10 Times Eavesdropping And Deception Came To Play In Much Ado About Nothing

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1. When Don Pedro convinces Claudio to let him woo Hero in his name, it creates a bond between the two characters and also shows that Claudio has other people do his dirty work for him. It shows that he cannot genuinely show his affection, he has to have someone else win Hero over for him.

"I will assume thy part in some disguise/ And tell fair Hero I am Claudio,/ And in her bosom I'll unclasp my heart/ And take her hearing prisoner with the force/ And strong encounter of my amorous tale" (I i 313-320).

2. When Antonio is talking to Leonato, he spreads false information that the prince is going to ask Hero to marry him, all based upon information that was obtained by eavesdropping. This makes Leonato take action and tell Hero that "If the prince do solicit you in that way, know your answer"

"The prince and Count Claudio walking in a/ thick-pleached alley in mine orchard, were thus much overheard by a/ man of mine: the prince discovered to Claudio that he loved my niece/ your daughter, and meant to acknowledge it this night in a dance" (I ii 6-10).

3. While Don John is looking to make trouble, a convenient opportunity for mischief comes his way via the "grapevine" as Conrad tells Don John that Claudio plans to marry Hero. This shows the reader that Don John is only looking for trouble and is a truly evil, and deceptive character.

"Will is serve for any model to build mischief on? What is he for/ a fool that betrothes himself to unquietness?/ Marry, it is your brother's right hand./ Who, the most exquisite Claudio?" (I iii 34-37).

4. At the celebratory dance, Benedick, masked, and Beatrice have a conversation where she gets him back through slanders after he took the last word by cowardly ending their battle of the wits with a low blow. She deceives him into thinking that she doesn't know that it is really him who she is talking to. This causes Benedick to give up on loving Beatrice because he thought that she would only slander him.

"I pray you, what is he?/ Why he is the prince's jester, a very dull fool, only his gift is, in/ devising impossible slanders" (II i 102-104).

5. Once again at the party, Borachio initiates his plan to ruin the marriage of Hero and Claudio by telling Claudio that Don Pedro was going to woo Hero for himself. This causes Claudio to lose trust in both Hero and Don Pedro. The quickness that Claudio shows to believe Don John which shows how Claudio has already thought about the fact that Don Pedro would take Hero for himself.

"How know you he loves her?/ I heard him swear his affection./ So did I too, and he swore he would marry/ her tonight./ Come, let us to the banquet" (II i 167-171).

6. When Claudio and Don Pedro are talking about Beatrice loving Benedick, so Benedick would overhear them and fall in love with Beatrice himself, they use Benedick's eavesdropping to convince him of his love. This causes a ripple effect and leads to the eventual marriage of Benedick and Beatrice.

"This can be no trick, the conference was sadly born, they/ have the truth of this from Hero, they seem to pity the lady: it seems her/ affections have their full bent: love me?" (II iii 181-183).

7. Similarly, Beatrice gets convinced, via eavesdropping, that Benedick loves her and that she is too stubborn to love. This causes her to realize that she is in love with Benedick and this causes them to eventual fallen love and share their affections with one another.

"What fire is mine ears? Can this be true?/ Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?/ … And Benedick, love on, I will requite thee" (III ii 106-107 and 111).

8. Don John deceives Claudio and Don Pedro when he shows Borachio wooing Margaret, in Hero's clothing, in an attempt to make them think that it is Hero that Borachio is wooing and they take the bait. This is key because it influences the later effects of Claudio shaming and not marrying Hero, which drastically changes the play and their relationship.

"Two of them did, the prince and Claudio, but the devil my/ master, knew she was Margaret, and partly by his oaths, which first/ possessed them, partly by dark night which did decide them,/ but chiefly, by my villainy, which did confirm any slander that Don/ John had made" (III iii 126-130).

9. Right after the wedding ceremony is crashed and Don Pedro and Claudio have left, the Priest and Leonato construct a plan based on deception to pretend and lie to everyone and say that Hero is dead. This is important because it shows how the characters that aren't in on the plan, really feel about a person who has been shamed and called a fraud. They view her with a tone of good riddance.

"Your daughter her the princes left for dead./ Let her awhile be secretly kept in,/ and publish it, that she is dead indeed:/ maintain a mourning ostentation" (IV i 194-198).

10. At the end of the play both Benedick and Beatrice try to deceive each other and hide their true feelings about each other by saying agreeing that they aren't in love with each other right before they are eventually married. This is key because it shows their frailties in confidence and their timidness to admit their true feelings to one another.

"Do you not love me?/ Troth no, no more than reason./ Why then your uncle, and the prince, and Claudio,/ Have been deceived, they swore you did./ Do you not love me?/ Troth no, no more than reason" (IV iv 73-78).