Hero's Disgrace In Act 5 Scene One Of Much Ado About Nothing

In Act-5 scene 1, Shakespeare presents to us Leonato and Antonio who are having a deep, passionate conversation. Leonato can be seen as countering his brother’s philosophical comfort as he believes that only a person who has suffered as much as him could advise at such a situation. The clever courtiers with Don Pedro as their head have come over to Leonato’s family and have surely caused them some harm. The two old men consciously wear the lie that Hero is dead and are now deceiving Claudio and Don Pedro. This might help them regain some of their lost honor merely by the silent superiority of what they know. Even though, at this point even the audience is aware that the idea of Hero’s disgrace is just fading away, as the scene is immediately

The very first important aspect used to convey these ideas is the language. The usage of verses and prose’s advance and reflect the feelings of the characters very well. For example, the Scene 1-Act 5 has its very second dialogue in the form of a verse. A verse here can be said to have used to express the deeply felt emotions of grief by Leonato. Verses therefore help translating the most passionate or unaccounted human experiences. It is also important here to note that this is not the only or the first time Shakespeare makes use of verse. In the beginning of the play at many points Claudio has been seen using such language to express his love for Hero. For example, “When you went onward on this ended action…All prompting me how fair young Hero is”

It might also signify artificiality in his sentiments as he seems to have ideas of love and is not actually in love with Hero. It can be seen during this scene that Claudio has so easily been deceived and fallen out of love with Hero and still accuses her of slander. His language here also seems simpler which might be indication of seriousness. In contrast, it can be seen that Benedict who initially had a very witty character and a more harsh speech has forgone significant change; he seems to be more polite especially when he talks about Hero. “…You have killed a sweet lady...” [5-1-147]. Therefore, the language in this particular scene in the very beginning can be seen as filled up with fury and passion even Antonio uses a very harsh tone even though during the whole course of the play he has not been seen as a very active character. He talks like, “Content yourself…, braggarts, Jacks, milksops”. [5-1-147]. Hence, this scene can be seen as an emotional peak for most of the