Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing

Shakespeare’s use of humor

Shakespeare’s skillful use of words, sentences, and language is evident throughout his play. He employs humor, for instance, to keep his performance interesting. Surprisingly, the physical humor in “Much Ado About Nothing” depends on how the director and the performer deconstruct the play. Benedick and Beatrice overhear their pals confessing their love to one another. (Shakespeare 238). Before attesting that Beatrice and Benedick are close, Claudio says to Don Pedro that he is stalking on as the bird rests. While Claudio enjoys the impact it is having on Benedick, the audience sees Benedick stooping to understand it better. Also, Hero and Ursula whisper to each other about catching Beatrice in the trap. The two instances depict the act of humor in the play.

Imagery in Shakespeare’s play

Shakespeare has employed imagery to make his play fascinating. Beatrice says, she would instead hearken to her dog barking at a crow instead of a man to depose that he endears or love he (Shakespeare 381). Beatrice uses the rendition of a dog barking at a crow to succor the audience conceptualize the terrible noise of a dog, which she asseverates is still better than the auditory perception of love talks. Benedick replies by telling Beatrice that she is a rare parrot-teacher in which he is insinuating that she is babbling without stopping like a parrot (Shakespeare 382). By using images involving animals and birds in their calumniation, Benedick and Beatrice provide vivid description of how they view each other. In the different case, Benedick tells Don Pedro that he would instead be hanged in a bottle like a cat in a bag and be shot, and he who does that shooting, be clapped on the shoulder than him marrying. By using a cat in a bag, he is trying to say that he would preferably be used as a target instead of falling in love. Don Pedro replies with imagery by mumbling how in time, the savage bulls doth which bears the yoke (Shakespeare 382). Pedro analogizes Benedick to a wild bull which will be tamed ultimately. In this scene, a bachelor is juxtaposed to wild animals due to its masculinity and virility whereas marriage is seen as an event taming animal and turning predators to prey.

Metaphor and similes in the play

Moreover, metaphor and similes have been employed to create wordplay in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Benedick collates Beatrice’s temperament to her beauty by analogizing it May to December (Shakespeare 561). He says his cousin surpasses her more in beauty as the beginning of the month of May through the last month of December (Shakespeare 561). In the statement, Benedick implies that there is a big incongruity about Beatrice’s external and internal attractiveness. The use of ’as’ in the statements to connect the similitude is an example of a simile. Hero and Ursula enkindle a plan to make Beatrice conjecture that Benedick is in love affairs with her using a metaphor (Shakespeare 563). They intentionally organize for the two to wiretap the conversation. Ursula says that it is pleasant and angling to see the fish cutting with her golden oars amidst of the silver stream. The statement is an example of a metaphor.

Wordplays in Shakespeare’s play

Also, Shakespeare creates thought-provoking scenes by wielding wordplays such as puns, malapropism, and entendre. For instance, when Claudio surmises that Don Pedro is beady-eyed in Hero, Beatrice takes note of his jealousy and she remarks the counting is neither sad, nor is it sick, nor merry, but it is civil counting, civil like an orange (Shakespeare 430). The statement is an example of a pun which is contrasting Claudio dramaturgy of civil to the bitter oranges of Seville due to jealousy. On the other hand, malapropism has been employed behind the scenes. Dogberry customarily used malapropism when he made statements, for example, he says, they have convalesced the most treacherous the lechery piece which was well known among the commonwealth (Shakespeare 458). In the asseveration he means, they unearthed a piece of treachery. Notwithstanding, double entendre is observed in the title “Much Ado About Nothing” where the term ’nothing’ is a double entendre which refers to a slang for a woman’s sexual organ.

Structure and repetition in the play

Nevertheless, structure and repetition have not been obliterated in the play by Shakespeare. In Shakespeare, Leonato opines on the good news of the messenger in Scene one of Act I: “that how would it be much better weeping at joy, than being at joy while weeping” illustrating sundry structural variations through repetition of phrases and words (230). Dogberry has a monologue with bodacious repetitions. He asks the audience to remember that he is an ass, though it is not scripted down, but not to forget again that he is an ass (Shakespeare 231). This is a repetition of phrases to create self-justification of reminding the audience of his good qualities. Shakespeare has employed various forms of language and aspects of poetry in his work which tantalizes the audience hence making them find the play enthralling.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. No. 3. B. Tauchnitz, 1868.