by Professor Paul S. Fiddes
Like all Shakespeare’s comedies, Much Ado about Nothing begins with a disturbance in society and broken relationships that need restoring, even before matters become more complicated for the characters. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick are at odds with one another in what is called a “merry war” by their friends, but in a personal situation that runs deeply into some hurt in the past that is never made clear. Another disturbing element is present in the person of Don John, the brother of Don Pedro, Duke of Aragon, who admits that “it befits my blood to be disdained of all”. Signor Benedick is a military colleague of Don Pedro, and Beatrice is cousin to Hero, daughter of Leonato, Governor of Messina. Benedick and Beatrice are sparring with words, some of them quite sharp and insulting, from the moment we meet them, with a humour that has a bitter edge to it. Shakespeare in Beatrice gives us a woman of wit and intellect who can more than hold her own in male company.
In one strand of the plot they are going to be brought to the realization that in fact they love one another (which the audience may suspect from the beginning), whatever has happened between them in the past. The device for bringing them to this truth is going to be the plan of their friends to trick each of the two into believing that the other loves them, so that they edge closer together in their emotions. When they finally realise that they have been deceived, and are shown the love-notes they have written to each other, they don’t mind at all, because they have come to realize that they have been in love all the time without being consciously aware of it. When Beatrice jokingly protests that “by this good day I yield upon great persuasion – and partly to save your life, for I was told you were in a consumption”, Benedick replies “Peace! I will stop your mouth” (with a kiss).
It is no part of a process of restorative justice, of course, to engage in trickery and deceit, even with the best intentions. In a Shakespearian comedy, an already disturbed situation is made more confusing by various tricks and mistakes, in order to reach reconciliation. It is as if the hidden truth can only be brought to light, and a way opened into the future, through blowing wide open the surface of things. Where there is a parallel with modern restorative justice is in making a space for people to listen to each other, and to get beyond their existing preconceptions. While certainly not involving playing tricks, the restorative justice process can be a disturbing and painful experience in which the surface of things has to be opened up by a genuine meeting and a giving of real attention to each other and to past damage done. This certainly happens for Benedick and Beatrice, so that Benedick can exclaim, seeing the sonnet of love he wrote to Beatrice and her letter of love to him, “A miracle! Here’s our own hands against our [former] hearts”.
The second major strand of the plot, interwoven with the Beatrice-Benedick story, has similar echoes of restorative justice, despite again the presence of tricks and mistakes. Another military companion of Don Pedro, Claudio, is in love with Hero, wins her love, and arranges a marriage ceremony with the consent of Leonato. However, the villainous Don John, out of sheer malice, tricks Claudio into believing that his fiancée, Hero, is being unfaithful to him. Don John manipulates Hero into having a conversation with her maid, Margaret, out of a window, and convinces Claudio that he has witnessed a scene of Hero talking with another man. Using vile language, Claudio disgraces her before her friends at the altar and refuses to marry her. This is a crime and a deep breach in relations which cannot be easily brought to the happy end that a comedy aims for. The depth of the emotions stirred and people alienated is indicated by the darkest line in the play, when Beatrice bids Benedick that if he loves her, he should “kill Claudio”. However, with the help of a conniving friar, Beatrice and the rest of the family pretend that Hero has died of grief of her treatment at the hands of Claudio. When the machinations of Don John are revealed, Claudio bitterly repents and spends a night of mourning at her supposed grave. To show the depth of his penitence he agrees to marry an unknown niece of Leonato, and since this is a comedy he is allowed to recover his happiness when it turns out that this other woman is in fact none other than Hero herself.
Through a trick, the play gives Claudio time to reflect and to face up to the truth of his actions and the hurtfulness of his words. Hero, brought back (as it were) to life confronts him in their restorative meeting with the reality of his behaviour and the shallowness of his love: she reminds him, “when I lived I was your other wife;/ and when you loved, you were my other husband”. Benedick and Beatrice, Claudio and Hero, have, through a process of listening to each other and facing up to the truth, found a way forward together into the future. Thus far at least there is a resonance with the process of restorative justice.
Yet all those involved in a restorative justice process know that there is no easy path into the future when damage and hurt has been done. A way forward can be found, but there must be a continual giving attention to others and serious restitution made where possible. The way that Shakepeare has written this play, and portrayed the character of Claudio, means that the audience is left feeling that there is still a dark shadow hanging over the happy ending and the joint marriage of the two couples, preceded by a dance. The shadow is not just the fate of Don John, excluded from the charmed circle of the dance, or even the future of Don Pedro, who seems incapable of finding a loving partner for himself (“Prince, thou art sad – get thee a wife!” says Benedick with a resounding lack of sensitivity). What we have seen of Claudio makes us fear for his relationship with Hero, and we can only hope that he will go on living out the reality of the restoration he has experienced in a moment of disclosure.
Paul S. Fiddes is the author of More Things in Heaven and Earth. Shakespeare, Theology and the Interplay of Texts (University of Virginia Press).
We are delighted that Wild Goose Theatre are putting on a charity preview performance of Much Ado About Nothing for us next week (Thursday 3 July 2025). More information and a link to buy tickets can be found here: