Much Ado About Nothing: Characters (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Characters

It is vital that you understand that characters are often used symbolically to express ideas. Shakespeare uses all of his characters to symbolise various ideas prevalent in his society, and the differences between characters reflect contemporary debates. Therefore, it is very useful not only to learn about each character individually, but how they compare and contrast to other characters in the play.

It is important to consider the range of strategies used by Shakespeare to create and develop characters within Much Ado About Nothing. These include:

• how characters are established

• how characters are presented:

  • physical appearance or suggestions about this

  • actions and motives for them

  • what they say and think

  • how they interact with others

  • what others say and think about them

• how far the characters conform to or subvert stereotypes

Major Characters

• Benedick

• Beatrice

• Claudio

• Hero

• Don Pedro

• Don John

• Leonato

Minor Characters

• Borachio

• Conrad

• Antonio

• Dogberry and Verges

• Friar Francis

• Margaret

• Ursula

Benedick

• Benedick is a character who reflects the idea of male insecurity and mistrust of exposing himself to being seen as vulnerable

• He is a soldier in Don Pedro’s regiment and a close friend

• He is older than Claudio and a self-declared bachelor

• He is known as a bit of a ladies’ man, but swears never to marry as he believes women are incapable of remaining faithful to their husbands

  • Therefore, he mocks anyone he thinks foolish enough to marry

  • He believes that young men are too quick to want to marry

  • He is horrified when he finds out that Claudio has fallen for Hero – almost as though Claudio has betrayed men

• He is well-liked among his friends, who find him entertaining company

  • He constantly performs for the benefit of others, and he indulges in exaggeration to express his feelings

  • At the masked ball, he bids his friends to send him to the farthest corners of the earth rather than let him spend one more minute with Beatrice

• He has a quick wit and enjoys a constant war of words with Beatrice

• Despite his declaration never to marry, he finds himself falling in love with Beatrice after hearing that she is in love with him

  • He was once attracted to her but refuses to admit he still has feelings for her, until he is tricked by Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato

  • Given his tendency to perform, it is not easy to tell whether he has been in love with Beatrice all along

  • It could be that he decides to love Beatrice just to prove his comrades wrong

  • He embodies the idea of using humour as a shield to protect himself from emotional hurt at the hands of a woman

• He does prove his love for Beatrice by siding with Hero after Claudio abandons her for her supposed infidelity

  • Whilst he cannot obey Beatrice’s request to kill Claudio for what he did to Hero, he does challenge him to a duel

  • This demonstrates that he has turned his back on his male comrades and his allegiance is now with Beatrice, who herself embodies more typically male characteristics

• His character’s progression is, therefore, ironic, as he becomes the very thing he mocked at the start of the play

Beatrice

• Beatrice is Leonato’s niece and is close friends with his daughter, Hero

• The two women are very different

  • Hero is polite, quiet, respectful and gentle

  • Beatrice is feisty, cynical, witty and independent

• She is a woman with an independent mind living in a world where women have few rights and little to say

• Shakespeare establishes her strength in her first appearance, with her barbed comments about Benedick as “Signor Montanto”

• She appears to be frustrated at her status as a woman

  • She is the first to defend Hero from Claudio’s accusations at the altar and feels anger that she is unable to take action or revenge

• She does not conform to the literary model of a traditional Elizabethan woman; she is opinionated, outspoken and stubborn

• She controls conversations, interrupts Benedick and gives him a direct command to “Kill Claudio”

• Indeed, Leonato worries that her outspoken nature will mean that she will never find a husband

• Her conversation with Leonato in Act 2, Scene 1, demonstrates her strength and intelligence in exchanges with men

• However, she refuses to marry because she has not discovered an equal partner

  • She also refuses to give up her liberty and submit to the will of a controlling husband

  • She has a low opinion of most men and does not wish to be trapped in marriage

• She keeps up a war of words and wit with Benedick throughout the play

  • Whenever they meet, they compete to outdo each other with clever insults

  • She sees everyday sexism around her and turns Benedick’s insults back on him, often out-doing him

  • The audience later find out that she has been hurt by Benedick in the past and is possibly protecting herself from further emotional vulnerability

• Although outwardly she appears tough, her history with Benedick reveals her vulnerable side

• She is a woman of strong emotions, but she tries very hard to bury emotions that might hurt her

• When she overhears the women describing that Benedick is in love with her, she opens herself up again to the possibility of love

• She is quick to be tricked by Hero and Ursula into believing that Benedick loves her, revealing that she does really want to be loved

  • Some may see this as ironic and a betrayal of the female empowerment that she represents

  • This is especially the case as Beatrice joked about Benedick changing friends as quickly as he changes the fashion of his hats in Act 1, Scene 1, and here it is her own feelings that end up changing just as quickly

  • However, here it is important to remember the historical context the play was written in, in which someone of Beatrice’s status would need to marry in order to safeguard her future

  • It could be that she decides to love Benedick just to prove her friends wrong about her

• Ultimately, she decides to marry Benedick on her own terms

Claudio

• Claudio embodies the character of the Shakespearean romantic lead

• He is full of optimism, but naive, which leads to conflict and complications

• His youth means that his is both rash and insecure

  • He is quick to fall in love and want to marry Hero, but even quicker to cast her aside, believing rumours from untrustworthy sources

  • It is this naivety that gives Don John the opportunity to make such mischief

  • Not only does Claudio quickly believe the worst, but he also neglects any opportunity to find out the truth and immediately believes Hero to be unfaithful

  • This suggests that he is easily manipulated and possibly unable to form an opinion for himself

• When Don John stages Hero’s alleged infidelity using Borachio and Margaret, Claudio does not just call off the wedding, but publicly humiliates Hero at the altar, making himself feel morally superior

  • It does not even enter his head that Don John might be lying, possibly because Don John is a man and his insecurities mean he is too quick to believe the stereotype of women being insincere

• Claudio is extremely concerned with ideas of purity and virtue

  • He describes Hero in pious terms, such as “In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on”

  • But once he believes that she has been unfaithful to him, he shows no remorse, even upon hearing of Hero’s “death”, until her purity and innocence have been restored

• In Claudio’s eyes, Hero lost her worth to him when she allegedly engaged with another man

  • This reflects the time of writing where it was men who generally quantified the worth of women

• He is even manipulated by Leonato, readily agreeing to wed a niece he has never met, even in his supposed grief at the apparent death of Hero

• It could be suggested that as a character, Claudio lacks any sense of depth, critical thinking or moral convictions

Hero

• Hero embodies the classic literary traits of the feminine ideal

• She is modest, reserved, chaste and happy to defer to her father’s guidance

  • Her duty as a daughter is to obey her father, especially over who she will marry

• It could be argued that she is used as a pawn in the play, as she serves as a catalyst for the play’s action

• A lot is said about her, but she says very little herself

• In Act 1 Scene 1, Claudio asks “Can the world buy such a jewel?”, setting Hero up as an object to be bought and sold

• She is initially prepared to accept a proposal from Don Pedro, but seems just as happy to be engaged to Claudio instead

• Just as Beatrice and Benedick mirror each other, so do Hero and Claudio, both falling in love immediately

  • They are both equally naive and earnest, with Hero often being referred to using language of purity and piousness, such as “maid”

• She is unable to prove her innocence when wrongfully accused, and is seemingly unable to speak for herself

  • Instead of fighting back, she lets others take the lead in restoring her reputation

  • We might wonder at Hero’s willingness still to marry Claudio, but it is indicative of her acceptance of letting men run her life

• She is not totally without voice, however, as she takes the lead in the plan to trick Beatrice into thinking Benedick is in love with her

  • Here she reveals herself to be clever and witty in how she manipulates Beatrice

• However, ultimately she is treated as an object to be bartered, and little more than a passive onlooker in her own love story

• So little is she valued as a person that when Claudio shames her at the altar, hardly anybody genuinely asks for her side of the story

  • She faints with the humiliation, allowing the other characters to argue amongst themselves

  • Even Leonato says that he’d prefer her to be dead than disgraced, indicating that she is only useful to him while she is of marriageable status

• At the end of the play, she is only permitted to re-enter the action once her character of innocence, purity and chastity is re-established

Don Pedro

• Don Pedro is the Prince of Aragon and the highest ranking character in the play

• He is a noble man who inspires respect from his men, apart from his illegitimate brother, Don John

  • He is also fair and recognises people’s strengths, giving rewards and compliments where earned

  • He is quick to admit when he is wrong and attempts to make things right

• He is attempting to reconcile with Don John, despite Don John’s betrayal and attempt to overthrow him

  • This may explain why he was so quick to believe Don John over Hero’s claims of her innocence

• He enjoys witty banter and admires Beatrice’s character. He even offers her his hand, which she gently declines

  • He is the first to realise that she and Benedick are made for each other

• He mostly uses his power for positive ends, unlike Don John, but he does also manipulate other characters, just like his half-brother

• Although he ends the play alone, he considers himself to be something of an expert in love, offering to woo Hero for Claudio

  • His elaborate plan during the masquerade ball seems to be somewhat over-the-top, when he could in fact just speak on Claudio’s behalf

  • It could be that his status means that he can amuse himself as he pleases

• At the end of the play, he appears melancholy, and Benedick laughingly instructs him to “get thee a wife” in order to enjoy true happiness

  • The cause of his melancholy is never fully explained, although it may be that whilst he was ultimately able to direct the play’s ev

Don John

• Don John is the illegitimate brother of Don Pedro

  • As he is illegitimate, he does not enjoy the same power or position as Don Pedro

• As the play begins, Don John and Don Pedro have only recently mended their broken relationship, after Don Pedro defeated Don John in battle

  • However, it is clear that Don John still harbours bitterness and resentment towards Don Pedro

  • He is jealous of Claudio, whom Don Pedro recently rewarded, thinking the glory should be his

  • His plots are even more devious as he pretends to be a close friend and have Claudio’s best interests at heart 

• He knows he will never be as good as his half-brother, or enjoy the same status, so he decides to not even try and instead becomes a self-proclaimed villain

  • He does not even pretend that his actions are motivated by anything other than pure spite

• His melancholic nature contrasts with the other lively and fun characters in the play

• However, he relies on Borachio to come up with the plan to ruin Claudio and Hero’s wedding

• When the plot is exposed, he flees, although he is caught and arrested

• His fate is ultimately unknown, reinforcing his insignificance and lack of status, being the illegitimate half-brother

Leonato

• Leonato is the governor of the city of Messina, father to Hero and uncle to Beatrice

• He is friends with Don Pedro and welcomes him and his men as guests when they return from war

• He is very protective of his daughter and expects her to be obedient, especially when it comes to marriage

• He is used to being the patriarch and being obeyed

• However, the arrival of Don Pedro changes the hierarchy of power and Leonato often defers to him out of respect for his title

• When Hero’s virtue is called into question at the wedding altar, Leonato’s overreaction is common in both Shakespearian comedies and tragedies

• He is quick to denounce her, declaring her better off dead due to her dishonouring him by her alleged actions

• But his loyalty ultimately is to his family, as when he hears of Hero’s innocence, he breaks with social norms and supports his daughter rather than the high-ranking prince (Don Pedro)

Minor characters

Borachio

• Borachio is Don John’s companion

• He comes up with the plot to trick Claudio and Don Pedro into believing Hero to be unfaithful

• He is friendly with Margaret and seduces her at Hero’s bedroom window

Conrad

• Another of Don John’s companions

• He is extremely loyal to Don John

Antonio

• Antonio is Leonato’s elder brother and Beatrice’s father

Dogberry and Verges

• Dogberry is Messina’s dim-witted constable, with Verges being his second in command

• They both take their jobs extremely seriously

• Dogberry has a habit of using malapropisms – using the wrong word to convey his meaning

• His desire to speak in an elaborate, formal manner, like the nobleman, becomes a source of humour in the play

• They are central to the play’s action, as it is they who ultimately reveal Hero’s innocence

• Shakespeare employs them as a pair of trademark fools, enabling him to criticise bureaucracy and institutions of power

Friar Francis

• This character is meant to wed Hero and Claudio

• He is in no doubt of Hero’s innocence and persuades Leonato to feign her death in order to give them more time to clear her name

Margaret

• Hero’s gentlewoman and unknowingly part of the plot to break up Claudio and Hero

• Her innocence of the plot is confirmed at the end of the play

Ursula

• Another of Hero’s waiting women, who engages with Hero in the trick to deceive Beatrice into believing Benedick’s love for her