Much Ado About Nothing: Motifs 7 key examples

Using the metaphor of a house, Claudio suggests that thoughts of love have now replaced thoughts of war in his mind. This illustrates how greatly his mindset has changed after his return from the battlefield.

However, although the romance plots that entangle the men in Messina seem trivial by comparison to the military matters to which the men are accustomed, the challenges of courtship often resemble those of war. Indeed, Leonato explicitly describes the hostility between Beatrice and Benedick as a "merry war" or "skirmish of wit" in Act 1, Scene 1. The numerous allusions to Cupid, the god of love armed with arrows, also encapsulate this relationship between courtship and war. In Act 3, Scene 2, for instance, Hero notes, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." Love, then, can be just as violent as war. 

Cuckoldry is often a source of comedy in the characters' witty exchanges. For example, when the Prince acknowledges Hero in Act 1, Scene 1 by saying to Leonato, "I think this is your daughter," Leonato responds with a quip about his daughter's legitimacy: "Her mother hath many times told me so." In particular, the symbol of "the savage bull" compares a married man to a bull "tamed" by his wife. In Shakespeare's day, cuckolds were typically pictured as wearing a pair of horns. As a result, the bull's horns in this motif suggest that marriage places a man at risk of humiliation if his wife betrays him, thus turning him into a cuckold. This generates a great deal of witty banter in the play. In Act 1, Scene 1, for instance, the Prince responds to Benedick's opposition to marriage by jokingly saying, "In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke." The prospect of cuckoldry thus presents a looming and inevitable threat of humiliation to the male characters.

The play, however, also exposes the dark side of this male anxiety around cuckoldry. When Hero is falsely accused of being unfaithful to Claudio, she loses her reputation, Claudio's love, and her father's favor. Leonato's brutal language while berating Hero in Act 4, Scene 1 for her alleged promiscuity is especially illuminating: 

But mine, and mine I loved, and mine I praised,
And mine that I was proud on, mine so much
That I myself was to myself not mine,
Valuing of her—[...]

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Leonato's repetition of the possessive pronoun "mine" foregrounds the possessiveness that underlies the male fear of losing control over their wives. In this way, although the motif of cuckoldry is often a source of comedy in the play, it also illustrates the oppressiveness of contemporary gender roles. 

The suggestion that Benedick will be able to substitute for "blind Cupid" if he ever falls in love contrary to his stated beliefs implicitly highlights Benedick's own "blindness" to the fact that he will later fall in love with Beatrice. The allusion also establishes a parallel between Cupid shooting his arrows without seeing his target and love striking Benedick, Beatrice, Claudio, and Hero where they least expect it. Indeed, when Hero prepares to hold a staged conversation in Act 3, Scene 1 that will convince Beatrice that Benedick is in love with her, she declares:

Of this matter
Is little Cupid’s crafty arrow made,  
That only wounds by hearsay.

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Since Cupid is blind, he can only use what he hears—"hearsay"—as a guide when shooting his arrows. Likewise, Hero, Beatrice, and Benedick all fall in love without the use of sight: Hero falls in love with Claudio while both are masked at the ball, and Benedick and Beatrice fall in love by eavesdropping on their friends. Cupid is therefore a suitable figure to encapsulate both the unpredictability of love and the use of rumors and eavesdropping to spark romance in the play.

In this moment, Beatrice uses a fashion metaphor to compare the Prince to an article of clothing that is too expensive for everyday use.

In Act 2, Scene 2, Benedick similarly draws on the fashion motif to articulate Claudio's transformation after falling in love with Hero: 

I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armor, and now will he lie ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet.

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According to Benedick, Claudio was more interested in "armor," or military fashion, before he fell in love. Now that he is smitten with Hero, he is more interested in a "doublet," an article that he would wear to impress Hero rather than to go to battle. Through this metaphor, Benedick suggests that, like fashion, romantic love is a superficial matter, thereby highlighting his own aversion to marriage at this point in the play. 

In this moment, Beatrice uses a fashion metaphor to compare the Prince to an article of clothing that is too expensive for everyday use.

In Act 2, Scene 2, Benedick similarly draws on the fashion motif to articulate Claudio's transformation after falling in love with Hero: 

I have known when he would have walked ten mile afoot to see a good armor, and now will he lie ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet.

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According to Benedick, Claudio was more interested in "armor," or military fashion, before he fell in love. Now that he is smitten with Hero, he is more interested in a "doublet," an article that he would wear to impress Hero rather than to go to battle. Through this metaphor, Benedick suggests that, like fashion, romantic love is a superficial matter, thereby highlighting his own aversion to marriage at this point in the play. 

In the exchange above, "note" means "to observe," but it also refers to musical notes. In addition, the Prince's final line compares musical notes to "nothing," suggesting that what one hears—rumors and gossip—have no actual value. 

Indeed, both sight and hearing prove unreliable throughout the play, as characters disguise themselves and eavesdrop to generate rumors and manipulate others' perception of reality. For example, Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other when they eavesdrop on staged conversations by their friends, and this leads each of them to believe that the other is already enamored of them. Meanwhile, Don John creates the illusion of Hero's infidelity by staging an interaction between Margaret and Borachio in disguise. Through the motif of "noting," then, Shakespeare highlights how easily human perception can be manipulated. On the other hand, it is the friar's visual observation of Hero—his "noting of the lady"—that ultimately helps the characters arrive at the truth: that Hero has, in fact, been faithful to Claudio. Noting, then, is both a tool of deception and a source of truth. 

Indeed, the play frequently compares their burgeoning love for each other to an illness. For instance, when a staged conversation between Claudio, Leonato, and the Prince in Act 2, Scene 3 succeeds in convincing Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, Claudio tells the Prince in an aside, "He hath ta’en th’ infection." Similarly, Hero declares in Act 3, Scene 1 that her staged conversation with Ursula must convey the fact that "Benedick / Is sick in love with Beatrice." Finally, the parallel between Benedick's "toothache" in Act 3, Scene 2 and Beatrice being "stuffed" Act 3, Scene 4 is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that both are "lovesick." In this way, Shakespeare compares love to a contagious illness that Beatrice and Benedick fail to avoid catching—and that proves vexing for both parties.

The motif of illness, however, is also associated with Don John. Since Don John is a "bastard," his self-declared association with disease suggests that illegitimacy or adulterous sexual relations are also a kind of disease—and could also allude to sexually transmitted infection​​​​​​. In fact, he compares himself to a disease, stating that he "had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in [the Prince's] grace." When Don John learns of Claudio's burgeoning romance with Hero in Act 2, Scene 2, he also uses the language of disease: 

Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be med’cinable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?

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Don John's assertion here that any obstruction to Claudio and Hero's marriage will be "medi'cinable" to his "displeasure" is striking: it presents illegitimacy as a disease with which Don John is born—and whose only remedy is vengeance through the destruction of legitimate marriages. The motif of illness thus illuminates not only the unpredictability of love, but also the boundary between socially permissible and impermissible forms of sexuality. 

Hero's instructions contain a combination of rich nature imagery and the language of military betrayal: the honeysuckles are "proud," as if they're betraying their masters. This suggests that the "bower" is a site of both romance and subterfuge. By comparing the honeysuckles in the bowers to "favorites," Hero also alludes to Benedick's comment in Act 1, Scene 1: "Then is courtesy a turncoat." Like a turncoat, Hero suggests, Beatrice's present opposition to marriage could betray her.

Using the metaphor of a house, Claudio suggests that thoughts of love have now replaced thoughts of war in his mind. This illustrates how greatly his mindset has changed after his return from the battlefield.

However, although the romance plots that entangle the men in Messina seem trivial by comparison to the military matters to which the men are accustomed, the challenges of courtship often resemble those of war. Indeed, Leonato explicitly describes the hostility between Beatrice and Benedick as a "merry war" or "skirmish of wit" in Act 1, Scene 1. The numerous allusions to Cupid, the god of love armed with arrows, also encapsulate this relationship between courtship and war. In Act 3, Scene 2, for instance, Hero notes, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." Love, then, can be just as violent as war. 

Indeed, the play frequently compares their burgeoning love for each other to an illness. For instance, when a staged conversation between Claudio, Leonato, and the Prince in Act 2, Scene 3 succeeds in convincing Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, Claudio tells the Prince in an aside, "He hath ta’en th’ infection." Similarly, Hero declares in Act 3, Scene 1 that her staged conversation with Ursula must convey the fact that "Benedick / Is sick in love with Beatrice." Finally, the parallel between Benedick's "toothache" in Act 3, Scene 2 and Beatrice being "stuffed" Act 3, Scene 4 is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that both are "lovesick." In this way, Shakespeare compares love to a contagious illness that Beatrice and Benedick fail to avoid catching—and that proves vexing for both parties.

The motif of illness, however, is also associated with Don John. Since Don John is a "bastard," his self-declared association with disease suggests that illegitimacy or adulterous sexual relations are also a kind of disease—and could also allude to sexually transmitted infection​​​​​​. In fact, he compares himself to a disease, stating that he "had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in [the Prince's] grace." When Don John learns of Claudio's burgeoning romance with Hero in Act 2, Scene 2, he also uses the language of disease: 

Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be med’cinable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?

Cite this Quote

Don John's assertion here that any obstruction to Claudio and Hero's marriage will be "medi'cinable" to his "displeasure" is striking: it presents illegitimacy as a disease with which Don John is born—and whose only remedy is vengeance through the destruction of legitimate marriages. The motif of illness thus illuminates not only the unpredictability of love, but also the boundary between socially permissible and impermissible forms of sexuality. 

The suggestion that Benedick will be able to substitute for "blind Cupid" if he ever falls in love contrary to his stated beliefs implicitly highlights Benedick's own "blindness" to the fact that he will later fall in love with Beatrice. The allusion also establishes a parallel between Cupid shooting his arrows without seeing his target and love striking Benedick, Beatrice, Claudio, and Hero where they least expect it. Indeed, when Hero prepares to hold a staged conversation in Act 3, Scene 1 that will convince Beatrice that Benedick is in love with her, she declares:

Of this matter
Is little Cupid’s crafty arrow made,  
That only wounds by hearsay.

Cite this Quote

Since Cupid is blind, he can only use what he hears—"hearsay"—as a guide when shooting his arrows. Likewise, Hero, Beatrice, and Benedick all fall in love without the use of sight: Hero falls in love with Claudio while both are masked at the ball, and Benedick and Beatrice fall in love by eavesdropping on their friends. Cupid is therefore a suitable figure to encapsulate both the unpredictability of love and the use of rumors and eavesdropping to spark romance in the play.

Indeed, the play frequently compares their burgeoning love for each other to an illness. For instance, when a staged conversation between Claudio, Leonato, and the Prince in Act 2, Scene 3 succeeds in convincing Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, Claudio tells the Prince in an aside, "He hath ta’en th’ infection." Similarly, Hero declares in Act 3, Scene 1 that her staged conversation with Ursula must convey the fact that "Benedick / Is sick in love with Beatrice." Finally, the parallel between Benedick's "toothache" in Act 3, Scene 2 and Beatrice being "stuffed" Act 3, Scene 4 is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that both are "lovesick." In this way, Shakespeare compares love to a contagious illness that Beatrice and Benedick fail to avoid catching—and that proves vexing for both parties.

The motif of illness, however, is also associated with Don John. Since Don John is a "bastard," his self-declared association with disease suggests that illegitimacy or adulterous sexual relations are also a kind of disease—and could also allude to sexually transmitted infection​​​​​​. In fact, he compares himself to a disease, stating that he "had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in [the Prince's] grace." When Don John learns of Claudio's burgeoning romance with Hero in Act 2, Scene 2, he also uses the language of disease: 

Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be med’cinable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?

Cite this Quote

Don John's assertion here that any obstruction to Claudio and Hero's marriage will be "medi'cinable" to his "displeasure" is striking: it presents illegitimacy as a disease with which Don John is born—and whose only remedy is vengeance through the destruction of legitimate marriages. The motif of illness thus illuminates not only the unpredictability of love, but also the boundary between socially permissible and impermissible forms of sexuality. 

Indeed, the play frequently compares their burgeoning love for each other to an illness. For instance, when a staged conversation between Claudio, Leonato, and the Prince in Act 2, Scene 3 succeeds in convincing Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him, Claudio tells the Prince in an aside, "He hath ta’en th’ infection." Similarly, Hero declares in Act 3, Scene 1 that her staged conversation with Ursula must convey the fact that "Benedick / Is sick in love with Beatrice." Finally, the parallel between Benedick's "toothache" in Act 3, Scene 2 and Beatrice being "stuffed" Act 3, Scene 4 is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact that both are "lovesick." In this way, Shakespeare compares love to a contagious illness that Beatrice and Benedick fail to avoid catching—and that proves vexing for both parties.

The motif of illness, however, is also associated with Don John. Since Don John is a "bastard," his self-declared association with disease suggests that illegitimacy or adulterous sexual relations are also a kind of disease—and could also allude to sexually transmitted infection​​​​​​. In fact, he compares himself to a disease, stating that he "had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in [the Prince's] grace." When Don John learns of Claudio's burgeoning romance with Hero in Act 2, Scene 2, he also uses the language of disease: 

Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be med’cinable to me. I am sick in displeasure to him, and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?

Cite this Quote

Don John's assertion here that any obstruction to Claudio and Hero's marriage will be "medi'cinable" to his "displeasure" is striking: it presents illegitimacy as a disease with which Don John is born—and whose only remedy is vengeance through the destruction of legitimate marriages. The motif of illness thus illuminates not only the unpredictability of love, but also the boundary between socially permissible and impermissible forms of sexuality. 

In the exchange above, "note" means "to observe," but it also refers to musical notes. In addition, the Prince's final line compares musical notes to "nothing," suggesting that what one hears—rumors and gossip—have no actual value. 

Indeed, both sight and hearing prove unreliable throughout the play, as characters disguise themselves and eavesdrop to generate rumors and manipulate others' perception of reality. For example, Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other when they eavesdrop on staged conversations by their friends, and this leads each of them to believe that the other is already enamored of them. Meanwhile, Don John creates the illusion of Hero's infidelity by staging an interaction between Margaret and Borachio in disguise. Through the motif of "noting," then, Shakespeare highlights how easily human perception can be manipulated. On the other hand, it is the friar's visual observation of Hero—his "noting of the lady"—that ultimately helps the characters arrive at the truth: that Hero has, in fact, been faithful to Claudio. Noting, then, is both a tool of deception and a source of truth. 

Cuckoldry is often a source of comedy in the characters' witty exchanges. For example, when the Prince acknowledges Hero in Act 1, Scene 1 by saying to Leonato, "I think this is your daughter," Leonato responds with a quip about his daughter's legitimacy: "Her mother hath many times told me so." In particular, the symbol of "the savage bull" compares a married man to a bull "tamed" by his wife. In Shakespeare's day, cuckolds were typically pictured as wearing a pair of horns. As a result, the bull's horns in this motif suggest that marriage places a man at risk of humiliation if his wife betrays him, thus turning him into a cuckold. This generates a great deal of witty banter in the play. In Act 1, Scene 1, for instance, the Prince responds to Benedick's opposition to marriage by jokingly saying, "In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke." The prospect of cuckoldry thus presents a looming and inevitable threat of humiliation to the male characters.

The play, however, also exposes the dark side of this male anxiety around cuckoldry. When Hero is falsely accused of being unfaithful to Claudio, she loses her reputation, Claudio's love, and her father's favor. Leonato's brutal language while berating Hero in Act 4, Scene 1 for her alleged promiscuity is especially illuminating: 

But mine, and mine I loved, and mine I praised,
And mine that I was proud on, mine so much
That I myself was to myself not mine,
Valuing of her—[...]

Cite this Quote

Leonato's repetition of the possessive pronoun "mine" foregrounds the possessiveness that underlies the male fear of losing control over their wives. In this way, although the motif of cuckoldry is often a source of comedy in the play, it also illustrates the oppressiveness of contemporary gender roles.