How Does Shakespeare Convey the Themes of Love, Marriage and Courtship in “Much Ado About Nothing”? What Techniques Are Used?

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Love, marriage and courtship are presented as some of the main themes in “Much Ado About Nothing” as they are serve as both the basis for all other themes and are instrumental in the creation of conflicts that occur throughout the pay. Shakespeare commands various techniques in order to convey these themes, including the use of setting, diction, characterization, language structure, genre, symbolism, imagery and allegory. The characters’ manner of speaking represents the ideal that Renaissance courtiers strove for in their social interactions. The play’s language is abundant with metaphors and ornamented by rhetoric. Benedick, Claudio, and Don Pedro all produce the kind of witty banter that courtiers used to attract attention and approval in noble households. This along with the setting and genre of the play give insight into how people were married at the time of the play. Marriages were arranged according to social status and family name; love was never an essential part of the equation. The men were expected to approach the fathers of the women they wished to court and the arrangements for their weddings would be made, often regardless of the women’s wishes. Shakespeare shows this is the opening scene, when Claudio takes notice of Hero. He first asks Benedick for his honest opinion of her, to ensure that she is a suitable choice for a wife. The language used in their conversation likens the interest in Hero to the purchase of a jewel- “Would you buy her, that you enquire after her?” “Can the world buy such a jewel?” The imagery of the jewel here can be seen as either a romantic proclamation or a metaphor for the process of courting a lady; the man selects the girl he likes the most then confirms her worth. But despite Claudio’s ‘infatuation’ with Hero, Shakespeare maintains that social status always comes first as Benedick and Claudio must constantly strive

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