Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a classic illustration of the literary term "comedy of errors." Writers employ this genre when the sequences of events in a play is positively ridiculous and absurd an yet resolved happily Indeed, as Much Ado About Nothing progresses, rumors are overheard and lies are told, giving each character a different idea of who is who, and what is true, but by the final scene, the protagonists of both story lines are bound for the altar despite the cases of misunderstandings, miscommunication, and mistaken identity.
When the play opens, the audience believes Beatrice, ex-wife of Benedick, a young lord of Padua, despises Benedick, and Benedick despises Beatrice. In a case of mistaken identity at a masquerade party, Beatrice, mistakes Benedick's identity for that of a disguised stranger and speaks about Benedick- how he is the Prince's jester, and a very dull fool. The disguised Benedick, hearing these comments spoken to his face, is even more convinced hat Beatrice really doesn't love him after all.
"Much Ado About Nothing"
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING @ TIFF P1320812
David Garrick as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothin...But, Beatrice and Benedick really do love each other and flirt through fighting, though they will never admit it, thus creating a misunderstanding between them, and the other characters. In order for Benedick to admit his love for Beatrice, Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon; Claudio, a young lord of Florence; and Leonato; Governor of Messina, decide to discuss how Beatrice secretly loves Benedick, but will never tell, just loud enough for Benedick to overhear and using details that never actually happened- classic miscommunication. Likewise, Hero's gentlewoman Ursula and Hero, Claudio's fiancè, conduct a similar conversation about Benedick, for Beatrice to overhear. Thus Benedick is deceived into thinking that Beatrice loves him, and Beatrice is deceived into thinking that Benedick loves her. The outcome of this miscommunication is that they do...