Conflict In Much Ado About Nothing
...each others response, suggests that they have a strong bond, intellectually, and as we see at the end of the play, emotionally. Much ado ends with the couple trying to write sonnets to each other, however they soon realist that it not suited to them. “I was not born on a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms” (V.ii.34-35). Their inability to write illustrates the difference between the unstructured witty rhetoric and the structured conventions of renaissance love poetry (sonnets). This ending is possible showing the importance of social grace, and how you don’t need to be a writer to express your love in a colourful manner. The ending to Beatrice and Benedick’s part in the play is well thought out, and is central to the overall theme of Much Ado About Nothing. While their ‘conflict’ is not resolved, it appears that it isn’t meant to be. Their antagonistic sparring is a hallmark of their relationship and is in large how they relate to each other. The second major conflict is between Don John and Don Pedro. Where Beatrice and Benedick provided the comical aspect of the play, the two ‘brothers’ present a tragic facet. While Much Ado is a comedy it very often borders on tragedy, this is clearly evident by the similarities it shares with Romeo and Juliet, as far as the use of death goes in the play. Don John seems be in conflict with all the other characters in the play. However, the source of his melancholy and sullen nature is the resentment of his brother Don Pedro and his social authority. He is also upset about the restrictions that are placed upon him as a bastard child. “I am trusted with a muzzle, and enfranchised with a clog. Therefore I have decreed not to sing in my cage” (I.iii.25-27). Throughout the play Don John plays numerous tricks on everyone, in order to disturb the peace. The one that is central to the play is when he makes Claudio believe that Hero has been unfaithful to him. At the end of the play it is unclear as to what exactly is going to happen to Don John. It is certain that he will be punished in some way but the fact that Don Pedro is left alone and even more alienated than in the beginning of the play makes it seem that there has been no justice for him. He did after all suffer the embarrassment of knowing that it was his ‘brother’ who was responsible for all he treachery. Someone is always left out in Shakespeare’s comedies, and the fact that we do not see what happens to Don John could be used to further exaggerate this point. Putting the emphasis on the theme of love, again isolating the lonely Don Pedro. The next conflict is between Benedick and Claudio. Beatrice manages to convert Benedict to her way of thinking and tells him to challenge Claudio “Enough, I am engaged, I will challenge him. I will Kiss your hand, and so I leave you” (IV.i.325-326). This never really materialises in the play and in the end, Benedick quickly renews his friendship with Claudio, by the fact that he is happy that they will be relatives. The reason for this may be because Benedick never wanted to do it from the start. The fact that everyone was now happy and ready to get married may have contributed. As well as the fact that Benedick was now officially in love and has also gone soft, like Claudio did in the beginning of the play. There seems to be no clear resolution of this conflict in the play. The conflict between Hero (and her family) and Claudio seems to be the most complicated and confusing. The degree to which Claudio publicly shamed hero is great. He brought humiliation and a loss of honour to her family. It is clear that Claudio’s rejection is designed to inflict as much pain as possible. The tone of the play turns from ...