EDITED: Sammy's Group Project: Much Ado About Nothing (Part E)

Much Ado About Nothing

Part E: Explain how masks, cross dressing contribute to the theme in the play Much Ado About Nothing-

One of the themes in Much Ado About Nothing is deception as a means to an end. Throughout the play, many forms of deception are featured. For example, Don John deceives Claudio and Don Pedro. Also, everyone is duped into thinking Hero is dead after the wedding disaster. The deception of Claudio and Don Pedro is when Don John makes them believe that Hero, Claudio’s fiancée, is cheating on Claudio. Don John convinces them of this by having the maid, Margret, cross-dresses as Hero and makes love on Hero’s windowsill. This particular form of deception is a means to an end because it is bad for the society. This form of deception is a way for someone evil, like Don John to create an illusion to help him succeed in society. Cross-dressing contributes to this theme in this particular example of deceiving Claudio and Don John.

Also, Leonato, Hero’s father, dupes Claudio into thinking Hero is dead. He then tells Claudio, that out of Hero’s honor, he must marry one of Leonato’s nieces (really Hero). At the wedding, he is introduced to the “niece”, who was under her veil to not show Claudio that it was actually Hero. The deception here is a means to an end because now Claudio has married Hero and the duping is over. The masks contribute to the theme of deception as a means to an end because each form of deception comes about using masks (Claudio marrying the “niece”) or cross-dressing (making believe Margret is really Hero).