A Comparison Of Claudio And Hero In Much Ado About Nothing

Love; an intense feeling of deep affection. How is it possible that two people that just met around one week ago, can be in love with each other to an extent of getting married? In Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare, it’s unlikely that Claudio and Hero are in love, especially since the only thing that Claudio knows about Hero, is her name and her “witting” looks. How could this be love, when they don’t know each other at all?

When Claudio came to Messina after the war, he noticed how beautiful Hero was. Claudio exposed his feelings to Benedick who called him crazy and told him not to waste his time. Benedick stated that he wouldn’t help Claudio woo her. Claudio could only come back to say, “In my eye, she is the sweetest lady that I have ever looked upon” (Shakespeare 17). This comeback contradicted Claudio’s point of him being in love with Hero because he only talks about how she is pretty and how she looks (and that he just met her and confess his love). There’s no way that you could love someone by the way they look, you need to get to know them, understand how they think, feel, and act in different situations. Claudio is not in love with Hero.

But wait, would sweet Hero do that? Of course, we know she wouldn’t because we actually know her personality (unlike Claudio)! At the wedding when Claudio was addressing Hero, he said, “She’s but the sign and semblance of her honor. She knows the heat of a luxurious bed” (125). Claudio didn’t know Hero enough to trust her and know that she was set up for cheating on him. Claudio ruined the wedding and almost killed Hero from a heartbreak, as he also destroyed her father’s faith in his daughter. If they got to know each other, then they would get to trust each other, understand each other’s personalities and finally become a loving