10 Reasons Why Hero And Claudio's Love Is Fake

Ah, young love. So beautiful and pure, right? WRONG. In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio and Hero's relationship might work out in the end, but here are ten reasons why their relationship isn't genuine and is based off of fake love.

1. Claudio asks Benedick what he thinks of Hero

"Thou thinkest I am in sport. I pray thee tell me truly how thou lik'st her" (I. i. 173-174). Claudio does not know what he wants. He is constantly seeking support from others to make his decisions for him. He is so insecure that he believes everything that he hears. Benedick could say that hero is the ugliest woman he has ever seen and Claudio would agree because he does not want to stir the pot. If Claudio truly loved Hero, he would not have to seek approval from others for his feelings. He would just carry on with his romance however he wanted to.

2. Claudio only admits he likes Hero after Benedick approves of her

"In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on" (I. i. 183-184). Claudio is finally sure of himself after he receives approval from Benedick. He did not need this approval, though, because this is what he was feeling from the get go. He should have plucked up the courage to admit that he liked Hero. It just goes to show that Claudio has a warped sense of love for Hero because he needs others to agree with him on his opinion of her.

3. Claudio makes Don Pedro win Hero over for him

"If thou dost love fair hero, cherish it, / And I will break with her and her father, / And thou shalt have her" (I. i. 303-305). The initial bond between Hero and "Claudio" at the masquerade ball is not even real. It is Don Pedro pretending to be Claudio. This screams "fake love" because the connection is literally fake. Don Pedro is posing as Claudio to win Hero's heart. Claudio's reliance on Don Pedro causes the entire bonding process to be artificial, even if Don Pedro is pretending to be Claudio.

4. Hero falls in love with Don Pedro at the ball, not Claudio

"So you walk softly, and look sweetly, and say nothing, I am yours for the walk, and especially when I walk away" (II. i. 86-89). Hero bonds with Don Pedro at the dance and not Claudio. She basically says that she will always love Don Pedro after they finish dancing. Don Pedro has a drastically different personality than Claudio, making this entire set up a scam. Don Pedro is outgoing and courageous and Claudio is shy and introverted. Hero would have never agreed to love Claudio if it wasn't for Don Pedro. Claudio would have probably run away from Hero at the sight of her because of how insecure he is.

5. Claudio gives up on Hero

"'Tis certain so, the Prince woos for himself. . .Farewell therefore, Hero" (II. i. 172, 180). Claudio hears from Don John and Borachio that Don Pedro won Hero over for himself and not for Claudio. Claudio then just accepts this and lets Don Pedro have Hero. He does not ask Don Pedro about it because he will do anything to avoid confrontation. If Claudio was not so trusting of Don John, he could have known the information was not true just by asking Don Pedro himself.

6. Claudio believes Hero is cheating on him

"If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her, tomorrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there I will shame her" (III. iii. 116-118). Claudio once again believes Don John that Hero is not the woman for him. This time Don John convinces Claudio that Hero is cheating on him with another man the night before their wedding. Claudio believes second hand information that is not true for a second time. The situation could be resolved by going to ask Hero what is going on, but Claudio would never confront someone. Also, he decides to publicly shame her. If he really loved her, he would just call off the wedding instead of embarrassing her in front of everyone.

7. Claudio follows through with his public humiliation plan

"O Hero, what a Hero hadst thou been / If half thy outward graces had been played / About thy thoughts and counsels of thy heart! / But fare thee well, most foul, most fair. Farewell, / Thou pure impiety and impious purity" (IV. i. 105-109). Claudio surprisingly follows through with his plan to publicly humiliate Hero at their wedding. This shows character development for Claudio because he has changed from being shy and introverted into a person who speaks his mind. Hero disputes the claims that she was with someone last night, but Claudio does not believe her. Claudio would have believed her if he truly loved her. He also knows that this ruins her chances of ever getting married to someone of high ranking because everyone thinks she is not a virgin. That's a low blow, Claudio.

8. Claudio doesn't care that Hero is dead

"I say thou hast belied mine innocent child. / Thy slander hath gone through and through her / heart, / And she lies buried with her ancestors" (V. i. 74-77). Leonato just told Claudio that he killed his daughter by breaking her heart. Claudio responds by basically saying "I don't care what you have to say!". Claudio is being extremely disrespectful to both Hero and Leonato. Even though Hero is not actually dead, Claudio does not know that and should show some remorse. It does not matter how much he hates Hero at this point, if he truly loved her he would be devastated by the news of her death.

9. Claudio moves on to Beatrice right after Hero dies

"In most profound earnest, and, I'll warrant you, for the love of Beatrice" (V. i. 207-208). Hero just "died" and Claudio has already moved on to Beatrice. He might not take the blame for Hero's death, but he should at least need time to heal from a broken heart. The thing is, though, he doesn't have a broken heart. His love for Hero was not genuine, which made it easy for him to move on to loving Beatrice so easily.

10. Hero forgives Claudio even though he doesn't regret anything

"And when I lived, I was your other wife, / And when you loved, you were my other husband" (V. iv. 61-62). Hero is ready to marry Claudio even though all he has done for her is ruined her public image and treated her terribly. She is so naive to trust him after all he has done to her. Claudio hasn't changed and might hurt her in the future if she does something that he doesn't approve of. That does not matter to Hero because she is enthralled in her love for Claudio that, in reality, has no substance or meaning to it.

11. Finally, some words of wisdom from Kenya Moore of The Real Housewives of Atlanta