In what ways can a modern audience respond to Shakespearean presentation of.
the two couples in Much Ado About Nothing?.
Much ado about nothing is centered on the love and friendships of two pairs of young.
lovers in Messina. It was probably first performed in late 1598 or early 1599. It is always.
important when reading Shakespeare to remember that Shakespeare was writing for an.
Elizabethan audience so therefore we will interpret and respond differently to the.
situations presented to us. In Much Ado About Nothing the two couples are Beatrice and.
Benedick, and Hero and Claudio. Both are very different couples so our response to each.
is varied. Beatrice and Benedick could be looked upon as a more 'modern? couple.
compared with the very conventional Elizabethan coupling of Hero and Claudio. .
The love presented in Much Ado is realistic and critical, the romantic heroes are not.
perfect. The theme of love is introduced right from the start of the play when the soldiers.
arrive at Messina for their vacation. Claudio immediately falls for 'the jewel? Hero. He.
almost immediately confesses his love for her 'that I love her, I feel?. Benedick replies to.
Claudio's confession with cynical, deflating replies and comments which emphasize.
Claudio's underlying illusions. Don Pedro however reacts much more positively and.
agrees to woo Hero for Claudio. This wooing by proxy emphasizes to us how depthless.
Claudio's love for Hero is. An Elizabethan audience would have accepted this as proxy.
wooing along with the giving of parental consent and choosing of a wedding date were all.
features of a fashionable arranged marriage. Arranged marriages are almost alien to us.
nowadays in a society where we are striving for equality between the sexes so we find the.
concept a lot harder to accept. Claudio has never spoken to Hero and has only seen her.
once yet he immediately talks of love and even marriageI would scarce trust myself if.
Hero would be my wife?.