How Does Shakespeare Present Love And Marriage In 'Much Ado About Nothing' And How Might A Modern Audience Respond To The Presentation Of These Themes?

Through rich imagery and a comic context Shakespeare uses characters to explore his ideas about love and marriage, using relationships to show the trials of love. In his play Shakespeare makes Beatrice and Benedick the critics of love and through them the modern audience is shown how Elizabethan society maltreats the female role and how the male code of honour and pride can lead to devastation.

Shakespeare portrays Claudio and Hero as a pair of conventional lovers who go through an unadventurous and predictive courtship. Through this relationship he shows the modern audience how women were largely dominated by men. As Claudio metaphorically asks, 'can the world buy such a jewel' Hero is portrayed as an object and someone to possess and even her father Leonato says, 'If the Prince do solicit you in that kind, you know your answer'. Hero, it seems, has no choice in the matter, even if she dislikes the Prince she must say yes to the marriage. In this patriarchal society, Shakespeare has presented Hero as a dutiful daughter; for women like her, In the Elizabethan society marriage was often arranged as a family bargain and is Hero's expected outcome.

Throughout the play Shakespeare lays great importance on marriage, presenting it as inevitability. In the Elizabethan era marriage meant wealth and status, it had little to do with love. So when Claudio asks Don Pedro, 'Hath Leonato any son' he is really inquiring if Hero will inherit Leonato's wealth. This is conventional Elizabethan behaviour but a modern audience might see this as materialistic. Shakespeare also reveals to his audience how Hero is wooed by proxy, 'tell fair Hero I am Claudio...I'll unclasp my heart...Then after to her father will I break...she shall be thine'. This would never be accepted in a modern society, except for some cultures, as people marry because they love their partner's personality, whereas Hero and Claudio do not have a full knowledge of each other. This is why Eleanor Bron describes them as 'creatures of the court' because they are superficial and base love on appearances; at times they need to be manoeuvred by others, 'Speak cousin; or, if you cannot, stop his mouth with a kiss'. Eleanor Bron says that Claudio goes 'step by step according to the book'. As a modern audience we perhaps see him as petty and spurious and start to dislike Claudio for his lack of physical passion, yet at the time he would have been the perfect conventional suitor.

Completely contrasting to this relationship is the affiliation between Beatrice and Benedick, whose names echo each other and because of this the audience immediately pairs them. There are many more examples of this in the relationship such as a desire not to marry, emphasised with animalistic language such as 'hang me in a bottle like a cat' and 'I'd rather hear my dog bark at a crow. Their relationship is full of passion, wit and emotion and Shakespeare initially presents their connection with each other in the very first scene when Beatrice asks after 'Signor Montanto' meaning 'stuck up' and he calls her 'my dear Lady Disdain'. Leonato describes their relationship as a 'merry war' and the language they use is acerbic and sardonic, 'Scratching could not make it worse an 'twere such a face as yours'. This line is very barbed and quick which proves how intelligent Beatrice is and how sharp her tongue is. Benedick calls Beatrice a 'harpy' when she ridicules him. This shows what he thinks of her for doing this.

Both Beatrice and Benedick speak largely in prose which is full of vitality and character, making the audience relate to the characters. The fact that Beatrice says 'I know you of old' and 'I gave him...a double heart for his single one,' suggests that maybe they share a past, which immediately makes the audience more interested in them and shows that their courtship will not be straightforward; unlike Claudio and Hero, who speak in verse they are more authentic.

Shakespeare shows that Beatrice and Benedick vow never to marry, 'I will live a bachelor.' Shakespeare provides Benedick with aggressive and melodramatic language; 'pick out mine eyes with a ballad-maker's pen' and 'hang me in a bottle like a cat and shoot at me.' Shakespeare also creates harsh monosyllables to add force and impact to what Benedick says. This is odd since men had little to lose by marriage. He is also presented as scornful of Claudio; 'he is in love...with Hero, Leonato's short daughter' this is also very insulting to Hero. Similarly, Beatrice contradicts herself in describing her aspirations for a husband, 'he that is more than a youth is not for me, /and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.' Beatrice knows that being married will mean resigning herself to a man and losing her veracity. This is one reason why they both shun marriage. Beatrice even goes as far as to refuse Don Pedro's offer to marry her, 'No, my Lord, unless I might have another for working days'. Shakespeare presents her more like a modern woman who does not seem to need marriage or a man.

Shakespeare shows that their fear of marriage is what causes them to deny their love for each other and it is only through the machinations of the other characters that they manage to overcome this fear. In the tricking scenes, we see how Don Pedro describes himself as a 'love God' and plays the part of 'Cupid', making love seem like a game that every one should play. Shakespeare employs animal references, images of hunting and entrapment as if love is a sport. 'O, ay, stalk on, stalk on, the fowl sits.' and 'Bait the hook well. This fish will bite.' They treat Benedick as if he is prey to be hunted. While Beatrice is tricked in a similar fashion, 'So angle we for Beatrice'. In Kenneth Branagh's' film he emphasises the animal imagery by making Benedick cry out indignantly like a bird because of what the men are saying. The symmetry in language is also echoed in the way that Beatrice and Benedick decide to dedicate themselves to each other as a result of this guiling, 'Love me? Why it must be requited...I will be horribly in love with her.'

The result of the tricking scene and the way that they are so