Shakespeare's Victim Hero In Much Ado About Nothing

783 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is claudio and heros relationship in much ado about nothing

Shakespeare’s victim Hero, in Much Ado About Nothing, is not only a victim of one man’s ego but oftwo men. Her very own lover Claudio is guilty of victimizing her, for throughout the play, Claudio never once asked Hero, the woman he supposedly loves, if she is guilty of disloyalty or unfaithfulness. He automatically assumes that since his male friend has told him the news then the information must be correct. Claudio is
7
8 misled by Don John’s ego. When Don John linds out that (laudio and hero are about to get married, he is upset because Don John is in love with Hero. Therefore, both his inner feelings and ego are destroyed and to restore his ego he and Horatio, a close friend of
Don John develop a diabolical plan.
Boratio: Go then, find …show more content…

Offer them instances, which shall bear no less likelihood than to see me at her chamber window, hear me call
Margaret “Hero,” hear Margaret term me “Claudio,” and bring them to
See this the very night before the intended wedding, for in the meantime
I will so fashion the matter that Hero shall be absent, and there shall appear such seeming truth of Hero’s disloyalty that jealousy shall be called assurance and all the preparation overthrown.
Don John: Make the arrangements, and I’ll do it (IT.ii.26-43).
It is evident that Don John’s plan was carefully thought out to guarantee the restoration of his ego. He wanted both Hero and Claudio to feel the disappointment he felt when he found out about their wedding, so he blatantly manipulates the truth in order to stop the burning agony of his ego. At this point in the play, Claudio’s ego is also hurt because he feels like he has been humiliated and misled by his soon-to-be wife. His ego is crushed and he will not stop until the humiliation is final. He then decides to get even with her to satisfy his male ego by announcing to everyone on their wedding day that she is a strumpet. It is his ego that allows him to make bad decisions that victimize his

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Don John In Much Ado About Nothing Machiavellianism

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    He becomes jealous and he tries to take it away or make them feel inferior in some way. Seeing people that have something he didn’t, makes him feel like he is below them and he makes them an enemy. Don John shows this trait in ACT 2 Scene 2 when he says “ Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be/ mendicable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him,/ and whatsoever comes awart his affection ranges/ evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?”(Shakespeare 30). Since Claudio and Hero love each other and he has never experienced love he tries to ruin their wedding. He feels jealous and therefore thinks he has to intervene and that they should not love each other anymore either. This shows another Machiavellian trait of Don John as his selfishness and self-centeredness come through simply because they have what he wants and doesn't know how to get. Another thing that he wants is the throne. His brother Don Pedro is the current king. Don John goes to war with his brother Don Pedro over this. In ACT 1 Scene 1 Leonato asks the Messenger about the war, “How many gentlemen have you lost in this action?”(Shakespeare 1). Don John’s brother has the throne but he believes he is entitled to it. Don John is jealous of what his brother has and is willing to do anything he can to get it. This shows that he is Machiavellian because he tries force people to comply to his

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Hero And Claudio In Much Ado About Nothing

    871 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today's society, true love can be described as someone buying a sparkly present for the significant other, celebrating their special anniversary with a beautiful getaway from their hectic life, or even risking anything in the world for that one person. These are all real examples of true love but these are also the things that Claudio didn’t do to show his affection and love towards Hero. Instead, he chose to humiliate her on their wedding day, he didn’t trust her to stay faithful until marriage, and even “killed” her. In the play, Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, the main characters, Hero, and Claudio, are not truly in love and their actions display that.

    Read More

  • Much Ado About Nothing Hero Quotes

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Love goes by haps; Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps” (Shakespeare pg. 45). One of Shakespeare’s most famous plays is Much Ado About Nothing and it specifically shows the tragic flaws of each and every character throughout the story. One character that will be mainly focused on that’s the most tragically flawed, is Claudio because he’s passionate about his love for Hero and how he’s easily manipulated.

    Read More

  • Comparing Don Pedro And Don John In Much Ado About Nothing

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don John’s follower Borachio reports to Don John, leading to a first attempt of deception to be set up by Don John. The news goes to Don John who says “ Come, come, let us thither. This is food to my displeasure. That young start-up hath all the glory of my overthrow. If I can cross him any way, I bless myself every way…” (Shakespeare 15). Don John immediately sees this plan as an opportunity to do harm both to Claudio- honored for his actions against Don John- and to Don Pedro. Don John is setting the tone of his character as a villain while his brother Don Pedro, is the prince and is very active in the other character’s

    Read More

  • Rumors and Dishonesty in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this world rumors and dishonesty happen to be everywhere, no matter where you are. Nowaday people start rumors just to hurt and insult people’s feelings that later on lead to dramatic events. In the story “Much Ado about Nothing”, we encounter different scenes that lead to rumors and deception. One scene that we encounter is when Don John, the bastard brother spreads rumors about Hero being disloyal to Claudio and Don Pedro to corrupt Claudio’s and Hero’s relationship. Another scene that we run into is when Ursula and Hero have a talk in the garden about how Benedick has love affection towards Beatrice. Later on, these two scenes play a huge role and become dramatic elements of the story. We will encounter on how rumors and dishonesty can destroy and corrupt not just one person, but many.

    Read More

  • Hero in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hero in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare In this essay, I will be looking at the character Hero. I will write about how she interacts with other characters, her personality and her function within the play. The three scenes I will be looking at are Act 3 scene 1, Act 3 scene 4 and Act 5 scene 4. If I was directing Act 3 Scene 1, I would want Hero to come across to.

    Read More

  • Virtue In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    375 Words  | 1 Pages

    As mentioned, the act of Claudio forfeiting Hero’s hand in marriage and denouncing her at their wedding ceremony due to her unloyalty, not only proves that a woman’s virtue is critical to his “love” for her but also reveals a deeper meaning to the play as a whole at various degrees. Men are only satisfied when they completely dominate a woman. This means not only obtaining her heart, but her virginity and virtue as well. In this time period, their wives were seen as their property and a man would rather throw his whole fiance away than tread on previously marked territory. If Claudio genuinely loved Hero in the first place, he would have confronted her about the situation in private before he unjustly demolished her publicly based on a loose

    Read More

  • Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    The beginning of the play shows Claudio, on numerous occasions, as gullible and paranoid that everyone is against him. When Don John tells Claudio that Don Pedro has wooed Hero for himself he responds by saying, ““But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio. Tis’ certain so. The Prince woos for himself” (Shakespeare 24.) This quote shows that Claudio often puts his trust in the wrong people. He takes the word of an enemy, who he has already defeated in battle, over someone who fought along side him and is supposedly his best friend. It also shows how naïve Claudio can be and how easily he will take what others say as the truth without using his better judgment. In this quote, Claudio proves how fast he can turn against someone, even one of his best friends, when he hears they have wronged him. When Don John accuses Hero of being unfaithful to Claudio he says, “If I see anything tonight w...

    Read More

  • Trickery and Deception in Much Ado about Nothing

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    Don John plays an essential role for nearly all of the trickery and deception in this play. He acts like a catalyst and an instigator for trouble, whose sole aim is to marmalize the love and happiness between Claudio and Hero. Shakespeare uses foreshadowing of Don John’s villainy to display the trickery and deception: ’It better fits my blood to be distained of all than to fashion a carriage to rob love from any, in this, though I cannot be said to be a flattering honest man, it must not be denied but I am a plain-dealing villain. I am trusted with a muzzle and enfranchized with a clog: therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage. If I had my mouth, I would bite, if I had my liberty, I would do my liking.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing"

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare said: “Women may fall when there's no strength in men” (Romeo and Juliet). Throughout history gender role have been a big, whether someone is a feminist or someone believes there is no equality between males and females; everyone has different opinions when it comes to the matter of gender roles. The same thing can be said about William Shakespeare who was a feminist (Shakespeare of Stratford). This ideology can be seen in his play Much Ado about Nothing. In this comedy Shakespeare focuses on two pairs of lovers named Claudio and Hero who are set to be married in a week but before their marriage day, they plan to conspire with Don Pedro, the prince of Aragon to trick their friends Beatrice and Benedick to admit their love for each other. Don John, the brother of Don Pedro, meanwhile plots to prevent marriage of Claudio and Hero by accusing Hero of being unfaithful. Don John initially succeeds in his plan as Hero is accused and ashamed at the marriage ceremony, but at the end Claudio and Hero are united and marry each other. Also, Beatrice and Benedick finally declare their love for each and dance at the end of the play. Shakespeare uses a lot of sources for this comedy and one of them is “Orlando Furioso” written in 1591, which gave Shakespeare the idea of Hero and Claudio’s marriage and Don John’s plot to prevent it. Another source Shakespeare used to write the play is the courtier written in 1588, which gave him the idea of the romance between Beatrice and Benedick. And also “La Prima de la Novelle” written in 1554 by Matteo Bandello gave Shakespeare the idea of putting the setting in Messina, Italy (Shakespeare in quarto). Because Shakespeare was a feminist, some of the women appear as supporting and central...

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Beatrice is, without a doubt, one of the strongest female characters that Shakespeare ever came up with in his time of writing. Shakespeare shows, through Beatrice, how every woman should act in an era where only the men were even able to have control. In this era, or the renaissance time, no woman had free will; they were always told what they could and could not do, as well as, who they were to marry. In the play “Much Ado About Nothing” Beatrice has many qualities but the ones that stand out the most in the play are: her independence, her feistiness, and of course her openness to defy male subjection.

    Read More

  • Misunderstandings In 'Much Ado About Nothing'

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    Misunderstandings generate conflict and drive stories forward. William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is a play filled to the brim with misunderstandings and comedic situations. The constable of Messina, Dogberry, contributes to many such comedic situations with his twisted speech and juxtaposing sobriety. In this essay, Dogberry’s reality, character, and wrongly-used phrases are to be compared to actual reality.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

    2060 Words  | 5 Pages

    Scene 1. At her wedding Hero, is publicly accused of being a cheater by he fiancé Claudio. After being denounced by Claudio Hero faints, while she is on the ground her father Leonato says: “Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes, For, did I think thou wouldst not quickly die, Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames, Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches, Strike at thy life”(4.1.131-135). Leonato is hoping that his daughter Hero is dead, and if she is not, he will risk the punishment and kill her himself. Although he has no evidenced of Hero’s crimes, and Hero tells him she is innocent Leonato choses to believe Claudio over Hero. He is so angry at what his daughter has allegedly done he is prepared to kill her. It is seen here that in this time period men are much more trusted then women. This scene also shows how serious it was for a woman to have premarital sex. Leonato had no trouble believing his daughter was unfaithful with no evidence, and was ready to kill her because she had sex out of wedlock and dishonored his

    Read More

  • Much Ado About Nothing Don John Quotes Analysis

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout, the play, Much Ado About Nothing, the characters within the play constantly degrade Don John to less than a human, because of his illegitimacy. These people treat him inferior to themselves, which in response makes Don John provoke chaos.

    Read More

  • William Shakespeare's Othello as a Victim

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    due to his race are vast, for example at the start of the play when

    Read More

More about Shakespeare's Victim Hero In Much Ado About Nothing

Open Document