Personification In William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
909 Words4 Pages
Often times hidden in a lighthearted play is a deeper more sophisticated meaning. This idea certainly applies to William Shakespeare’s Play “Much Ado about Nothing”. The 15th century text is latent with underlying references to culture life and society that are still prevalent today. In the town of Messina, Italy lives a respectable Nobleman named leonato and his family. Leonato welcomes some friends, Benedict Claudio Don Pedro and Don Juan, home from a war who fall in love with his niece Beatrice and daughter Hero. With the help of the bastard Don Pedro and strong willed characters, the relationships and lives of the young couples are put at risk in a comical way. It might appear that the play had no theme or that was only meant for pure…show more content… Shakespeare is intentionally confusing his audience in the first part of the play so that there is little idea who is plotting against who. Personification is one of the most prevalent literary devices used to add emphasis to the theme of deception. Throughout the play Beatrice and Benedict, neither of which want to fall in love, exchange quick witted jabs intended to deceive there true feelings about each other. Beatrice said “A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours”. Benedict responded “I would my horse had the speed of your tongue. These 2 dynamic characters are comparable to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Beatrice and Benedict’s friends and family both want them to marry, so they trick them by talking loudly so one could hear about how Beatrice is in love with Benedict or vice versa. This scene is is very comical because of the parity in which Benedicts friends deceive him in the exact same way Beatrice’s family deceives her. The reluctant couple haplessly falls in love in a way that only Shakespeare could draw up. As for the other relationship, Claudio is overjoyed when he learns that Leonato accepts him as a suitable