Key points
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare about couples who fall in love.
The play is set in Messina, Italy, and tells the story of Beatrice and Benedick.
Claudio is a soldier and arrives in Messina with his fellow soldiers Don Pedro, Benedick and Don John at the start of the play.
Claudio falls in love at first sight with Beatrice’s cousin, Hero, but Don John tries to ruin their relationship.
Did you know?
Claudio falls in love with Hero at first sight. Many Shakespearean characters fall in love at first sight, most famously in Romeo and Juliet.
Plot summary
Claudio’s key moments
Click through the slideshow to see Claudio’s key moments
Image caption, Claudio arrives in Messina with Don Pedro, Don John and Benedick. Leonato welcomes them and introduces his daughter, Hero. Claudio (far right) is immediately attracted to Hero.
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Character traits
Inexperienced
Don Pedro agrees to To try and gain someone’s love. Hero for Claudio at the masked ball, because he does not have any romantic experience. Claudio also asks Benedick for his opinion on Hero.
Arrogant
Claudio behaves arrogantly when he believes that Hero has been unfaithful. He doesn’t ask her if it is true but shames her in front of everyone at their wedding. He continues to act arrogantly even after he is told that she is dead.
Jealous
Don John finds it easy to trick Claudio twice because Claudio is jealous. At first, Claudio thinks that Don Pedro wants to be with Hero. Later, he believes Don John’s lies and mistakes Margaret for Hero with Borachio. His jealousy makes him willing to publicly shame her.
Listening activity
In Act 4, scene 1, Claudio shames Hero at their wedding. Listen to the audio clip and then answer the question below.
Friar Francis: You come hither, my lord, to marry this lady?
Claudio: No.
Leonato: To be married to her: friar, you come to marry her.
Friar Francis: Lady, you come hither to be married to this count?
Hero: I do.
Friar Francis: If either of you know any inward impediment why you
should not be conjoined, I charge you on your souls to utter it.
Claudio Know you any, Hero?
Hero: None, my lord.
Friar Francis: Know you any, count?
Leonato: I dare make his answer, none.
Claudio: Oh, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily
do, not knowing what they do!
Benedick: How now! Interjections? Why, then, some be of laughing, as, ah,ha, he.
Claudio: Stand thee by, friar: father, by your leave,
Will you with free and unconstrained soul
Give me this maid, your daughter?
Leonato: As freely, son, as God did give her me.
Claudio: And what have I to give you back, whose worth
May counterpoise this rich and precious gift?
Don Pedro: Nothing, unless you render her again.
Claudio: Sweet prince, you learn me noble thankfulness:
There, Leonato, take her back again,
Give not this rotten orange to your friend,
She's but the sign and semblance of her honour:
Behold how like a maid she blushes here!
Oh what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal!
Comes not that blood, as modest evidence,
To witness simple virtue? Would you not swear,
All you that see her, that she were a maid,
By these exterior shows? But she is none:
She knows the heat of a luxurious bed:
Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.
Leonato: What do you mean, my lord?
Claudio: Not to be married,
Not to knit my soul to an approved wanton…
What literary device does Claudio use when he calls Hero a “rotten fruit”?
This is a metaphor. Claudio’s cruel insult is suggesting that Hero appears sweet and innocent on the outside but in reality she is dishonest and “rotten” inside.
Relationships
Hero
Claudio falls in love with Hero almost instantly when he meets her on his arrival in Messina. He is quite shy about approaching her and doesn’t know her very well. Despite his apparent love for her, Claudio believes that she has been unfaithful and shames her at their wedding. By the end of the play, he has asked for Hero’s forgiveness and they get married.
Don John
Don John is Claudio’s greatest enemy in the play. Claudio has won the favour of Don Pedro in war, which makes Don John, his half-brother, jealous and determined to ruin his happiness. Don John tricks Claudio into thinking Hero has been unfaithful.
Don Pedro
Claudio and Don Pedro have fought together in war, and Claudio has won Don Pedro’s respect. As a result, Don Pedro is willing to help Claudio To try and gain someone’s love. Hero and approaches her for him at the masked ball. Don Pedro also sides with Claudio when he believes Hero has cheated. Don John is jealous of the closeness between Don Pedro and Claudio.
Benedick
Benedick is Claudio’s friend and fellow soldier. Benedick teases Claudio for falling in love so quickly with Hero. He says when men find a wife, they change and stop spending time with their friends. Claudio’s enthusiastic view of romantic love contrasts with Benedick’s more negative views. Claudio almost loses Benedick as a friend.
Why does Claudio almost lose Benedick as a friend?
When Claudio shames Hero at the altar, Benedick is one of the few characters to believe and defend her, along with Beatrice. Benedick even agrees to challenge Claudio to a duel before Hero’s name is cleared.
Changes in character
At the start of the play, Claudio appears to be a romantic hero, a brave soldier who falls in love with Hero at first sight. Claudio is best friends with Benedick and loyal to Don Pedro, the Prince of Aragon.
However, because Claudio is jealous by nature, he is easily tricked into believing that Don Pedro wants to be with Hero. He then falls for Don John’s lies about Hero being unfaithful and cruelly shames her at the altar.
Claudio later appears more sympathetic in his sorrow when Hero ‘dies’ and is proved innocent.
He feels guilty about his accusations at the altar and is grateful when he is given a second chance at love. Hero forgives him and the couple get married.
Activity - Order it
What do these key quotations mean?
In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever
I looked on.
Claudio
Act 1, scene 1
When he returns from war, Claudio falls in love with Hero at first sight. He says this line to Benedick before he has even spoken to Hero. He does not have any romantic experience at this point.
Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.
Claudio
Act 2, scene 3
Claudio agrees to help Don Pedro and Leonato trick Benedick into realising his love for Beatrice. This shows his willingness to help his closest friend find love like he has.
If I see anything tonight why I should not
marry her, tomorrow in the congregation, where I
should wed, there will I shame her.
Claudio
Act 3, scene 3
Don John claims to have proof of Hero being unfaithful and asks Claudio to see it. Claudio is quick to believe Don John and shame Hero without asking or talking to her about it. This emphasises his darker, untrusting side and extreme jealousy.
Give me your hand before this holy friar.
I am your husband, if you like of me.
Claudio
Act 5, scene 4
Leonato asks Claudio to marry Hero’s cousin to make up for his actions and Claudio agrees. His new wife is revealed to be the real Hero and he is given a second chance at love.
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