Use Of Comedy And Humor In Much Ado About Nothing By William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, born in 1564, would grow up to be the most renowned and remembered poet, actor, and playwright in the English language, having 37 plays and 154 sonnets credited to his name. The play Much Ado About Nothing, written by the poet in his mid-thirties, can be named as a farce or even a melodrama based on multiple excessive and dramatic events in the drama which contrast with the constant use of comedy and humor. Although the play is named as a comical work, there are still moments of intense emotions and drama that could alter the genre to a tragi-comedy. There is a fair share of comical effects and tricks used in the play. The characters of Dogberry and Verges, who’s constant use of malapropisms adds a touch of comedy to the
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The main tragedy from the play is when Claudio is tricked into thinking that Hero is unloyal and not the innocent girl everyone believes her to be. The wedding ceremony in Act four, scene one was completely destroyed as Claudio refused to marry Hero, wailing things like, “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed.”(Shakespeare 66) and, “Not to be married, not to knit my soul to an approved wanton”(Shakespeare 66). One of the most potent character flaws in Claudio, his inability to think for himself and his naive nature, lead to this tragedy of the untimely “death” of Hero. This entire scene, as well as every mischievous plan leading up to it, would have left this play dry and plain if it were taken out, leaving only the comedy to live up to a Shakespearean standard. Since Claudio’s actions in this scene had everyone pretty shocked, this event had changed the story greatly. The normally cocky and arrogant Benedick had become the voice of reason stating, “The two of them are the very bent of honour, and if their wisdom be mislead in this the practice of it lives in Don John the Bastard, whose spirits toil in frame of villanies.”(Shakespeare 71), recognizing that Don John was the origin of this. Therefore, there was plenty of tragedy to go around in neutralizing the farce-like attributes in this
The main tragedy from the play is when Claudio is tricked into thinking that Hero is unloyal and not the innocent girl everyone believes her to be. The wedding ceremony in Act four, scene one was completely destroyed as Claudio refused to marry Hero, wailing things like, “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed.”(Shakespeare 66) and, “Not to be married, not to knit my soul to an approved wanton”(Shakespeare 66). One of the most potent character flaws in Claudio, his inability to think for himself and his naive nature, lead to this tragedy of the untimely “death” of Hero. This entire scene, as well as every mischievous plan leading up to it, would have left this play dry and plain if it were taken out, leaving only the comedy to live up to a Shakespearean standard. Since Claudio’s actions in this scene had everyone pretty shocked, this event had changed the story greatly. The normally cocky and arrogant Benedick had become the voice of reason stating, “The two of them are the very bent of honour, and if their wisdom be mislead in this the practice of it lives in Don John the Bastard, whose spirits toil in frame of villanies.”(Shakespeare 71), recognizing that Don John was the origin of this. Therefore, there was plenty of tragedy to go around in neutralizing the farce-like attributes in this