Theme Of Deception In Much Ado About Nothing

One of the multiple themes in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is deception. Within the small Italian town of Messina, deception is used for both good and evil purposes. Good-willed deception, in Much Ado About Nothing, led to marriage and trust, while evil deception led to suspicion and confusion. Both purposes of deception were extremely relevant in the comedy, but overall, good-willed deception prevailed. The most well-known purpose of good deception was when Don Pedro wooed Hero for Claudio. When the men entered the masquerade ball, Don Pedro pulled Hero aside to dance and said, “Speak low if you speak love.” (2.1.84). The Prince is used his voice to convince Hero that he was Claudio and to get her to fall in love with him. Don Pedro wanted them to speak low, so nobody around would hear them and think that he was trying to woo Hero for himself. Even though Don John attempted to trick Claudio into thinking that the Prince stole Hero, his plan did not succeed for Claudio learned of the truth before anything horrible could have transpired. Benedick and Beatrice constantly bickered their war of words, but this was just a cover up for their true feelings for
This form of good-willed deception was used in order to make Claudio and Don Pedro sorry for slandering Hero in public and causing her to die from shock. After being deceived, Claudio felt very sorry for his actions and yearned for Hero to be alive. Leonato was able to convince Claudio by saying, “Thou hast so wronged mine innocent child and me that I am force to lay my reverence by and with grey hairs and bruise of many days, do challenge thee to a trial of a man.” (5.1.68-70). Leonato was saying that he was willing to die in combat in order to clear his daughter’s name. At this point, Claudio was embarrassed and began to walk away. In the end, everybody’s name was cleared, and Claudio and Hero were