Download To what extent is manipulation central to the play as a whole? Every

To what extent is manipulation central to the play as a whole?
Every character throughout William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is subjected to a form
of manipulation, whether it be through lies, deceit or dishonesty. Being central to many of the
events unfolding, the theme of manipulation drives most the of the drama and interaction that
takes place between characters, allowing us the audience to reflect on ideas like love, gender roles
and the positives and negatives of manipulating others. Examples of this central theme include the
ruse put up to force Benedick and Beatrice to express their feelings for one another and the
constant use of Hero in another’s plan for deception. Great intro. You clearly state your approach
to the topic
Establishing its influence very early on in the play, manipulation takes the form of deception at the
masquerade ball - here Don John attempts to lead the young and naïve Claudio in believing “the
Prince woos for himself”. Shakespeare does this to express a negative use of manipulating
someone else, especially in the field of love, as Claudio puts it – “friendship is constant in all other
things. Save in the office and affairs of love”, leaving him very bitter at the time because he thinks
Don Pedro is taking his love, Hero, away from him. Through this we learn how easy it is to
manipulate the hearts of people when they feel something special is being taken away from them,
as historically speaking society’s rules would have allowed Don Pedro precedence when choosing a
wife for himself, without allowing Claudio a choice in the matter. Here Shakespeare’s ultimate goal
is to make the audience see how manipulation can be used in a negative way, especially when that
someone holds very little regard for the feelings or wellbeing of others; this manifests itself within
the character of Don John. Being set in the 16th century Europe, as a contemporary audience we
must understand that being an illegitimate child back in that time period meant you carried a
stereotypical social stigma for being an evil person. And despite his peers treating Don John as an
equal, overall he is not contempt with his life and falls well within this stereotype. Shakespeare
centres this point to the play as all members of the audience during the Shakespearean-era would
have anticipated the oncoming drama and tension caused by Don John and evil bastard child due
to the stereotype. However today as a present audience, our reactions to Don John are much more
subdued and we really only view him as an antagonistic type character, used to cause
complications with other members of the cast, with the fact he is a bastard not skewing our
opinion of him with a preconceived opinion. Shakespeare shows us the first instance where a form
of manipulation, deceit , is used in a negative form, because of the applied stereotype of Don John
being evil because of his status as a bastard. Some great discussion here but it would be good if a
larger chunk of your discussion was specific analysis of the text i.e. quotes and discussion
An integral plot point to the play itself as a whole, the love-hate relationship between Beatrice and
Benedick is the source of much of the comedy within the play as they carry out their “…merry
war …”. However because of their inability to truly express how they truly feel about one another,
a troupe off the cast of characters take it upon themselves to “gull” or manipulate Beatrice and
Benedick into believing that each of them has secretly let out the other wishes to be with the other.
The troupe consisting of six, split off into two groups, one made of Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio,
with the second made up of Hero, Margaret and Ursula, to trick Benedick and Beatrice respectively.
The first gulling scene Shakespeare presents us with is where the male trio begin a conversation
out in the front courtyard purposely near Benedick just so he’ll happen to “overhear” them speak
about Beatrice’s so called feelings for him – “Hath she made her affection known to Benedick?”. In
the second gulling scene the devious females employ the same tactic to trick Beatrice into
believing Benedick has made his feelings of his love for her known “…are you sure that Benedick
loves Beatrice to entirely?”. Shakespeare does this to expose the wants and desires of people,
despite openly showing their “distain” for one another in public through their masks, when one
finds out the other has feelings for them, their emotions boil to the surface and show that they do
truly care for one another and they finally shed the metaphorical mask. Through this we are shown
how despite outward appearances people find it very difficult to hide their emotions when love
becomes a predominant factor in the equation. This helped me to think about how people act in
today’s modern age, compared to that of the 16th century; the two are still very similar. Despite
society losing its more romantic side of performing things, like to wooing of a lady, people still put
on the metaphorical mask when in the presence of someone they have non-platonic feelings for,
they try to hide their truth self and feelings in an attempt to avoid rejection, which is a part of
human nature to act this way however once reassured their feelings will be reciprocated.
Shakespeare wants us to understand that everybody acts this way, how even the mighty warrior
Benedick, who is a high-class citizen and soldier, that he too feels the need to hide his true
feelings until he knows they will be returned i.e. the gulling scene in Scene 1 Act 2. Even today
people act the same way, as we try to protect ourselves from the possible hurt of getting close to
someone. This helps to illustrate the key theme in the text of Much Ado About Nothing because we
are forced to acknowledge the fact that the romance between Beatrice and Benedick would have
never been renewed, for not the deception of the troupe, they may have never realised just how
much the other cared about them.
Throughout the entire play Hero was subjected to the aftermath of the antagonist Don John’s
manipulation of events, her so called “involvement” in these events lead to her very public,
although temporary, dishonouring of her character. Aim for your opening sentences to more
clearly link with the topic i.e. reference the concept of manipulation The cause – Don Johns
attempt at ruining the union between Claudio and Hero by claiming she was being disloyal to her
fianc��©e by sleeping around, “… Leonato’s Hero, your Hero, everyman’s Hero.” This act of
dishonesty by Don John begins a snowball effect as through this revelation Claudio the following
day shames Hero in front of the all wedding ceremony guests. Claudio’s public announcement of
how Hero be a “… rotten orange…”, along with Prince Don Pedro’s support of calling her “… a
common stale” cements the idea that Hero no longer be a maiden. This preconception of a
woman’s honour is tied together with her virginity is Shakespeare’s way of conveying the noncontemporary ideals of how women and men should act through the ideals of gender roles in
society. The overbearing power being ingrained of how men and women should act in society
causes Hero to faint from the shock of being questioned by her fianc��©e about her virginity.
The effect of putting Hero’s virginity and loyalty to Claudio into question is enough to send Leonato,
who despite dearly loving his child, into a fit of rage and he assaults her by grabbing her from the
hair. This emphasised importance of celibacy before marriage in society of the 16th century shows
itself explicitly at this point because of Leonato’s reaction to the shame he feels of having his
firstborn daughter shame the family by consummating with another man other than her
fianc��©e. Leonato’s shame is so great, after Hero faints from the stress of the situation, he
even states “Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes”, here Shakespeare cements the
pre/Victorian-era ideals of having sex outside of marriage as mortally taboo to one’s own and
family’s honour. Even today this stigma exists of sleeping with someone else other than your
partner, however society overall is much more understanding of having sex with others while not
married. Thus our own reactions to these unfolding events of infidelity do not have to the same
effect on members of a contemporary audience compared to those who would have seen the play
back in the sixteen hundreds as Shakespeare would have received a far greater response. By
causing all the following chaos and confusion that came after the shaming of Hero scene in Act 4
Scene 1, we are shown another negative use for manipulating others and specifically how easy it is
to turn people against one another if they feel they have been wronged.
In conclusion Shakespeare tries to show us the various aspects and effects of manipulating people
for benefit or gain, like how Don John mischief nearly broke up the union between Claudio and
Hero twice, however he also shows us that while manipulation is generally used for negative
means, there are good uses for it like how Beatrice and Benedick were deceived into admitting
their feelings for one another because they were tricked and happily get married themselves at the
end of the play. Shakespeare’s thought provoking display of ideals and societal ethics still have
relevance today as we still deal with many of the same problems from his time period as we do
now on the battlefield of love.
A very good essay but an unnecessarily long one. One of the skills of writing English essays is
being succinct. Consider how you might be able to get to the point more quickly in places. Essays
are marked on their quality not quantity.
I would also suggest that you come to a conclusion about the main general point that Shakespeare
is trying to make about manipulation, that you express this in the introduction and that you keep
coming back to this throughout the essay. You are on the right track though and you seem very
well-prepared. I hope this helps.