Love Theme in Shakespeare´s Much Ado About Nothing

Just like many other times before, I have never read this play or actually even heard of it. Overall, I thought the story was a little difficult to understand but the storyline was actually entertaining. With this reader response, I would like to discuss my favorite scene with Beatrice telling Benedick how much she hates him; how I wonder whether or not Beatrice knows she is talking to Benedick; and finally, Balthasar’s song and how I believe that it could be a possible theme to the play.

To begin, if I were to pick out my favorite scene in the play, it would have to be Act 2, Scene 1. I love how Beatrice starts to belittle Benedick without her realizing she is speaking to Benedick. One reason I love this scene is because situations like this happen even today. I could not tell you the number of times I started to talk about someone and either that person was around me or else I was talking to his or her family member or close friend. I really enjoy Shakespeare’s works when I can make a connection with them. Anyways, another reason I love the scene is because it is funny. If reading word-by-word without an in-depth analysis and we assume Beatrice does not know she is talking to Benedick, which I will discuss in my next paragraph, this scene is funny because of the awkwardness. Imagine being told by someone how much he or she dislikes you and he or she does not realize he or she is speaking to you. Would that not be awkward? Benedick has to stand there and listen to all of this criticism and he responds with “If I ever meet him, I’ll tell him what you said” (2.1.124-125)

Also, after reading and analyzing, I pondered whether or not Beatrice actually knew she was speaking with Benedick during Act 2, Scene 1. Even though there is no...

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...nough textual evidence to make a solid theory. Also, I thought that Balthasar’s version of “Sigh No More” could actually be taken as a theme to the story; I think that the song is telling us a few things like how we should realize life and love is not everlasting and that people are deceitful. In today’s world, we often forget and think that things will last forever; also, we tend to pretend we are somebody that we are not.

Works Cited

Greenblatt, Stephen. "Much Ado About Nothing." Introduction. The Norton Shakespeare: Based of the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. 1412. Print. Early Plays and Poems.

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. The Norton Shakespeare: Based of the Oxford Edition. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 2008. 1416-1470. Print. Early Plays and Poems.