Forgiveness and Marriage in Much Ado about Nothing, All's Well That Ends Well, and Measure for Measure
Shakespeare never does manage to make the journey to the end of his comic plays an easy one for his characters or his audience, and as his comedies evolve, the journey becomes even more difficult. Tragic elements and more psychologically complex characters increase the intensity of the ending and often make a reader or viewer question if there will be a happy ending at all. Specific male characters in three plays act as impediments to this comic ending, often prompted by a villainous character and sometimes by their own doing. These men: Claudio in Much Ado about Nothing, Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well, and Angelo in Measure for Measure for various reasons are not ready for marriage or love. Living in a patriarchal society, they are often more concerned with fighting in a war or preserving male bonds than they are with being in love or being married. The problems that occur between the couples about to be married or just recently married are essential because these men need to grow up and become responsible. The only way to change them is to let them commit these harmful acts and realize the consequence. The women: Hero, Helena, and Mariana must be strong enough to forgive them for the hurtful acts these men have committed against them in order for some semblance of a happy ending to take place.
The "crimes" committed by Claudio in Much definitely requires a great act of forgiveness but Hunter feels that forgiveness is the essential element in this play. He point out that "the love of man for woman (but not of woman for man) is seen too frail an emotion to sustain the pressures that are frequently put...
... middle of paper ...
...nter, "Forgiving Claudio"
Works Cited
Dash, Irene G. "When Women Choose: All's Well That Ends Well." Women's Worlds in Shakespeare. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997.
Friedman, Michael. "Male Bonds and Marriage in All's Well and Much Ado." Studies in English Literature 35 (1995): 231-248.
---. "'O, let him marry her!': Matrimony and Recompense in Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Quarterly. 46 (1995): 454-464.
Hays, Janice. "Those 'soft and delicate desires' Much Ado and the Distrust of Women." The Woman's Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Ed. Carolyn Ruth Swift
Lenz, Gayle Greene, and Carol Thomas Neely. Chicago, Urbana, London: University of Illinois Press, 1980.
Hunter, Robert Grams. "Forgiving Claudio." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Much Ado about Nothing. Ed. Walter Davis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1969
Ekici, Sara (2009). Feminist Criticism: Female Characters in Shakespeare's Plays Othello and Hamlet. Munich: GRIN Publishing.
Claudio's interest in Hero is on account of her wealth, but her outward beauty also attracts him. Claudio is hence revealed to be a slave to social assumptions. He regards love and marriage as a sensible way in which to obta...
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
The title of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing has sparked scholarly debates about its meaning for centuries. Some say it is a play on the term “noting”, revolving around the theme of all sorts of deceptions by all sorts of appearances (Rossiter 163). Others claim it has more to do with everyone making a fuss about things that turn out to be false, therefore, nothing (Vaughn 102). Regardless of these speculations, there is something rather profound going on in the play that is worth making a big deal about: four characters in the play learn about love, and eventually, how to love.
Dash, Irene G. "Wooing, Wedding, and Power: Women in Shakespeare Plays". The Critical Perspective Volume 2. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 825-833.
Dash, Irene. Wooing, Wedding, and Power: Women in Shakespeare’s Plays. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
Pitt, Angela. “Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.
Lewalski, B. K. "Love, Appearance and Reality: Much Ado About Something" Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8 (1968): 235-251.
Throughout the history of the world, honor has been an important part of life. In literature, as well, honor plays an important role in many plots and the development of almost any character. Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing is no exception. In this comedy about love and marriage, honor is revealed as the primary reason for many of the actions taken by several different characters. When Claudio breaks off his wedding with Hero, he does it because he believes she is not chastised as she claims to be and in being such, she would dishonor him as well as her father if the marriage were to proceed as planned. The play is an accurate depiction of the honor code and the different standards for men and women of the time in regards to honor and chastity.
Kemp, Theresa D. Women in the Age of Shakespeare. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2009. Print.
It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as
Leininger, Lorie Jerrel. “The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare’s Tempest.” The Woman’s Part: Feminist Criticism of Shakespeare. Eds Carolyn Ruth Swift Lenz et al. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. 285-294