Much Ado About Nothing

• Claudio - 'I pray thee truly how thou lik'st her'?


  Presented as a pawn in the romantic chess game, shows youthful timidity and how he is so dependent on others and always looking for approval, even regarding personal situations and feeling that don't involve them, Claudio begs Benedick to take him seriously
• Claudio - 'Beauty is a witch'?


  Presented as a stereotypical masculine man in Elizabethan society who believes in masculine superiority and how all woman are categorised as one, useless and inexperienced. Shows immaturity and his lack of empathy towards other, describes Hero as this
• Claudio - 'There will I shame her'


  Presented as susceptible to manipulation and casts a doubt on his quality of morals as he is so excited by drama and the daring temptation to humiliate. Shows how he feeds off other people's ideas and values them more than his own, when he hears about Hero's fake scandal
• Claudio - 'Can the world buy such a jewel?'


  Rhetorical question shows certaincy of his reliance on looks in a relationship to the reader and how he can be compared to a 'kid in a candy store'. This shows he is immature and is excited and amused by anything that is new and shiny to him - lack of commitment and possibly foreshadows their future relationship (Hero won't stay young forever) - reflects his age and portrays his young boy persona
• Claudio - 'Doing in the figure of a lamb, the feats of a lion'


  Animal imagery to show his multiple personalities and how he can switch up based on his influencers. His dreams of succession, glory and heroism are hinted here as he is described as a lamb (innocent) and a lion (fierce), possibly foreshadows how his character will change throughout the play and how he becomes an unpredictable and confusing character for the audience
• Claudio - 'Rotten orange'


  Metaphor for innocent, sweet and delightful on the outside but evil and ugly on the inside, when you peel back the layers and reveal their personality and what they 'taste' like. Insults her and this is the peak of his immature and rude behaviour, at the wedding
• Claudio - 'If I see anything tonight, why I should not marry her tomorrow'


  Presented as male chauvinistic as he believes woman (categorising) put all men in a cuckold and are humiliating to men, waste of time. Links back to the idea if animalistic imagery used of the 'lion' and how he jumps to conclusions, like how lions jump at prey at any chance they see
• Claudio - 'Your over-kindness doth wring tears for me'


  Presented as repentant (feeling sorry for something you've done) when he realises Hero is faithful and he brings Leonato to tears. Seperates Claudio from Act 1-3 and how he ends the play and the character development he has experienced in terms of maturity and understanding the world
• Claudio - 'Farewell, therefore, Hero!'


  Presented as insecure in love and hates not being in control and dominant over the relationship so he feels quick to dismiss Hero in gossip as the relationship may not have been exactly how me imagined because he didn't value Hero as a person with feelings and inputs
• Hero - Leo 'If the prince do solicit you in that kind, you know the answer'


  Presented as a typical Elizabethan woman who has no input in their own relationships and is controlled by her father, references to Don Pedro, cataylsed as a prop for profit and a programmed robot to obey
• Hero - 'My heart is exceeding heavy'


  Presented as witty and can sense on off feeling, possibly linking to the fact she is observant as she has no say, foreshadows this through the metaphor of ills and disaster that will befall at the wedding, night before the wedding
• Hero - Where honeysuckles ripened by the sun'


  Presented as a reflection of sweetness and innocence as she finds beauty in nature through the descriptive language of the flowers, despite her lack of education due to being a woman in this time period. Her soft nature and aura are highlighted here and it shows a piece of Hero's personality that is missing during the play because she is so overshadowed by her father
• Hero - 'Father, as it please you'


  Presented as a restriction of physical and mental freedom that was forced upon the woman of the Elizabethan era and how the behaviour of this was so normalised and anything different was odd. She must do as she is told and she is programmed to know what to say - as if she has recited lines in a play
• Hero - 'I talked with no man during that hour my lord'


  Presented as a woman's perspective during a conflict and how they are expected to act polite and with honour as it is shamed upon otherwise, but men can insult woman and it is seem as glamourised how they can speak with no remorse, despite having very little evidence, highlights the divide of men and woman and the high vs low expectations. Simple deniance of her defence is heartbreaking and she seems powerless and lost hope as she knows she will never be believed over a man, despite her status
• Hero - 'Oh god defend me, how am I beset?'


  Beset - to trouble someone persistantly. Hero is presented as a victim of male arrogance and misinterpretation as she has a tone of hurt and despair, raising her voice and pleading her case, as she faints, signifying the unequal and unnecessary damage and hurt that woman went through
• Hero - 'Don John is of very melancholy'


  Presented as having a forgiving nature about her as she seeks the best outcome of people, despite their unkind reputations and history towards close family and friends
• Hero - 'Praise him more than ever man did merit'


  Presented as not deluded in love and is aware that men have their failings, but woman still fall in love and their failings shouldn't be totally normalised as it wouldn't be if a woman did. Highlights her extremely understanding persona, even when it may seem unfair to her, yet she still understands and accepts the unequal societal life
• Hero - 'Little Cupid's craft arrow... that only wounds by hearsay'


  Cupid - God of love and shoots arrows of love at people to make them fall in love. Presented as aware and ironic how she foreshadows and predicts her future by her recognition of fake love rumours (the fake affair scandal) and her foreshadowing her hurt and pain that she will endure (fainting and susceptible, unavoidable death)