Examples Of Cuckoldry In Much Ado About Nothing

Sydney Griffin

Professor Keener

ENG 423

5 March 2023

Sexual Language and Cuckoldry in Much Ado About Nothing Act One, Scene One of Much Ado About Nothing introduces the sexual language that is used throughout the play in order to help develop and frame the characters; additionally, this scene shows how cuckoldry is used as a defense mechanism for the men in the play. This scene introduces the explicit differences between how each gender thinks, reacts, and the social roles each gender plays. All in all, the language used in the play is the determining factor in the character’s reality; thus, a lot of the plot is based on hearsay and makes the play one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies.

The scene opens up with talk of warfare and coming

The first instance of cuckoldry is when the Hero, the daughter of Leonato, is brought up in conversation. Leonato is asked whether or not she is really his child and he replies “Her mother hath many times told me so” (99). This type of language is the small talk that floats around Messina and, ultimately, shows their anxiety towards the honesty of women. Leonato is not suggesting that his wife is lying to him about the father of Hero, but rather the comment is aimed at the power that women have over the men (Cook 187). Additionally, the conversation in which Claudio calls Hero a jewel can be taken sexually and contains an element of cuckoldry. In response to Claudio’s inquiry for buying “such a jewel,” Benedick states: “Yea, and a case to put into it” (1.1.173-174). According to the footnotes written by the editors Braunmuller and Orge, the word “case” could refer to female genitalia and “it” would then be considered male genitalia (373n174). Essentially, Benedick is trying to justify his reasoning for being opposed to marriage. He is saying it would be just as easy to rent a prostitute than it would be to get married. Further along in the conversation, Claudio notices Benedick’s resentment towards marriage. He says in response to both Pedro and Benedick, “And never could maintain his part but in the force of his will” (225-226). This line itself has a sexual connotation as well

“He says, “... all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none…I will live a bachelor” (231-234). Cook says that Benedick has a lot of anxiety towards women and their potential to stain his image. Benedick says, “I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick…” (229-230). Benedick is saying the marriage will announce his humiliation to the world, and thus emasculate him. Cook points out that if Benedick did “hang his bugle” that it meant that he would have to be devoted to his wife and could no longer show off for other women (187). As Benedick continues on his sermon of women, he moves from speaking of a bugle to a bull’s horns which seem to have a parallel quality. Undeniably, a bugle is a type of horn; thus, the movement from the horn, an instrument, to the bull's horn, was a calculated move by Shakespeare. As the men continue speaking, Benedick seems ashamed of marriage which is represented by the taking of the horns (Cook 188). He says, “... bear it, pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted… ‘Here you may see Benedick a married man’” (1.1.250-254). The horns are signifying the masculinity of the bull and the dominance that it has over others. Thus, if the horns are