Language
Shakespeare is renowned for the language he used and often invented new words. Explore the way he uses rhythm and rhyme, imagery and metaphor and puns and wordplay in Much Ado About Nothing.
Rhythm and rhyme
Shakespeare used rhythm and rhyme in his plays for many different purposes. A strong rhythm gives the language energy. (Rhythm also makes the words easier for actors to memorise.) Rhythm and rhyme is used to distinguish between certain types of characters. Changes in rhythm and rhyme highlight certain aspects of tone and mood.
In Much Ado About Nothing, most of the play is written in prose – the characters’ dialogues follow the natural patterns of speech. Repetition is often used to give the language energy and rhythm and to create emphasis around particular words to make jokes, or to create some other strong and noticeable effect.
Analysis of rhythm and rhyme in the play
Question
How does the repetition or echo between Pedro, Claudio and Don John at the end of Act 3 Scene 3 represent an important turn of events in the play?
This section stands out as most of the play is written in prose. The three men react to Don John’s lies about Hero’s character:
DON PEDRO
O day untowardly turned!
CLAUDIO
O mischief strangely thwarting!!
DON JOHN
O plague right well prevented!
Act 3 Scene 2
On the one hand, it is quite funny, particularly with the terrible irony of Don John’s final line – there’s a sense that Don John finds their reaction deliciously funny. On the other hand, there’s something chilling about how easily they have been persuaded to believe that Hero is in the wrong before they have even seen Don John’s bogus evidence. The scene leaves you with a sense of dread. Claudio and Don Pedro have been foolishly sucked in.
Question
What methods does Shakespeare use to give Claudio’s farewell speech to Hero a grandiose style?
This speech stands out because instead of being in prose, it is written in blank verse. It is also filled with alliteration (the repeated f sounds) and an oxymoron to top it off (an oxymoron is made up of a pair of opposites).
Claudio announces to Hero in front of the congregation at their wedding:
CLAUDIO
But fare thee well, most foul, most fair, farewell
Thou pure impiety, and impious purity
Act 4 Scene 2
Here, Claudio contrasts purity with sinfulness in describing Hero. The speech sounds pretentious and if the previous moments’ events hadn’t been so shocking, it would make us laugh. Claudio is a young, foolish and arrogant boy. The overdone literary devices make him sound like a bad poet. He is self-indulgent at this moment. The patterns of his language could also show that he is a young man in distress.
Question
Why is the Friar’s speech about Hero’s fake death written in blank verse (blank verse is a term used for unrhymed lines within a rhythm called Iambic Pentameter)?
In Shakespeare’s plays, noble characters, or characters with something noble to say, speak within this structure. The Friar has noble intentions and this is reflected in the formal verse form. The Friar explains to Leonato the purpose behind his plan to fake Hero’s death:
FRIAR
Change slander to remorse, that is some good,
But not for that dream I on this strange course,
But on this travail look for greater birth
Act 4 Scene 1
From all this upset, he hopes to make something good. Not only will Hero’s name be cleared, but Claudio will learn an important lesson about the worth of life, that will make him a better person. He will cherish Hero. He will be ready this time for the serious commitment that he must make when he decides that he wants to marry Hero.
Question
Why does Benedick try and fail to write a romantic verse for Beatrice?
Benedick is too honest for rhyme, and the examples he can come up with are silly ('lady' and 'baby'). He is rarely lost for words, except in this situation. He comes to the conclusion:
BENEDICK
No, I was not born under a rhyming planet…
Act 5 Scene 2
His feelings are true and his words to Beatrice are honest. Shakespeare may be suggesting that romantic verse is artificial, which perhaps explains the lack of it in Much Ado About Nothing, a play that celebrates language, plain speaking and honesty.
Listening task
In Act 4 Scene 1, Leonato is in deep distress having believed the lies about Hero’s supposed impurity. The speech is full of emotion – anger, sadness, confusion, love, rage. It is a speech that realistically represents grief, but it is written in a formal verse form, blank verse.
LEONATO
Wherefore? Why doth not every earthly thing
Cry shame upon her? Could she here deny
The story that is printed in her blood?
Do not live, Hero, do not open thine eyes:
For did I think thou wouldst not quickly die,
Thought I thy spirits were stronger than thy shames,
Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches
Strike at thy life. Grieved I, I had but one?
Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame?
O, one too much by thee! Why had I one?
Why ever wast thou lovely in my eyes?
Why had I not with charitable hand,
Took up a beggar's issue at my gates,
Who smirchéd thus, and mired with infamy,
I might have said, no part of it is mine,
This shame derives itself from unknown loins:
But mine, and mine I loved, and mine I praised,
And mine that I was proud on, mine so much,
That I myself, was to myself not mine,
Valuing of her: why she, oh she is fallen
Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea
Hath drops too few to wash her clean again,
And salt too little, which may season give
To her foul-tainted flesh.
Question
Can you hear when Leonato’s emotions become too much for him to bear and the rhythm of the blank verse begins to break down?
The rhythm really breaks down with 'why she, oh she is fallen…' He is shocked, but still believes that his beautiful and precious daughter has turned out to be so impure. Of course, we know this isn’t true at all.
Question
How many times does he say 'mine'? What do you think this says about his relationship with Hero?
Leonato says 'mine' six times. If you wanted to be kind, you could say that it was because he loved her so much. On the other hand, it could show that he saw her as a possession.
Imagery and metaphors
Metaphors are detailed comparisons that make writing and speech come alive in our imaginations. On Shakespeare’s stage there were no special effects, the stage was pretty bare except for actors, and the props were few and far between. So the writing had to paint exciting scenes in the audience’s minds. This is imagery.
Analysis of imagery and metaphors in the play
Question
What is Benedick trying to say by using a A comparison using 'like' or 'as' to create a vivid image, eg as big as a whale; float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. when comparing Hero’s looks with Beatrice’s?
Benedick is saying that he thinks Beatrice is much more beautiful than Hero – it’s a shame about her bad temper. He compares Beatrice to the first of May – a time of new life, blossom, sunshine, etc. He says:
BENEDICK
There’s her cousin, and she were not possessed with a fury,
exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of May doth the
last of December.
Act 1 Scene 1
There’s also perhaps a nudge towards the first of May being a time when birds and bees and young men and women fall in love. He compares Hero to the last of December – an image that suggests a lack of life, light and warmth. Hero is quiet and modest and perhaps is heavily overshadowed by her lively cousin.
Question
How does Claudio use a powerful image to express his disgust at Hero’s supposed betrayal of him at her window with another man?
Claudio tells Leonato:
CLAUDIO
Give not this rotten orange to your friend.
Act 4 Scene 1
Claudio’s metaphor is stronger than a simile, because he’s not just comparing Hero to a rotten orange; he says that she is a rotten orange: she looks sweet, but underneath this she is foul and no good. The image is both powerful and memorable, more so than simply calling her a rude name.
Listening task
In Act 2 Scene 1, Benedick uses a succession of vivid metaphors. In literature, huge exaggerations like the ones Benedick uses below are called Check your connection, refresh the page and try again..
Much Ado About Nothing language - imagery and metaphor
BENEDICK
Oh she misused me past the endurance of a block:
an oak but with one green leaf on it, would have
answered her: my very visor began to assume life, and
scold with her: she told me, not thinking I had been
myself, that I was the prince's jester, that I was
duller than a great thaw, huddling jest upon jest,
with such impossible conveyance upon me, that I stood
like a man at a mark, with a whole army shooting at
me: she speaks poniards, and every word stabs:
if her breath were as terrible as her terminations,
there were no living near her, she would infect to
the north star: I would not marry her, though she
were endowed with all that Adam had left him before
he transgressed: she would have made Hercules have
turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make
the fire too: come, talk not of her, you shall find
her the infernal Ate in good apparel. I would to God
some scholar would conjure her, for certainly, while
she is here, a man may live as quiet in hell, as in a
sanctuary, and people sin upon purpose, because they
would go thither, so indeed all disquiet, horror
and perturbation follows her
He complains to Don Pedro about how badly Beatrice treated him at the masked ball, how she would terrify even Greek gods, and how she is like a goddess herself – the goddess of disharmony – in a nice dress.
Question
Can you find any signs that Benedick secretly likes Beatrice in this speech?
That Beatrice’s words hurt Benedick’s feelings show that he likes her and wishes that she liked him. He also says that she’s like the Greek goddess of disharmony, but in a nicer dress.
Question
What do you think Don Pedro should be doing on stage as he listens to Benedick’s outburst?
Don Pedro would be laughing and shaking his head in disbelief. What do you think? Perhaps he’s trying to keep a straight face or offering Benedick some sympathy?
Puns and wordplay
The Shakespearean audience loved jokes that involved wordplay. Puns are jokes using words that can have more than one meaning. You have to have your wits about you to pun successfully. It was like an Elizabethan Olympic sport, only using brains, rather than brawn. Beatrice and Benedick would have delighted Shakespeare’s audience with their verbal wrestling matches. Dogberry, on the other hand, would have been an entertaining amateur – entertaining, because he got his words so wrong. We call these mixed up words Check your connection, refresh the page and try again..
Did you know? Shakespeare wouldn’t have called this device a Malapropism. The name didn’t get coined until way after his death. A character called Mrs Malaprop in a play called The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, in 1775, is the mother of malapropists.
Analysis of puns and wordplay in the play
Question
How does Beatrice twist the Messenger’s words to exaggerate how much she dislikes Benedick?
In answer to whether Benedick is in her good books, Beatrice replies:
BEATRICE
No, and he were, I would burn my study.
Act 1 Scene 1
The Messenger doesn’t mean to say anything clever. Saying that someone is not in their good books is an ordinary and commonplace thing to say. Beatrice plays on the word “book”. She wouldn’t just burn Benedick if he were a book, she’d burn all the books in her study.
Question
How does Beatrice make a pun on the word 'civil'
Beatrice reports that Claudio is:
BEATRICE
Civil as an orange
Act 2 Scene 1
Oranges come from Seville which sounds a lot like civil. Seville oranges are known for their bitterness which reflects Claudio’s dark mood. Beatrice uses humour to lighten the mood as Claudio is sulking because he thinks Don Pedro has stolen Hero.
Question
How does Balthasar make a pun on the word 'note'?
Balthasar jokes:
BALTHASAR
Note this before my notes,
There’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting.
Act 2 Scene 3
Balthasar, the musician, asks them to notice what he has to say before he sings (his musical notes), that there’s not a note (musical note or comment in the song) that’s worth taking notice of. Elizabethans loved wordplay and as Balthasar is a paid entertainer, it is his job to create cheesy puns for laughs. He would have got a round of applause (and perhaps a groan) from the “audience” on stage, and the real audience. This particular pun also refers to the play’s title Much Ado About Nothing (Nothing could also be pronounced noting, in those days) and the fact that in the following scenes, Benedick and Beatrice are about to do some “noting” of conversations that lead to something, rather than 'nothing'.
Question
Why is Dogberry’s language so memorable?
He is a funny memorable character because he tries to use long words and gets them muddled up (Malapropisms). Dogberry tells the watchman:
DOGBERRY
you are thought here to be the most senseless and fit man for
the constable of the watch
Act 3 Scene 3
Dogberry means sensible but he says 'senseless' instead. Senseless means stupid. He is actually telling the watchman that he is fit to be a constable for the watch because he is the most stupid amongst them. The watchman thanks him for the compliment!
Listening task
In Act 4 Scene 1, Beatrice and Benedick finally admit their love for one another. Even at this touching and honest moment, they cannot help but pun and twist each other’s words. It’s as if they are a double act. Beatrice still isn’t so certain that she can trust Benedick though. She is worried that although he says he loves her now, he may 'eat his words' later.
Much Ado About Nothing language - puns and wordplay
BENEDICK
By my sword, Beatrice, thou lovest me.
BEATRICE
Do not swear and eat it.
BENEDICK
I will swear by it that you love me, and
I will make him eat it that says
I love not you.
BEATRICE
Will you not eat your word?
BENEDICK
With no sauce that can be devised to it:
I protest I love thee.
BEATRICE
Why then God forgive me.
BENEDICK
What offence, sweet Beatrice?
BEATRICE
You have stayed me in a happy hour,
I was about to protest I loved you.
BENEDICK
And do it with all thy heart.
BEATRICE
I love you with so much of my heart,
that none is left to protest.
Question
Do you think they are both still embarrassed to admit their feelings to each other?
At this point, Benedick is relieved to tell Beatrice how he feels and is excited to get things out in the open. He even threatens to make any man who contradicts what he says, eat his sword. And he keeps repeating how much he loves her.
Beatrice, on the other hand, is more cautious. It’s not until the final lines that she feels sure enough to tell Benedick just how much she loves him.
Question
If you were staging this scene, would you direct the actors to kiss and hold hands at any point, or would they remain respectfully, even suspiciously apart?
There are always several options, and yours depends on the vision of the characters you have. You might want to keep them respectfully apart to show the formal manners of the time. You might consider these two characters so full of passion, that they can hardly keep their hands off each other. Perhaps Beatrice keeps Benedick at arm’s length until the very last lines.
Test yourself
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