Intensional Or Accidentall? Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And Much Ado
About Nothing! Essay, Research Paper
Intensional or Accidentall? Similarities between Romeo And Juliet and Much Ado
About Nothing!
There are many similarities between Shakespeare’s Much Ado About
Nothing and Romeo and Juliet. Was this Intentional or Accidental? Even though
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, and Romeo and Juliet, is one of his saddest
tragedies, the two plots share many common incidents. Did Shakespeare mean to
have these coincidences or did they happen by accident? In both of his dramatic
works, the Masque is a key element furthering the infatuation of the lovers.
Also the balcony scenes in both plays are crucial because without them the plot
could never have reached its denouement. It seems that God came into both of
the plays in the spirit of the friars, because they had good plans to keep love
together.
In both plays, the masque functions as a dramatic device which initiates
the love plot. It occurs in a social gathering, but not without the help of
costumes. If it were not for costumes the result of love might have been
drastically different. How was the masque used to get lovers together? In the
case of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo hears about the masque and decides to go,
thinking that he might be able to get away with this scheme. Upon entering he
sees Juliet and right away, he knows it is love. If he had not worn the costume,
the hosts might have ejected him from the party and he might not have met
Juliet. Much Ado About Nothing has a similar but also different approach
towards love at the masque. In Much Ado, Count Claudio is not able to gather
the courage to court Hero. Instead Don Pedro, who is one of Claudio’s very
close friends, offers to go and woo Hero for his friend. This point is
illustrated by Don Pedro for his great plan to get Claudio and Hero together
“Thou wilt be like a lover presently/ And tire the hearer with a book of words..
… That thou began’st to twist so fine a story? “1 Don Pedro’s costume allows
him to woo Hero, posing as Claudio.
Balcony love scenes are familiar from both plays. The love was disparate
in each of Shakespeare’s plays. How are these scenes different but also similar?
In Romeo and Juliet, the balcony scene leads towards good love because Romeo
and Juliet are actually falling in love with each other. In Much Ado About
Nothing the scene is an act towards bad love and also to separation. We see
that it is a set up that Borachio between Don John had a scheme to damage the
entire love between Cluadio and Hero the night before their wedding. This evil
point is made clear by Borachio “Go then; find me a meet hour to draw Don Pedro
and the Count Claudio alone;… and there shall appear such seeming truth of
Hero’s disloyalty that jealousy shall be called assurance and all the
preparations overthrown.”2 Without the balcony scene in Much Ado, the heart of
the story would of been missing. If the Balcony scene had not happened in Romeo
and Juliet there would not have been a story.
The Friars seem to be the smartest people. It seems as they act as god
in both plays. How are the friars similar in the ways they present their great
plans? In Romeo and Juliet, the friar is the person who sits down and thinks of
an idea how the two lovers can be reacquainted with each other. He reveals his
idea, they agree with it, and all goes well until the timing fails. Timing
causes both Romeo and Juliet to lose their lives. In Much Ado About Nothing, it
is the friar who reveals his plan to save the love, and all worked well,
because at the end of Much Ado they marry and live happily thereafter. The
friar illustrates his confidence in his plan to save the marriage. “Marry, this
well carried shall on her behalf … Out of all eyes, tongues, and injuries.”3
The Friar causes both plays proceed the way that they did and they are the ones
who make the plays finish successfully.
The masque brings love together because it is unknown who is beneath
the disguises. The balcony scenes had much to do with building suspense and
adding to plot in both plays. They were similar but also different for the
reason that one brought the two together, and the other ripped them apart. The
Friars speak like God in both plays, with their outstanding plans. There are
many similarities between both plays. Did Shakespeare purposely make these
similarities or were they coincidence? I believe that Shakespeare did not intend
to make both the plays similar in romance but what happened was that he liked
the ideas he used in the first play and unknowingly used them in variation in
the second book. Did William Shakespeare personally require to have
similarities in love in both play or was he just forgetful about what he had
written in his other stories?