Explore the importance of disguise and deception in Much Ado about Nothing. Are they merely effective plot devices? Much Ado about Nothing was written by William Shakespeare in 1598, towards the middle of his career and during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Disguise and deception are used to great comic effect, as well as to drive the main and sub-plot forward. However, an attentive audience may notice how disguise and deception can also be seen to develop characters and relationships, and show some serious underlying concerns that Shakespeare may be trying to express.
An instance where disguise and deception are used to fuel the main plot is at the masked ball. The simple fact that everyone there is wearing masks, or ‘visors’ symbolises deception itself, and means characters are able to disguise themselves as someone else, such as when Don Pedro plans to ‘tell fair Hero I am Claudio’. Here he walks with Hero ‘in (his) company’, whilst disguising himself as Claudio in an attempt to woo Hero on Claudio’s behalf. The use of the word ‘fair’ here accentuates the fact that their marriage only seems to be formed on appearances, on how things look from the outside. This foreshadows the later events of the scene including Don John’s minor attempt to sabotage the marriage, using deception and disguise to his advantage. Here, Don John asks Claudio ‘Are not you Signor Benedick?’, whilst knowing of course, that it is Claudio, yet seizes his chance to play the mischievous character. Claudio replies ‘You know me well, I am he’, thinking that he is the deceptive one in disguising himself as another character, when in fact Don John’s plans are far more scheming than that. Not only does this create dramatic irony for the audience, who know the truth about both characters’ disguises, but it also pushes the plot forward by setting the audience up for the larger obstacle in their marriage by creating a minor version of the main obstacle we see later. If it wasn’t for deception at this point, the not audience would not have had an insight into the way Don John thinks, nor could Claudio’s apparent mistrust in women have been revealed, which may explain how easily he is deceived later on in the play. It is ironic that earlier in the play Claudio gives an extravagant and poetic speech, speaking in iambic pentameter to show his high status and love interest. In response to this, Don Pedro promises he can ‘unclasp her heart’ for Claudio, and uses the pronoun ‘I’ throughout. It is therefore extremely ironic that he goes on to say ‘she shall be thine’ as a pose to ‘mine’ which just shows the deceptive nature of the wooing, for, if Claudio loved Hero as much as he claimed, he would surely do it himself.
This also portrays a strong sense of elitism and male dominance, which may depict Shakespeare views on Elizabethan England, perhaps how disguise and deception actually played a large part in society at the time, although Shakespeare light-heartedly raises these issues through the genre of comedy. Don John urges the main plot forward, and is responsible for creating the obstacle that Claudio and Hero need to overcome in order to be united. This obstacle and the marriage which promises new life are comedic conventions that depict the main plot, and enable Shakespeare to have a beginning, middle and end. The importance of the deception in this scene is by its position in relation to the play as a whole, as Act 3 was often the climax of a 5 act play, and the past events all seem to be leading up to this moment. The fact that Claudio and Hero’s relationship was founded on nothing is accentuated in this scene, with Claudio immediately planning to ‘shame her’ after seeing Margaret disguised as Hero at her window, without any real evidence supporting Don John’s deception. A feminist critic may view Claudio’s untrustworthy nature as a way to show the position of women at the time, and Claudio’s patriarchal view that women are either angels or whores. However it also shows Don John’s highly deceptive nature in wanting to ruin the marriage, acting as the ‘plain-dealing villain’, an essential character for a comedy, wanting to overthrow Claudio, the ‘young start-up’ who ‘hath all the glory’.
It appears these acts of deception are merely done out of jealousy, with no tangible reason behind them, showing that he is the classic antagonist character who enjoys causing trouble just for his own satisfaction. The sub-plot is driven by disguise and deception, which takes the form of the gulling of Beatrice and Benedick. Here deception is used to great comic effect in order to manipulate the two sub-plot characters into accepting each other. There are many similarities between these gulls, including the language used as well as the way in which the gullers decide to go about doing so. In both cases the gullers tell stories of what they have heard, whilst Beatrice and Benedick disguise themselves in the bushes, thinking they are the deceptive ones when actually they are the ones being deceived themselves. This moves the plot forward as they begin to believe the deceptions and start to question their own beliefs, ultimately leading to a transformation of character. Benedick says ‘is’t possible? Sits the wind in that corner?’, doubting at first whether he is hearing the truth, yet he continues to listen, showing that he really does care about what Beatrice thinks of him, perhaps exposing his own deceptive nature in pretending that he didn’t. It also reveals how he is falling into the ‘trap’ that the gullers have set out, and is believing the lie, driving the sub-plot forward further, as his view – and thus his actions – towards Beatrice begin to change. Consequently, when it comes to Beatrice’s gull, the audience already expect what might happen before it takes place, including the gullers’ technique to point out things that they do not necessarily believe to be true. Indeed, concerning Beatrice’s gull, Hero says herself that she ‘praise(s) him more than ever man did merit’, showing that she does not really believe that any man is worthy of such approval – therefore going against the patriarchal society – and is simply saying it for Beatrice’s benefit, thus deceiving her and leading her to believe her gull.
The language used here foregrounds the theme of deception, using animal imagery such as ‘the fowl sits’, and ‘angling is to see the fish’, which both refer to prey and hunting, a pastime where disguise is a necessity. This shows how, although on the outside the gull may appear to be true, the real deception is disguised and camouflaged – as is the case with hunting – under the sub-text of their words. This really works as an effective plot device because it moves the sub-plot forward to the extent that it would be non-existent without this, as they never would have fallen in love. Certain characters need to undergo a transformation as a convention of comedy. We see the revolution of Beatrice and Benedick when comparing their transformed personalities to theirs at the beginning. Indeed, throughout much of the first act, Beatrice and Benedick exchange witty banter, where Benedick says ‘truly, I love none’ and Beatrice claims she ‘could not endure a husband’. It is ironic that they actually fall for each other, having sworn they would not fall in love, although they still never seem to be the stereotypical characters in love, and still have banter even in the very last scene when they deny loving each other.
This may simply show how Beatrice and Benedick are the less important characters who always seem to suspend the norms, although Shakespeare may also be using these sub-plot characters to show his views on what relationships should be like, in comparison to the conventional main plot characters, who speak in iambic pentameter and use metaphors when speaking about love. This also relates to the medieval mystery and morality plays that crossed physical humour with religious and serious matters. In Much Ado about Nothing the serious issues concerned with marriage are explored though humorous disguise, although the truly deceptive and manipulative nature is exposed by the use of sub-text, concerning the underlying meaning of Beatrice and Benedick’s witty banter. In conclusion, deception and disguise are presented in many ways in Much Ado about Nothing, whether it be ruining a marriage, making two people fall in love, or finding out necessary information in order to effectively drive the plot forward. Shakespeare uses these deceptions as a reflection on his view of society, that you cannot escape mistrust and lies, and that nothing is certain.
