Claudio’s fall from grace in Much Ado About Nothing Essay

It is often said that Shakespeare meant Claudio to be the hero of the play as the climax of the play (the act scene) revolves around his love story and he finally achieves his belove in the denouement. However, as the play progresses Claudio fails to stand up to the expectation of being a hero and is barely tolerable through the extend of the play.Claudio is a young Florentine and serves as Don Pedros right hand man. The very first conceit that the earshot gets of him is very deceptive just as the rest of the play is. He is said to grow achieved the feats of a lion in the figure of a lamb. As the exposition scene progresses, Claudio reveals his feelings regarding admirer to Don Pedro. However, this impacts Claudios image negatively as he allows Don Pedro to woo Hero in his place. His manliness is put to question as he is not even chivalrous enough to offer love to the person he loves.The prince woos in Claudios name and discloses Claudios feelings to Leonato. In the meanwhil e, Claudio acting manage a fool is deceived by Don tush into believing that Don Pedro has wooed for himself. Claudio appears to be a unripe image as he is deceived by the very devil into mistrusting his dearest friend. He is a brave person and a likeable man but his exasperating credulity takes the merits from all these qualities away and leaves Claudio hinging betwixt a smart and a petty character.Though foolish and nave in judgement, Claudio is still loved and trusted by his friends. Claudio plays a crucial role in the gull of Benedick as he becomes the via media of information from Hero about Beatrices love for Benedick. His presence in the scene makes it more presumptive and thus Claudio becomes an important character in the development of the plot in the story.The play progresses and Borachio and Don stool approach Don Pedro and Claudio to carry out their master plan. On hearing, what Don John has to say, Claudio reacts impulsively without fully grown the situation a se cond thought. He believes in what Don John is saying and aggressively declares If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her, tomorrow, in the congregation where I should wed, thither will I shame her. Claudios gullibility is again showcased as he believes Don John that the person he loves is disloyal Moreover this is the person whos compared to Diana for her virtues and Claudio readily believes her to be disloyal because the villain says so.It is in Act 4 scene 1 that all hell breaks loose and Claudio loses all compliments in the eyes of the audience. Claudio openly slanders Hero. He appears to be a petty man who is only capable of judging people superficially and incapable of reacting in a calm and mature manner. He mirrors a typical Elizabethan man who is very misogynistic in his attitude. Shakespeare critics the chivalric notion of honour through Claudio and shows the co-existence of the two paradoxical notions of chivalry and misogyny.Claudios self-deception of being righteous and his lack of true judgement leaves the audience disgusted at him after the court scene. This feeling of disgust is heightened as Claudio fails to show any signs of evil in his behaviour and looks for entertainment from Benedick. Even when he is informed of Heros death by Leonato, he doesnt even show an iota of remorse.However, when the truth comes to light, he agrees upon repenting for his mistakes. So far so that, he doesnt even protest taking Antonis daughters hand in marriage. This reflect upon his superficial love and how he never felt any love but was patently attracted towards Hero. His behaviour again undergoes a complete volte-face as he discovers that Hero is not gone and instantly falls in love with her again. These incidents lead us to believe that Claudio is a loosely basted character whos behaviour is everchanging and is easily gullible and extremely impulsive in nature.Shakespeare gives to Claudio the affluence of vitality, which necessarily creates an palliate perspective for his conduct. This makes the worst of his aberrations tolerable and thus slightly likeable. Also, Claudios presence in the play gives us a line of merchandise between courtly love and true, deep-rooted love. His fall from benevolence gives a contrast to Benedicks character as Benedick continuously grows from being a bit of a nonsensical character as to being a man of morals and solidarity. It is Claudios fall from grace and Benedicks rise to manliness that bring about the main developments in the plot during the course of the play.