The Character of Claudio in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

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The Character of Claudio in William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

"Much Ado about Nothing" is not unlike other Shakespearean comedies.

These stories usually deal with the main idea of young people who are

in love with each other. They encounter difficulties which they have

to deal with so that they can both live together, happily ever after.

In "Much Ado about Nothing", Claudio and Hero are the young characters

in the play, who along with other characters struggle through their

difficulties to make their lives better. Claudio, the main figure in

"Much Ado about Nothing" is more of a romantic hero in the play. He,

like other heroes in Shakespearian comedies, has a fault in his

character. This fault leads to an error on his part in which he has to

suffer through the consequences before being regenerated, forgiven and

deemed worthy of true love. However Claudio is a less than perfect

romantic hero. Notably, he constantly changes his character throughout

the play. In Act1 Scene1, Leonato is reading from a letter sent to him

by Don Pedro who "bestowed much honour on the young Florentine called

Claudio", also the messenger in Act1 Scene1describes Claudio as the

"noble Claudio" these sentences tells the reader that Don Pedro and

the community obviously thought well of "young" Claudio who performed

very well during the battle. Hence, Claudio arrives on stage in a high

mood similar to that of one who has just won a battle. This just goes

to show that he is experienced and prosperous in battle but the public

still think of him as too young to have won those battles.

Furthermore, Don John's insulting description of Claudio in Act1

Scene3 ...

... middle of paper ...

...uty. He does not sound

very much interested in their inner qualities such as character and

personality.

Then again, Claudio is sincerely amazed and happy at the discovery

that hero was alive where he exclaimed in Act5 Scene4 "Another Hero!"

In conclusion, at the end of the play, Claudio has transformed to have

many different personalities, some noble, others loathing. Still, he

is very much the romantic hero that he was at the first instance of

the play. Readers would assume that Claudio has been matured by the

experiences he had endured; they would feel that he is now more

capable than he was at the beginning to know the entity of love.

Finally, Claudio's actions have a very religious factor where he sins

against Hero and her family, he asks for forgiveness, he is forgiven

and life becomes blissful ever after.

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