusation. Then, as Claudio called on Pedro to give evidence against Hero, Dogberry calls on the watch; “I charge you in the Prince’s name accuse these men.” (IV.2, p.74) This line draws a direct parallel between the two scenes, allowing the audience to see the watch fulfilling the same role as Pedro (in his name), lending credence to an accusation so that the guilty party can be made accountable. The differences in style of these scenes, in language (scene one being very blank in style and devoid of flourishes of language where scene two is overly ornate and convoluted) and in tone (scene one is unmistakeably serious whereas scene two is comedic) allows the audience to see the ridiculousness of the first scene. It is especially amusing to note that the apparently intelligent character of Claudio is less able to see the truth than the bumbling ass Dogberry. As Dennis says “Even Dogberry’s horror that he should have “been writ down an ass” (IV.ii.90) may perhaps echo Claudio’s angry indignation at the affront to his dignity which might be caused by Hero’s supposed deception.” (p.237) In this way, Shakespeare makes Claudio’s denouncement of Hero ridiculous, without robbing the character’s of their emotional authenticity. To summarise, though elements of the tragic are undoubtedly in Much Ado About Nothing, in Beatrice and Benedick’s pre-history and in Hero’s almost death, the impact of these ideas has been diminished significantly through Shakespeare’s use of various techniques.
In Beatrice and Benedick’s tragic pre-history, Shakespeare uses a great deal of silence, never revealing concretely what the character’s past circumstances really were. Silence is also employed as a stylistic technique to limit sympathy with Hero after Claudio denounces her at their wedding. By not showing Hero suffering emotionally, Shakespeare draws focus away from her suffering. Another way Shakespeare limits audience concern for Hero is by revealing the solution to her situation almost as soon as the problem has occurred; both through the Friar’s plan and by having Dogberry’s examination of Borrachio immediately after Hero’s denouncement. The audience is given no time to really worry about Hero before we are assured of a solution. Shakespeare also uses Dogberry’s scene (IV.2) to re-establish a comedic tone by mocking the almost tragic scene that came before it. Therefore it can be seen that, though there are elements of the tragic about Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare manages to maintain an overall comedic tone through the deliberate downplaying of those tragic themes within the
play.
Bibliography
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