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How are language and communication central themes in Much Ado About Nothing? What are three examples of the importances of language and communication?

Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is fraught with attention to language, word play, and the act of communicating (or not communicating!). The title itself is a lighthearted play on words: "nothing" refers to "noting," a word which once meant "to gossip."


It is through the power of language and communication that the story's protagonists, Benedick and Beatrice, come together; language is also what makes this reunion so comical and sweet due to the pair's obsessive,...

Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is fraught with attention to language, word play, and the act of communicating (or not communicating!). The title itself is a lighthearted play on words: "nothing" refers to "noting," a word which once meant "to gossip."


It is through the power of language and communication that the story's protagonists, Benedick and Beatrice, come together; language is also what makes this reunion so comical and sweet due to the pair's obsessive, loud insistence that they despise each other.


The first remarkable instance of the use of language occurs in Act One, Scene One, when Benedick and Beatrice engage in an epic battle of tongues: they fight each other verbally with each retort riffing off the language that the previous lash used. For example, when Benedick attacks Beatrice, saying, "Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher," Beatrice spits back, "A bird of my tongue is better than a beast of yours," to which Benedick speedily replies, "I would my horse had the speed of your tongue, and so good a continuer." See how Beatrice carried on the metaphor involving birds to her comment, at which point Benedick picked up on the tongue from hers? These two are all wits and wiles in an argument, and their mental agility is thrilling to read or watch. 


The next major instance involving language occurs in Act Two at the masquerade ball, where Don Pedro (the Prince of Aragon) agrees to help a very nervous Claudio (a friend of Benedick) court beautiful young Hero (cousin of Beatrice). Another deception occurs here as well: in disguise, Benedick convinces Beatrice to dance with him. This masking of words and of intentions leads to the next instance...


Don Pedro and friends decide that they will prank Benedick, and Hero and her maid decide to deceive Beatrice. Beatrice is set up to overhear the women talk about Benedick's love for Beatrice, while Benedick is set up to hear the men talk about Beatrice's love for Benedick. It is through this act of mis-communication that the two rivals find unlikely love with each other.


These patterns of gossip and of manipulating words to benefit the speaker or others continue throughout the rest of the play with varying effects. Don John, the evil "bastard" brother of Don Pedro maliciously uses language to destroy Hero and Claudio's wedding by lying to Claudio about Hero's "unfaithfulness." Claudio then uses cruel language to humiliate Hero at their ceremony. Dogberry, the master of the Watch and a frequent user of malapropisms (incorrect word usage due to similarities in sounds or pronunciations), ultimately saves the day by forcing a confession from the antagonists behind the wedding fiasco. Of course, the play ends with another intentional miscommunication: Hero's family pretends that she is dead and convinces Claudio to marry her "copy." As all comedies do, this ends well for the couple: Claudio is able to marry the woman he once defamed, her reputation is restored, and Beatrice and Benedick are united as well. 

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