Passage Analysis - Much Ado About Nothing

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English Passage Analysis. The play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare is set in Messina, Italy, during the Elizabethan Era in a patriarchal society. The main themes of this play are focused around honour; loyalty; jealousy; revenge; status; deception – malicious or with good intent; love in different forms – parental, young love, patriotic, true love, comradeship, friendship, lust; gender roles; social pressure; imposition. This passage it set outside Leonato’s house. Leonato is the governor of Messina, the protagonist of this passage, and his purpose in this scene is to portray parental love for his only child, young Hero, who is another innocent victim of Don John’s malicious scheme and has been falsely accused of sleeping with another man a day before her wedding. Don John is the antagonist and the mastermind behind the nasty plan to destroy Hero’s special day, her wedding. He is the bastard brother of Don Pedro, who is the Prince of Aragon. Don Pedro is a very respected character in this play, as he is a soldier and the Prince, so he is looked upon as a very strong and reliable character, so much so that whenever someone has a problem or a dilemma, they always consult Don Pedro. Other characters present in this scene are Antonio, Leonato’s brother, the naïve Hero’s uncle, whose purpose in this scene is to comfort and convince Leonato to stop feeling guilty about the false accusation on Hero and to instead condemn the people who blamed Hero; and Claudio, who is a shy gentleman in love with Hero but falls for Don John’s trick and insults Hero in public on the day of their wedding. Claudio’s purpose in this scene is to show the weakness of his character, and to show his dependency on other strong characters for his decisions. This passage basically talks about the false accusation on Hero during his wedding day and the guilt Leonato faces
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