Deception in Much Ado about Nothing

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Rice University
Deception in Much Ado about Nothing
Author(s): Richard Henze
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, Vol. 11, No. 2, Elizabethan and Jacobean
Drama (Spring, 1971), pp. 187-201
Published by: Rice University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/450059 .
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Deceptioni n MuchA do AboutN othing
RICHARD HENZE
Much Ado About Nothing is about right deceptiont hat leads to mar-
riage and the end of deceit and wrong deception that breeds conflict
and distrust. Proper deception,t hat of Benedick and Beatrice by Don
Pedro and his friends,s ucceeds because Benedick and Beatrice are self-
deceptivei n their pretenset hat each is the last person the other would
marry. Wrong deception,t hat of Claudio by Don John and Borachio,
succeeds because Claudio is deceptivelys uspicious and faithless.T hrough
Claudio, Shakespeare displays the power malice acquires when it
appears respectable.D anger to social harmonyc omes not fromB enedick
and Beatrice nor from Don John, so obviously dishonest that he can
fool only a fool; the dangerouso ne is Claudio, who conceals his suspicion
behind a mask of virtue and fidelity.D eception depends on deception,
and the double deceptions,r einforcedb y doubly significanti mages of
eating, noting,f ishing,a nd hunting,u nify the play.
Two MAJORd ifficultieisn MuchA do About
Nothing,t he questiono f unitya nd the charactero f Claudio,
periodicallyr eappear to be resolved or unresolvedb y the
critics.O n the firstp roblemc, riticalo pinionh as been divided.
While some criticsf eel that therei s an inartisticd isharmony
in the combinationo f Hero and Claudio with Benedick and
Beatrice,' thatt he play's seriousa nd comicp lots are involved
with each other rather than integrated,2t hat there is an
"inconsistencyo f purpose,"3o r that the play as we have it
representsa less than perfectr evision of an earlier play,4
otherc riticss ee instead considerables kill in the combination
of elementsi n Much Ado.5 Some criticsg rantt he play a kind
of unityb y ignoringB eatrice and Benedick or Claudio, but
'E. C. Pettet,S hakespeare and the Romance Tradition (London, 1949),
p. 132.
'Alan Gilbert," Two Margarets: The Compositiono f Much Ado About
Nothing," Philological Quarterly, XLI (January, 1962), 63. G. K.
Hunter,S hakespeare: The Late Comedies,W ritersa nd their Work,N o.
143 (London, 1962), says that Beatrice and Benedicka re "not essential
to the plot" (p. 20).
3E. K. Chambers,S hakespeare: A Survey (New York, 1926), p. 128.
'Arthur Quiller-Couch and J. Dover Wilson eds. Much Ado About
Nothing (Cambridge, 1923, 1953), pp. 89-107.
5Hazelton Spencer, The Art and Life of William Shakespeare (New
York, 1940), p. 251; Donald A. Stauffer, Shakespeare's World of
Images (New York, 1949), p. 68; P. Harvey, "Much Ado About
Nothing," Theroia, XI (1958), 32-36.
188 DECEPTION
othersh ave dealt with all charactersi n discoveringa single
theme. While all critics do not agree that the major theme
is deception (some thinki nstead that the play is primarily
about such thingsa s the uncertainc ourse of true love6o r the
significanceo f nothing7),m ost do agree that deceptiono r
impropern otingi s an importantf actori n the progresso f the
action of the play.8
The criticsn eglectt o note,h owever,t hat deceptioni n Much
Ado is of two sorts. One deceptionl eads to social peace, to
marriage,t o the end of deceit. The other deceptionb reeds
conflicta nd distrusta nd leads even Beatrice to desire the
heart of Claudio in the marketp lace. Wrongd eceptiono ccurs
wheno ne trustsa ppearancesa nd not one's intuitiono r "soul,"
when one depends on eavesdroppinga nd circumstantiael vi-
dence instead of carefuls tudy,w hen one has too little trust
in humann ature.R ightd eceptions upportst hat trust.I want,
in this paper, to describet he double deceptioni n Much Ado
AboutN othing,t o show that the play's major images, eating,
huntingo r angling,a nd noting,r eflectt he double theme by
being themselvesd oublei n significancea, nd to place Claudio,
one of the play's major problemsi,n this contexto f themea nd
image.
One major,p roperd eceptioni n Much Ado, that of Benedick
and Beatrice by Don Pedro and his friends,i s pleasantly
designedt o end anotherd eception,t he pretenseo f Benedick
and Beatrice that each is the last person the other would
marry,i n ordert o draw togethert wo people who will nourish
each other and society itself. Both Beatrice and Benedick
seem stronglya gainst romancea nd marriage.S he "had rather
hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me"
(I.i.132-133) and will have no husbandu ntil" God make men
"T. W. Craik, "Much Ado About Nothing," Scrutiny, XIX (October,
1953), 315.
'Paul A. Jorgensen", Much Ado About Nothing,"S hakespeare Quarterly,
V (Summer,1 954), 287-295. In Much Ado says Jorgensen,w e have "a
dramatic, rather than expository,e laboration" of the significance of
nothing: "Out of a trifle,a misunderstandinga, fantasy, a mistaken
over-hearing,a 'naughtiness,' might come the materials for a dra-
ma... ." (p. 295)
8DorothyC . Hockey," Notes, Notes, Forsooth .... " Shakespeare Quar-
terly, VIII (Summer, 1957), 353; Graham Storey, "The Success of
'Much Ado About Nothing'" , More Talking of Shakespeare, ed. John
Garrett (London, 1959), p. 131.
9All Shakespeare quotations are from The Complete Works of Shake-
speare, ed. George Lyman Kittredge (Boston, 1936).
RICHARD HENZE 189
of some other metal than earth" (II.i.62-63). Her attitude
deserves modificationS. hakespeare's comic heroines (Rosa-
lind, Rosaline, Viola) are oftena ware of the artificialityo f
romanticc onventionb, ut each heroine is neverthelessr eady,
as Beatrices oon is also, to listent o a man who swears honestly
that he loves her. But Beatrice's deceptioni s mainly self
deception,f or with her first words she reveals her concern
for Benedick; she is already in love; her deceptioni s not
reallyd eceptivee xceptt o one who notes superficiallyH. aving
helped arrange the marriage of Claudio to Hero, Beatrice
reveals just how muchs he too would like to be caughti n her
nest: "Thus goes everyonet o the world but I, and I am sun-
burnt,I may sit in a corner and cry 'Heigh-ho for a hus-
band!"' (II.i.330-333) Beatrice,l ike Petruchio'sK ate, is will-
ing enought o be caught,b ut self-protectiveen ought o avoid
the shame of rejection.
Nor is Benedick truly deceptive,e xcept to Beatrice. Al-
thoughh e likewises eems opposed to romancea nd marriage,
sure that he will "live a bachelor," everyoneb ut Beatrice
knowsj ust how smallt hed eceitn eedst o be in ordert o unmask
Benedick. Even while Benedick chides Claudio because he
"wilt needs thrustt hy neck into a yoke,w ear the print of it
and sigh away Sundays" (I.i.203-204), we remembert hat
Beatrice has called Benedicka "thruster"h imself.A lthough
Beatrice's "thrust" has bawdy implicationst hat Benedick's
lacks, Beatrice's word is appropriatei n Benedick'ss ense too,
forB enedick,a s the baitings cenes hortlys hows,i s moree ager
than Claudio ever will be to thrusth is neck intot he yoke.F or
Benedickt o vow not to love as Claudio does is a sensiblev ow,
but not to love at all is an anti-sociala nd anti-romantivc ow
that matchesB eatrice's assertiont hat she would rather not
listent o a man say thath e loves her.
Don Pedro dependso n Benedick'sa nd Beatrice's self-decep-
tion in order to end that deception,f or if Benedick and
Beatricew ere not deceptivei n theird islikeo f each other,t hey
would not be drawn togetherb y a schemel ike Don Pedro's.
One deceptiont, hereforer,e quirest he other.F or fullestc omic
effect,D on Pedro needs to know that his deceptioni s less
than deceptive.F or that same comic effect,B enedick and
Beatricem uste ach actuallyc onsidert he othero pposedt o love
and marriage in order that the momento f surprise,w hen
each immediatelyb elievest hat Don Pedro's bait is the truth,
190 DECEPTION
may be as satisfyinga s it is. Leonato and Don Pedro play
theirp arts well; theya re experth ypocrites;b ut theirh ypoc-
risy is justified because it leads to social harmony.L uciana
in The Comedyo f Errors recommendedju st such hypocrisy
to Antipholuso f Syracuse: " 'Tis holys portt o be a littlev ain
/ When the sweet breath of flatteryc onquerss trife" (III.ii.
27-28). In Much Ado the holy sport is a carefullyc ontrolled
deceptiont hat likewisec onquerss trife.
The other major deception,t hat of Claudio, depends,l ike
Don Pedro's scheme,o n a victimn ot being what he super-
ficallya ppears to be. Claudio seems a noble fellow,o ne who
"hath borneh imselfb eyondt he promiseo f his age, doing in
the figureo f a lamb the feats of a lion" (I.i.13-15), who, like
Benedicka nd Beatrice,s hould bettere xpectation.I nstead, in
his poor repaymento f the trust others have in him, he is
worset han expected.
The criticismo f Claudio is a curiouslym ixed bag. At one
extreme are those critics, like Thomas Marc Parrot, who
condemnC laudio for his treatmento f Hero: "It is, perhaps,
too hard to call Claudio,a s Swinburned oes, 'a pitifulf ellow,'
but onlyi n romanticc omedyc ould such a characterb e at last
rewarded with the hand of the lady he had so publicly
slandered."'1A0 less severe judgmenti s furnishedb y Nadine
Page, who finds Claudio "interestedo nly in the financial
aspect" (p. 742)11 and "reacting true to type in trying
circumstances"( p. 744). Charles Prouty agrees: "the plain
fact is that Claudio is not a romanticl over and cannott here-
fore be judged by the artificials tandardso f literaryc onven-
tion."'2 He is instead a very careful and sensible young
Elizabethan seekinga profitablem arriage.K erby Neill feels
that the judgmentsa gainst Claudio are "based moreo n what
Claudio does than on the interpretationw hich the text puts
on his actions."'1F3 rancis G. Schoff,g oingf urthert han most
in salvaging Claudio's character,f inds Claudio "conclusively
and steadily an admirableh ero on the evidenceo f the play
?Shakespearian Comedy, (New York, 1949), p. 157. E. K. Chambers
describes Claudio as "a worm" (p. 134).
"Nadine Page, "The Public Repudiationo f Hero," PMLA, L (1935), 739-
744.
"Charles Prouty,T he Sources of Much Ado About Nothing (New Haven,
1950), p. 41.
"Kerby Neill, "More Ado About Claudio: An Acquittal for the Slan-
dered Groom,"S hakespeare Quarterly,I II (1952), 91.
RICHARD HENZE 191
itself,w ithn o otherw itnessn eeded,t heno r now."'14
The Claudio in Much Ado seems not so consistenta s Schoff
or Proutyw ould have him be. In order to make Claudio "an
admirable hero," one must ignore (as Schoff does) what
Beatriceh as to say aboutt he repudiationo f Hero, or one must
provet hatB eatricei s unjusti n herj udgmentI. n ordert o make
Claudio a villain,o ne musti gnoret he fact that he is, without
irony,c alled noble and that he is a close friendo f Benedick
and Don Pedro (or one can, as JohnP almer does, make Don
Pedro less noblef orb eingi gnobleC laudio's friend).1 5
The crux of the problems eems to be the nature of the
Claudio-Hero relationship.I f that relationshipi s a purely
mercenaryE lizabethan example of a young man seeking a
"good" match,a nd if such a relationshipi s justified by the
play itself,t hen Claudio is justly angry when he thinkst hat
he is being forcedi nto a bad bargain,a nd perhapst hen even
the public repudiationo f Hero will seem "proper,a nd of an
'established'o rder of things."16O n the other hand, if that
relationshipis moret han merelym ercenaryo,r if the repudia-
tion is unjust in spite of the fact that it reflectsE lizabethan
practice,t henC laudio's mistrusta nd public rejectiono f Hero
can hardlyb e "proper." Kerby Neill feels that the problem
"is the beliefi n the slander,n ot the subsequentr epudiationo f
Hero" (p. 92), but it woulds eem that both are prettys erious
if eithero ne is.
The very bulk of the criticismt hat condemnsC laudio's
treatmento f Hero, both in his initial suspicion and in the
cruel rejection,w ould seem to indicatet hat,i n spite of Page
and Prouty'sd escriptiono f the Elizabethan attitudet oward
marriage as a business arrangementC, laudio is doing more
than refusingt o honora contractW. alterN . King, even while
he agrees with Page and Proutyt hat the Claudio-Heror ela-
tionshipi s more socially traditionalt han romantic,d etects
the flaw in that relationshipa nd fault in the repudiation:" It
is here that the social abnormalityo f artistocratics ocietyi n
Messina is exposed once and for all for what it is-shallow
and perverse applicationo f a standard of behavior that is
"Francis G. Schoff," Claudio, Bertram,a nd A Note on Interpretation,"
Shakespeare Quarterly,X (Winter, 1959), 12.
"John Palmer, Comic Characters of Shakespeare (London, 1953), p. 113.
"Terry Hawkes, "The Old and the New in 'Much Ado About Nothing,'"
Notes and Queries, n.s., V (December 1958), 525.
192 DECEPTION
both automatica nd uncharitable."'1A7 code may be in effect
duringt he repudiationb, ut that code, as Claudio definesi t, is
unsatisfactory-itb reeds mistrusta nd disharmony:" Those
who marrya ccordingt o the philosophyo f caveat emptor,l ike
Claudio, are bound to be predisposedt o sexual distrust" (p.
150) ; and Don Johnt hriveso n sexual distrust.
But another problem appears: the code is not the only
factori n the Claudio-Heror elationshipf, or Claudio and Hero
follow the conventionso f romance as well as those of the
arrangedm arriage. T. W. Craik points out that "the whole
pointo f Benedick'sc ommentsis that Claudio loves according
to the romantict radition"( p. 303), even thought he arranged
marriage makes the Claudio-Heror elationshipm ore compli-
cated than romancea lone would be. The fact is that Claudio
and Hero have both an arranged marriage and a romantic
attachment-theo ne does not precludet he other.B ut in each
case, as Claudio falls in love with Hero's beautifulf ace but
not with her feelingsw hile Don Pedro arranges a profitable
marriage, conventioni s excessivelyr estrictivea nd sincere
humanf eelingi s deficientH. owever" proper" or conventional
the repudiationm ay be, it violates another code of love,
beauty,a nd trust that a romantica ttachmentb etweenH ero
and Claudio has established.H owever conventionalt hat ro-
mantic attachmentm ight be, it is, as Benedick points out,
too easily silly and too easily selfishu nless it includesa con-
cern for more than a prettyf ace. In Shakespearianc omedy,
conventiont hat has becomer estrictivew, hetheri t be the law
at the beginningo f The Comedyo f Errors and A Midsummer
Night's Dream, the mercenarym arriagei n Much Ado About
Nothing, or the artificial language of romance in Love's
Labour's Lost and As You Like It, needst o becomes ufficiently
flexiblet o allow for humanityT. hat flexibilityis achieved in
The Comedyo f Errors when Aegeon is freed,i n As You Like
It when romance operates under the controlo f Hymen, in
Much Ado when the arrangedm arriage enrichess ociety,n ot
just one man. Beatricea nd Benedicki ndicatet he modification
that needs to take place in the Hero-Claudio relationship.
Beatrice and Benedick, under the guidance of Don Pedro,
likewise have arranged marriage and romantica ttachment,
but their relationshipu, nlike Claudio's to Hero, is character-
17"MuchA do About Something,"S hakespeare Quarterly,X V (Summer,
1964), 150.
RICHARD HENZE 193
ized by sincere feeling and trust. They participate in the
conventions,a lthough lamely (Benedick can find no rime
to "lady" but "baby"), but theya re more concernedf or Hero
and for each othert hant heya re for convention.
Claudio effectivelysh ows what happens when superficial
romancea nd selfish,s uspiciouss ocial concerna re combined.
His "love" for Hero is much too shallow to preserve him
fromd oubtingb oth his friend Don Pedro and Hero. When
told that Don Pedro loves Hero, Claudio instantlyb elieves
"'Tis certains o" (II.i.181). When Claudio wishes the Prince
"joy of her," Benedick hardly believes that Claudio could
"thinkt he Princew ouldh ave servedy ou thus" (II.i.202-203).
Benedickc alls Claudio a "poor hurt fowl! Now will he creep
into sedges." The image makes Claudio the victim of Don
John; but also, by pun, the foul qualityt hat must be purged.
With Hero, Claudio's suspicion is again immediatea nd so
muchi n controlo f Claudio that he decides on Hero's punish-
mentb eforeh e has witnessedh er crime: "If I see anythingt o-
nightw hyI shouldn ot marryh er to-morrowi,n the congrega-
tion where I shouldw ed, therew ill I shame her" (III.ii.126-
128).
Claudio's suspicion is exactly the characteristict hat en-
ables himt o fulfillh is rolei n thep lay. ThroughC laudio,M uch
Ado displayst hep owert hatm alicea cquiresw heni t is allowed
to operate behind a respectable appearance. The greatest
dangert o societyc omesn ot fromB enedicka nd Beatrice,w ho
are veryr eadyt o increaset he social harmonyn, or even from
Don John,w ho is knownt o be a villain to all but one who
mistakenlyd ecides that Don John is honest when he has
provedh imselfd ishonest.T he dangerouso ne is Claudio, who
concealsa huge and active suspicionb ehinda mask of virtue
and fidelityO. ne can anticipateD on John'sv illainy; one does
not expectC laudio's suspicion.I f everyonew ere like the Friar
and Beatrice-disinclined to accept slanderous accusations
withoutc lear proof-Don Johnw ould have no success what-
ever. Again, as with Don Pedro's deception,t he primary
schemed ependso n a secondaryd eceit: Benedick'sa nd Beat-
rice's distaste for each other has to be pretense for Don
Pedro's scheme to work; Claudio's faithfulnessh as to be
deceptivef or Don John's plan to succeed, a plan which is,
appropriatelyn, ot even Don John's,b ut Borachio's.
The consequenceo f Claudio's lack of trusti s the repudiation
194 DECEPTION
of Hero. While,a s Proutys hows,t he repudiationw ould have
been less offensivei n Shakespeare'sd ay than it is now,18t he
fact remainst hat it could hardlyh ave been completelyin of-
fensive. Beatrice, in her impassionedd emand for revenge,
points out exactly the problemt hat we detect if we have
watchedo r read the repudiations cene at all. Claudio is cruel,
shamefullyc ruel. Howeverw ell, accordingt o some concepto f
"honor,"C laudio may be actingi n tryingc ircumstancesh, e is
not acting well accordingt o the more general standards of
human decency.T . W. Craik argues that Claudio is cleared
of blame "by the facts that Don John (as villain) draws all
censureo n himselfa nd that Don Pedro (hithertot he norm,
the reasonablem an) is also deceived" (p. 314). I would argue
that the emphasis of the play is on Don John's inabilityt o
bite until someone else gets close enough to him and that
Claudio is to blamef orp uttingh imselft hat close. Don Pedro's
agreementw ithC laudio does not exonerateC laudio; rather,i t
indicatest he spread of suspicionu ntils omeonen otese vidence
carefullya, s the Friar does, and opposes that suspicionw ith
trust.C raik says that Friar Francis becomest he "new point
of reference"a fter Don Pedro implicatesh imselfi n error.
Beatrice is surely part of that new point of referencet oo.
She knows intuitivelyt hat Hero is innocent;t he Friar adds
to that intuitiona careful study of the evidence.T his com-
binationo f intuitivet rust and careful observations eems to
be the one thatt he play recommends.
Craik argues that Beatrice's "revengefuli nvectivea gainst
Claudio . . . does not justifyi tself" (p. 314) because Beatrice
is wrong in her judgment of Claudio's guilt. I agree that
Beatrice is too passionate, too much inclined to help Don
John'sf east of malice to its conclusion,b ut Claudio is not,
thereforei,n nocent.B eatrice recognizese xactlyt he problem:
"O that I were a man! What? bear her in hand until they
come to take hands, and then with public accusation, un-
cover'd slander,u nmitigatedr ancour-O God, that I were a
man!" (IV.i.305-309) Here as in Lear even a dog deserves
bettert reatmentt han that. Claudio's fault is both his lack
of trustt hat leads him to doubtH ero so easily and his lack of
decencyt hat leads him to accuse her so unfairlya t that very
momentw hen he should be most concernedf or her. Yet, the
"8Proutyp,p . 47, 62.
RICHARD HENZE 195
verym agnitudeo f that accusationo f Hero makes it more ef-
fectived ramaticallyt han a gentlera ccusation would be, for
it betteri ndicatest he consequenceso f wrong deception,t he
social disruptivenesos f a lack of trust.I f Hero's shame were
less, Claudio's fault would likewise be less; and the power
that malice can have when it is allowed respectabilityw ould
loom less large. The problem is not malice itself; that as
Benedickp ointso ut and as the end of the play indicates,m ay
be recognizedf orw hat it is. The problemi s that Claudio,w ho
should measure up to an expectationo f nobleness,c onceals
beneathh is noblea ppearancea lack of trust,a lack of soul.
Even at the momentt hat the success of the wrongk ind of
deceptions eems assured, however,i ts failure is evident,f or
the shamefulr esulto f Claudio's suspicioni mmediatelya wak-
ens the decencyo f othersa nd makes them observe carefully
what Claudio has seen only superficiallya nd inaccurately.
While Claudio condemnsH ero, the Friar and Beatrice assure
themselveso, n the basis of human evidencet hat Claudio ig-
norest hat Hero is guiltless.A nd, at the same time,D ogberry
and Verges,a pparentlyt hem osti nepto fficerso f law that one
could ever fear to have, have in hand the originatorso f the
deception,B orachio and Conrade. They have noted what
Borachioa nd Conrade said; in this case notinge nds the very
mischieft hatn otingb egan.
Possible confusionis usuallyl imitedi n Shakespeare'sc ome-
dies. In A MidsunmmeNri ght's Dream, Theseus ordains that
the festivitiess hall last onlys o long. In Love's Labour's Lost,
all of the young men's scheme is foreknownb y the ladies;
thus they are armed to resist confusion.I n The Comedyo f
Errors,c hainsa nd ropesr apidlyb indt hosew ho wouldw ander
too far from social restrictionsI. n Much Ado, two of the
villains are arrested before the accusation takes place; the
villainyw ill come to light; the asinine Dogberryi s required
in ordert o keep it fromc omingt o lightt oo earlya nd spoiling
thed ramatici ntensityo f the play.
The controlt hat societyf inallye xercisesi s shownn ot only
by Dogberryb ut also by Don Pedro's earlier guidance of
Beatrice and Benedickt oward marriage.T hat earlier control
serves as a pattern for the later handling of Claudio and
Hero, who are likewisel ed into marriageb y a deceptiont hat
undeceives.C laudio shows what happens when societyl oses
its tightc ontrolo ver the deceptivenesos f individualm embers