Summary
English Lit: AQA GCSE Much Ado About Nothing, topic 6.1.1
Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 1)
The falling action of the play’s main plot descends into tragedy as Claudio publicly rejects Hero at their wedding.
Claudio
- Claudio’s actions in this scene are deliberate and calculating.
- He has planned what he is going to do and manipulates the beginning of the wedding ceremony to enable him to say to Leonato “Take her [Hero] back again / Give not this rotten orange to your friend.”
Virginity
- The metaphor emphasises the value Claudio (and Elizabethan society) placed on a woman’s purity through being a virgin before marriage.
- In believing Don John’s lies over Hero being “everyman’s Hero”, she becomes tainted to Claudio, a “contaminated stale” and he no longer values her as the rich and precious "jewel" of Act 1.
Misogynistic language
- The language used by Claudio and Don Pedro is extremely misogynistic (prejudiced against women) reflecting the ideas and attitudes of the period that men were superior in society.
- This is, of course, despite the fact Queen Elizabeth had been on the English throne for almost 40 years when the play was believed to have been written.
Messina
- The patriarchal (dominated by men) society of Messina is shown as Leonato turns on Hero, also believing the accusations against her.
- After Hero faints, he viciously tells her “Do not live, Hero, do not ope thine eyes”.
Leonato
- Leonato shares the view of Claudio that his daughter is tainted, that “she is fall’n / Into a pit of ink”.
- “Pit” may have connotations of hell and the image that her purity is now stained recalls Claudio’s earlier “rotten orange” insult.
- Leonato is angry that his reputation, more so than Hero’s, has been ruined.
Act 4, Scene 1 (Part 1)
The falling action of the play’s main plot descends into tragedy as Claudio publicly rejects Hero at their wedding.
Hope for Hero
- Hope for Hero lies with the Friar who through careful observation (noting) of Hero during Claudio’s defamation of her character is convinced of her innocence.
The Friar's plan
- The Friar advises a conflicted Leonato to announce that Hero died as a result of the accusations made against her and that when he hears of this, Claudio’s loving feelings will return.
Deception
- Significantly, in light of the patriarchal society, the audience do not learn of Hero’s own views regarding this plan.
- She remains the dutiful daughter.
- Once again, deception is used with a benevolent intention.
- This time, it even has the support of a religious figure.
Test yourself on Summary
Who says “Take her [Hero] back again / Give not this rotten orange to your friend.” ?
What does the Friar advise Leonato to announce in Act 4, Scene 1?
Who advises Leonato to announce that Hero died as a result of the accusations made against her?