Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Trust is a virtue that can nurture, foster, and strengthen a relationship. While distrust, doubt, and cynicism can destroy a relationship. This statement is prevalent in many of our modern stories and lives. In the story, Much Ado About Nothing, the main issue that drives the plot is suspicion and doubt. When Claudio thought that Hero committed adultery, he was furious and decided to publicly shame her on their wedding day. He must have felt an intense feeling of pain, misery, and despair from Hero’s supposed betrayal. This feeling caused him to seek revenge as a form of coping with such intense emotions. Shakespeare’s writing is very much grounded in the reality of day to day life. As a result, we can often observe the same emotions and reactions from the people around us. It would not be uncommon for a person to have experienced some form of disaster that stems from a lack of trust.

An example of a relationship being severed by a lack of trust is a real-life story about the school days of my English teacher. When Jeongbae, my English teacher, was in high school his close friend overheard a rumor that Jeongbae was talking trash behind his back. This rumor resulted in Jeongbae’s friend to fabricate and propagate false accusations about Jeongbae. However, it was later revealed that the Jeongbae was not talking behind his friend’s back, rather he was defending his friend. Just as Claudio acted on his emotions, Jeongbae’s friend acted on his emotions rather than thinking about the reality of the situation or communicating their feelings to the other party. In the story, Much Ado About Nothing, both Claudio and Hero made amends and got married despite the way Claudio reacted to Hero’s supposed betrayal. However, Jeongbae’s friendship with his friend was already severed and damaged beyond repair.

 This is where we see the distinct differences between fantasy and reality. In reality, when a person experiences emotional trauma, it is almost impossible for that person to make amends that easily. Whether they like it or not, that individual cannot simply forget about the actions of the other party.  If you truly value a person you would have to invest enough trust into them to the point that you take their word above rumors. Relationships between people are fundamentally fragile things as both parties invest a part of themselves into that relationship. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that an emphasis is placed on trust rather than raw emotion

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Reflection

This essay was a little harder to write due to time constraints but I believe that I was able to write a decent essay. Although I personally thought that the play was a bit boring and bland, I still was able to appreciate the message it was trying to convey. Moreover, it was really interesting to see the similarities between Shakespeare’s work and reality. The fact that his work so closely mirrors the different aspects of our lives today was fascinating.

Rough Draft

Pre-thinking: 

Issue: Lack of trust plot, suspicion and doubt

Plot points: Claudio disgraced Hero during their wedding because he thought she was cheating on him. He wanted revenge. .Honor restored for name also lack of trust = possible broken relationship

Real life points: Jeongbae was betrayed by his friend as well. Friend thought he was trash talking behind his back, Jeongbae was not. Friend reacted first before asking and spread rumors. Friend found out that Jeongbae was not trash talking but it was too late, friendship was already severed.

Main point: not always possible to forgive. Relationship like investment. Invest trust but must keep faith in that trust since relationship makes both parties vulnerable.