lives of others for Don John’s amusement and revenge on his brother. Another type of deception that appears in the play is accidental deception, the Prince and Claudio believe that they see Hero talking on her balcony with another man, as Don John has previously inserted that idea into their minds, therefore the Prince and Claudio are deceived by their own eyes. Deliberate deception also appears in Much Ado, as when Bene*censored* masks his face at the ball and Beatrice deliberately deceives him, as she knows that it is Bene*censored*. Various parts of Much Ado may not be politically correct in terms of society today, class is of little importance and racial discrimination is a serious issue. The opening scene of the play involves a messenger telling Leonato that few ‘gentlemen’ and nobody of ‘name’ was ‘lost’ in the war, which a modern day audience may be offended. A ‘Jew’ is an undesirable type person to be, as Bene*censored* implied; Elizabethan society saw the comment as humorous, whereas people today would find Bene*censored*’s remark quite offensive.The title of the play is a pun being intended between “nothing and noting”, which in Elizabethan times were pronounced alike. The play is made up of much ado about noting, that is watching or observing. “All characters in the play have much ado and make much ado, but all the while this much ado is plainly about nothing.” All characters in Much Ado are constantly engaged in noting each other. Hero’s sufferings come from noting; by her uncle’s servant, by Claudio, and by Don Pedro, the accusation of Hero, about there is much ado, rests upon nothing. The themes explored in Shakespeare’s plays are timeless and suggest that audiences past, present and future have and will always be interested in the outcome of friendship, honour and loyalty as dealt with in Much Ado. The themes are not only...
