Much Ado About Nothing: Tragic Analysis

Little Ado About Tragedy by Tiffany Chapple Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy riddled with potentially tragic circumstances. Shakespeare manages to assimilate the potentially tragic with the comedic in a variety of different ways; through his use of silence, metaphor, mockery and by providing immediate solutions. Using these techniques, Shakespeare manages to downplay the potentially tragic and blend it into the comedic in Much Ado About Nothing. Daalder (2004) examines the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About nothing, explaining what he calls a “pre-history” between the pair. In this pre-history (the events that occurred between them before the events of the play) he suggests that Beatrice and Benedick were involved
In Beatrice and Benedick’s tragic pre-history, Shakespeare uses a great deal of silence, never revealing concretely what the character’s past circumstances really were. Silence is also employed as a stylistic technique to limit sympathy with Hero after Claudio denounces her at their wedding. By not showing Hero suffering emotionally, Shakespeare draws focus away from her suffering. Another way Shakespeare limits audience concern for Hero is by revealing the solution to her situation almost as soon as the problem has occurred; both through the Friar’s plan and by having Dogberry’s examination of Borrachio immediately after Hero’s denouncement. The audience is given no time to really worry about Hero before we are assured of a solution. Shakespeare also uses Dogberry’s scene (IV.2) to re-establish a comedic tone by mocking the almost tragic scene that came before it. Therefore it can be seen that, though there are elements of the tragic about Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare manages to maintain an overall comedic tone through the deliberate downplaying of those tragic themes within the