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Examples Of Love, Identity, And Obstacles In Much Ado About Nothing

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Recommended: Themes regarding love in much ado about nothing

Logan Perniciaro
Derry
English II
16 March 2023

Love, Identity, and Obstacles
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”-Dr. Seuss. Identity is an essential part of society and is how others see us. In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice struggles with her identity and how she wants others to see her. Much Ado About Nothing is about two lovers, Hero and Claudio, whose relationship is sabotaged by Don Jon. In The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, Prince Sebastian struggles with his identity and the expectation of others. The Prince and the Dressmaker is about a cross-dressing prince, his struggles, and his dressmaker. In Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare and …show more content…

They talk to each other during the wedding, but instead of just saying I do, she says to him, “Why, no; no more than reason.” (IV.iv 2625-2630) She says this because of a struggle with her identity. Prince Sebastian also struggles with his identity and wants to be a princess but still feeling a duty to his position as a crown prince, he divulges his secrets to his dressmaker. He says, “Other days it doesn’t feel right at all. Those days I feel like I’m actually… a princess” (Wang 44). Both of these characters struggle with their identity but more importantly, their sense of duty. Prince Sebastian ponders his duties and how it collides with who he wants to be. Beatrice is in a similar situation, by not fully committing to a relationship she can keep the promise to herself that she would never let herself be betrayed. Both characters struggle with their duties and conflict with their …show more content…

Everyone deals with the pressure of the expectations of others including Benedick. Benedick tries to always be stoic and pretends he has no interest in love, even when tricked and called out by Don Pedro he keeps up his facade. When at Leonato’s home, Don Pedro and the others make fun of Benedick and how he fell in love. Don Pedro mocks, “Nay, that would be as great a soil in the new gloss of your marriage as to show a child his new coat and forbid him to wear it. I will only be bold with Benedick for his company; for, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, he is all mirth: he hath twice or thrice cut Cupid's bow-string and the little hangman dare not shoot at him; he hath a heart as sound as a bell and his tongue is the clapper, for what his heart thinks his tongue speaks” (III.ii 1205-1210). And of course, being the prince of a nation also require a facade, but I am not talking about Don Pedro. Prince Sebastian faces the pressure and expectation of being the crown prince, which is only amplified once his father becomes ill and tells him: “There’s no one else I trust more with everything I’m leaving behind than my son. Know that” (Wang 157). Benedick struggles with wanting love but other expectations of him prevent him from doing this or even admitting he is finally in love. Prince Sebastion struggles with wanting to be a princess and dealing with the pressure from his father and mother to marry and take

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