Make-Up Blog Post: a peek back to Much Ado

This semester we have been introduced to several characters that are strong but held back by that which they cannot control: their gender. Let’s take a look back to Much Ado About Nothing when Hero is accused of being unfaithful to Claudio. Her virginity gives her status and while the men in her life will assert their control over her, only she truly has control over her actions and likewise virginity. This being said, isn’t it strange how she herself is not able to convince her fiancée of her innocence? Hero (and unmarried women in general) are given so much status and are so coveted in this society but they are given no authority over this treasure which they possess. It is also easy to question the “love story” between Hero and Claudio. Why is it that Claudio immediately trusts the slander he hears rather than trusting his soon to be wife whom he “loves”? In his upsetting speech to Hero, Claudio comments on her blushing cheeks. How is Claudio to know exactly why she is blushing? It could’ve been because she is a maid, or guilty, or scared, or perhaps she was just hot. Besides who wouldn’t turn red when accused of something so serious. I found it sad and highly ironic how Claudio twists her own complexion against her. This is yet another example of the ridiculous power men have over women in this social structure. Surely when someone possesses something as precious and easily tarnished as Hero’s virginity, someone would be plotting to destroy it for one reason or another. In this case an awful trick turns to tragedy for Hero. Luckily for her, a plan is devised that will prove that Claudio loves her and bring the liars to confess out of guilt. Everyone is told that Hero is dead, but what if the plan shouldn’t work? If the plan shouldn’t work the backup is to send Hero to a nunnery. This hardly seems like an even alternative for an innocent woman but sadly it is the only choice Hero has left. Because this play is a comedy the plan to redeem Hero works but I cannot help but dwell on the daunting possibility that it could’ve failed. Hero’s story makes me very glad that I’m not a woman in that time period.