Comparing Deception, Trickery, and Concealment in Much...

Deception, Trickery, and Concealment in Much Ado about Nothing and Macbeth William Shakespeares classic romantic comedy, Much Ado about Nothing and tragic history, Macbeth revolve around the theme of deception, trickery, and concealment. There are portrayals within these two plays that depict deception and trickery as merely harmless and even beneficial. In some cases the characters are thoroughly masked in their lies; for ill or well, they are hiding who they truly are. In other cases, the person they attempt to hide is merely obscured, the masks being only a slight deterrent from their real personalities. Sometimes they are harmless diversions; sometimes they are even beneficial tools to be utilized for ones†¦show more content†¦She professes to scorn romance in general, but her romantic side is revealed, not only when she confesses her previous love for Benedick (278-282), but in her constant support of Heros romantic attraction to Claudio at the start of the play--most notably in this scene when she encourages Hero to kiss her knew fiancà ©. Despite her earlier depiction, she is clearly hiding a more tender, even conventional side than is often assumed. Benedick is himself much like Beatrice. As she professes to scorn men and marriage, he does likewise with women. As she seems to mock and reject the common custom, so he does as well. For her every condemnation of men as undeserving of women, he has a parallel condemnation for women. He seems to be the masculine mirror of her, hiding a similarly dualistic character whose romantic side and attention to convention will become apparent once he is told that Beatrice loves him. Then he will spend his time musing on her perfection--wise as she is but for loving [him] and undeniably fair and virtuous--and writing her poetry he cannot manage to rhyme. This