Much Ado About Nothing Essay

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare contains many aspects that anchor the Elizabethan conventions of comedy, but allows us to question whether the ending gratifies the audience and does it actually create a satisfactory dramatic catharsis? Aristotle first discussed the concept of catharsis. He believed that “the poet's aim is to produce pleasure in the spectator by eliciting from the representation the emotions of pity (for others) and fear (for oneself)”. I believe ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ creates a satisfactory dramatic catharsis by Shakespeare intertwining Elizabethan comedic conventions with other forms of comedy in order for characters to receive their cathartic, happy ending. We are able to say ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a problem play as it does not fit into one genre, but still consists of a typical Shakespearean ending.

Over the course of the play, we see various key conventions relating to the characters of Claudio and Hero. The relationship between these two can be described as inconsistent, yet conforms to the structure of ‘Separation’, ‘A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty, often presented by elders’ and finally ‘Reunification’ where the characters are granted a ‘Happy Ending’. A Shakespearean comedy is one that consists of a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters. Claudio and Hero’s unpredictable romance is the main plot, which begins the controversial action and ignites all subsequent events. They are a very conventional young couple as their relationship is based on first impressions where Claudio “look’d upon her with a soldier’s eye”, further connoting his naivety and how Shakespeare used aesthetic ideals, reiterating beauty over substance. However, we could argue that Claudio isn’t in fact romantic at all as he questions, “Hath Leonato any son, my lord?” perhaps suggesting he isn’t as romantic as we first thought. He wants to know if Leonato has a son so if he were to die, Leonato