Private Love In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

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Public nature is information that anyone may have access to through people and any media. This can be disastrous because one people can get their hands on the information, if becomes impure and can become artificial. This is shown through the play, "Much Ado about Nothing," public nature is common. The plot revolves around a group of people and information that becomes public which continuously gets in the way of their lives. While this a major part of the play, another theme Shakespeare seems to talk about throughout the play is the idea of private love. Private love is spoken about within the conversations between two main characters, Benedick and Beatrice. Prove love seems to be a form of protection for both characters. It saves them from …show more content…

Within their conversations, each person seems to disguise their love for each other through insults and comebacks. This seems to be the only way in which they communicate to each other. On Page 374, Benedick rambles on to Don Pedro about what gossip he found out about himself from Beatrice. He seems to go on and on about Beatrice and her words, claiming he did not want to talk about her, yet he is the one mentioning her the conversation. His insults are used to imply the idea about how he was hurt by the words of his lover. He becomes defensive and upset. The fact that he talks about Beatrice like she was the center of attention suggests his feelings for her and the amount of passion he has towards her. These insults are a way for each lover to protect themselves in a way, their love for each other remains private and not public nature. Since it is not information everyone can get, it remains to themselves and pure, untouched by others. Shakespeare uses messages like this within the play to express his thoughts on the importance of private love. Benedick and Beatrice are prime characters that share a private love without it becoming public nature. Their form of protection plays out in the end of the play where the characters finally declare their love for each other. The fact it was kept secretive kept their relationship together and not public …show more content…

The intimacy is lost and the love seems forced. This can be seen as something good and bad because in the play, it described the scenario between Beatrice and Benedick finally admitting their love to one another. This is shown on Page 388, through their banter. As they announce their love to each other, the way in which they twist each other’s words and test each other’s love can suggest that since it is now public nature, it is no longer pure. When Beatrice asks Benedick to kill Claudio, this can suggests how their love is now impure, because she seems to be using love to get something she wants. As it is now public knowledge, Beatrice seems to use it to her advantage by taking advantage of Benedick in a vulnerable state. He loses his sense of protection by initially letting his guard down. His love for Beatrice was no longer a secret and it seems to be used against him. During the exchange both sides were obviously not forced to admit their love, however, the love was not pure. It was tampered with in which Beatrice used her love for Benedick to get something she wants. This suggests how the love is impure and may not have been announced with good intentions. Benedick could not tell whether or not she had the right intention when telling him because his guard was left down because of his lover’s words. Public nature can become disastrous in a way where once a person loses

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