Much Ado

Do you think Shakespeare believed in the stereotypes he presented or do you feel he was attempting to teach his audience a lesson about misjudging others or about forcing people to conform to tradition?



Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing does deal with many stereotypes. For instance, Hero and Claudio are the young couple who are so innocent that they fall madly in love at the moment they see each other. I wish I could say that that happens in real life, but even a hopeless romantic like myself knows that it's a stereotype of people my age.

Dogberry is also a stereotypical character in the sense that he sounds uneducated and ignorant for a person of his class. Although Dogberry is the example that leads me to believe that Shakespeare didn't believe in these stereotypes himself. Dogberry and the watchmen, uneducated and low-class characters, are key roles in the story. The watchmen are the ones who overhear Borrachio's plan and apprehend him. Additionally, if Leonato had listened to Dogberry when he said that he had taken two into custody in a matter that might interest Leonato, he is ignored, which brings upon Hero's public slander.

I think by showing how even the most simple of people can help with important things, Shakespeare disproves the stereotypes made by his own play.