Deception and Its Dramatic Effects in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night

Deception and Its Dramatic Effects in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night

Shakespeare uses deception and trickery in both "Twelfth Night" and

"Much Ado" to provide humour and dramatic irony for the audience. The

deception also furthers the plot or sub-plot. The dramatic effects of

this trickery are the irony, anticipation and empathy with the

characters. In the scene from "Much Ado", deception is used to create

a romance which turns out to be more than is intended by the

characters doing the deceiving. In "Twelfth Night" the purpose of the

deception is purely for fun and to provide humour for the audience.

Benedick is deceived by Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro. Malvolio is

deceived by Olivia's uncle and his friend. Claudio, Leonato and Don

Pedro want to try and persuade him that he is in love with Beatrice

because they know that he has convinced himself he will never marry.

Benedick is not particularly interested in love and will refuse to

become "the argument of his own scorn" and when he describes his

ultimate lady it seems nobody that perfect would exist so Benedick

will always be single.

"Rich she'll be…wise…virtuous…fair…mild…noble…of good discourse…an

excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what colour it please…"

Benedick also makes the point that Claudio swore he would never fall

in love and he is supposed to be wed by the end of the play.

"He was like…an honest man and soldier, and now he is turned

orthography…"

He has previously been known as a woman hater and his constant match

of wits against Beatrice proves how little he wants to be involved

with them. In...

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...joyment. The anticipation that comes with

deception and waiting to see if anything becomes of the deception is a

well used dramatic tool in both plays and as it turns out, Benedick

does eventually marry Beatrice, an event which could be called

dishonest as they were tricked into showing feelings for each other

and may have been having sarcastic verbal fights forever if their

friends hadn't intervened. The use of hunting language throughout both

scenes make you feel as though the characters being deceived have

literally been captured, an interesting thought seeing as it were the

deceivers' intentions to "catch" them into an imaginary trap. Words

related to fishing and bear baiting can compare the people being

deceived to innocent and unsuspecting animals as well as being used to

show the idea of the victim being caught.