Claudio – ‘A man of honour betrayed’?

In Shakespeargons Much Ado About postal code recognize is precise authorised to any the gentil characters. To know Claudios character and his cruel treatment of submarine, it is all(prenominal)- weighty(a) to hear the nonice code. Specific to aristocracy, sinlessness meant reputation, locating and take note. A humanss innocence was earned through with(predicate) conduct in battle and the virtue of a wife and daughter. coetaneous audiences would not approve of Claudios manner towards ace, whereas Renaissance audiences would understand Claudios behaviour towards hero sandwich.This is because prize was regarded very highly n their social class, which would suggest why audiences would exit Claudio as a man of honour betrayed. Throughout the wager, even when the trueness of Heros chastity comes out, Claudio is a respected character who is not disliked by other characters, such as Benedick and male parent Pedro. Audiences in the spiritual rebirth periods believed hon our was all(prenominal)thing. Claudios dishonouring would not only act as a bane to his reputation, but also undermine the social structure, as honour was an important excessivelyl of social cohesion. The Renaissance era believed that honour was synonymous with order.It is important to emphasize this concept to understand that Claudio is a man of honour betrayed. barely Shakespeare recognizes the importance of honour throughout the play. barely,he also sees that the code as flawed, heart men substructure defend their honour using weapons in the line of business and in duel, yet a man basin shame a woman, as Claudio does Hero, and she cannot defend herself. If Claudio had allowed Hero to dishonour him he would harbor muzzy his allsome-earned reputation, so he shames her. Claudio talks of Hero as if she were an object, and insults her at every opportunity. For instance, whilst he is alking to Leonato he says in that location, Leonato, take her back again. Give not this crappy orange to your friend, Shes but the sign and semblance of her honour. There are more contradictions within the honour code, men are meant to cherish and honour women, but are only too ready to dishonour them, accusing them of being spoil goods, as in the case of Claudio and Hero. At the beginning of the play when the messenger enters he describes Claudio as having the figure of a honey, the feats of a lion Claudio is considered a man of honour, he is praised in battle and is portrayed as a great soldier he is said to be noble Claudio. The lamb/lion fable is very appropriate for Claudio as he could be seen as naive and easily influenced by take for granted John, this is because of his extreme youth. charge without evidence Claudio was ready to believe begetter John over Hero. When Don John delivers the news of Heros disloyalty, Claudio and Don Pedro are quick to believe a fellow male soldier, without thinking that Don John could be lying. This could be seen as a cont radiction as it was believed that bastards were not to be trusted. Don John referred to himself as a bad character saying I am a plain-dealing illain, audiences whitethorn think that Claudio is not a man of honour betrayed, as he is the one who is betraying Hero by believe the words of Don John. There are also many characters in the play that sympathize with him and believe that he is right to shame Hero. The honour code meant that if a friend got disrespected and dishonoured then it could affect other friends, in the same way that Don Pedro felt dishonoured. I stand dishonoured, that corroborate gone roughly to link my dear friend to a habitual stale. Don Pedro supports his friend and believes that he is dishonoured, as it was him who wooed Hero for him.Due to the allegations about Hero, other characters in the play believe that they too are dishonoured. whizz of whom is Leonato, Heros father. Leonato believes that Hero has destroyed the familys reputation and throws terrible insults at her as well as refusing to believe that she could be his daughter by saying No part of it is mine This shame derives itself from unknown loins? . Before sharp the facts Leonato without delay believes that his daughter has ruined the family. It could be argued that Claudio invites sympathy as Don John tricks him into believing that Hero has dishonoured him. There are many disparate nterpretations to whether Claudio actually believes that he was betrayed. For example if Claudio genuinely believes himself betrayed then perhaps his actions can be justified, like in Kenneth Branaghs Much Ado About Nothing production, he makes Claudios rage and hurt believable by making the witnessed unfaithfulness convincing.To understand the presentation of Claudios character it is necessary to consider him as a man of honour betrayed, which means the scene where Hero, allegedly, is dishonouring Claudio should be believable. In Shakespeares time, a womans honour was based upon her virginit y and chaste ehaviour. For a woman to lose her honour by having sexual relations before marriage meant that she would lose all respect, a catastrophe from which she could never recover. Furthermore, this loss of honour would destroy the womans whole family. in that respectfrom, when Leonato believes Claudios shaming of Hero at the wedding ceremony, he tries to obliterate her entirely Hence from her, let her die. Moreover, he speaks of her loss of honour as an red-letter stain from which he cannot distance himself, no matter how hard he tries O she is fallen / Into a pit of ink, that the wide sea / Hath rops too few to wash her clean again.Leonato is prepared to align himself with Claudio preferably then his own daughter. The illusory betrayal of Claudios honour becomes Leonatos dishonouring as she has smeared the family name. Honour was a frequent theme in some of Shakespeares plays and was also common in that period, for example in Shakespeares play Julius Caesar, Brutus says B elieve me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour that you may believe. Mowbray states in Richard 11 tap honour is my life both grow in one/ give in honour from me, and my life is done.This shows the importance of honour in that period. Claudio speaks of Hero as an object by referring to her as a jewel. Claudios tendencies to see Hero as an object was because he had no intimacy with her and perceived her as a commodity. His language portrays the differences between his and Benedicks esteem. The way Claudio speaks of his love shows the audiences that Claudio is not very romantic, which could affect how audiences would think of him. Audiences might dislike Claudio because he is not the pompous romantic character like Romeo. Whilst talking about Hero, Claudio sometimes uses blank shell verse.His speech seems more constructed and artificial then others, which has the effect of making him snuff it less genuine. He doesnt talk about Hero with passion, whereas Benedick uses verse and sonnets to show and represent his love towards Beatrice. There is irony in the play when it comes to the denunciation of Hero, where Claudio speaks with passion to Hero for the first time, out of hatred. This shows audiences that Claudio did not love Hero truly otherwise he would not have been so quick to judge her. In act 4 scene 1 he likens her to an animal .. or those pampered animals that rage in savage sensationalism.However, it could be said that after Claudio finds out the truth he knows that he has wronged Hero. He tries to renew Heros reputation by marrying Leonatos niece even if she is an Ethiope, which means that he was truly apologetic. Some critics argue that Claudio has a business like approach, it can be argued that he only wants the estate, before Claudio married Hero he was fully informed about the property Hath Leonato any son, my lord? In aristocratic society, people were dependant upon marriages of conveniences based on status and property, which coul d mean that Claudio is not a man of honour betrayed, as he only married for onvenience. Before Claudio went to war all he purpose about was fighting but as soon as he has finished it is time for marriage. When he had finally come from war, audiences can furcate that he is ready for marriage as one of the first sentences he says are I would scarce trust myself, though I had sworn the contrary, if Hero would be my wife. Critics can also argue that war can be seen as a central metaphor, the men return from war and instantly convey the values engaged on the battlefield into the domestic arena. Love is presented by Shakespeare as a form of warfare with the sexes battling it out.However, it is not a just fight because women, unlike men, can not physically defend their honour. Heros honour is betrayed, but there is little she can do about it. Claudio uses the metaphor beauty is a witch, even before his relationship with Hero, Claudio started present that he was already suspicious of h er -seeing her as an Eve, a betrayer of men. This emphasizes what he felt about women and reflected a popular spiritual rebirth view that women were untrustworthy. It may be argued that Claudio lived in a society that was very misogynistic during that period practically of the fiction included misogynistic views.In the metempsychosis period people employ to live by the bible, this is where the idea of male superiority came from. The story of ex and Eve blames Eve for tempting Adam to eat the fruit. Thus, it was the woman who was chastely weak. In Genesis, Chapter Two vs. 21-25 it says and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman.. Women were made from men reinforcing the illusion of inferiority. In renaissance times it was believed that women were deceivers and were there to tempt, just like Eve. It could be argued that Claudio was not to blame for his reaction to Hero, as he was erely reacting as men would at that time as it be Elizabethan values. Be nedick has similar values, believing that if he gets married he would be cuckolded I will live a bachelor.There are endless Elizabethan jokes about cuckoldry, which reveal a cosmopolitan fear of infidelity that was perceived as dishonour. It was believed that the honour code was important and that soldiers such as Claudio were supposed to behave with chivalry. Audiences might have free-base it hard to sympathize with Claudio even in the Renaissance period because he was not behaving n a truly chivalrous manner. His behaviour could be seen as un agreeable and immoral as he treats Hero in a shameful way. However, Claudios behaviour can be seen as acceptable once audiences understand the honour. Claudios honour was so important to him, but when Hero allegedly cheated on him, he believed that it was only right to shame her. Claudio could have been seen as a victim of gossip within the play as he was lied to and manipulated by Don John to fulfill his plan. However despite this, Claudio changed his mind about Hero and instantly believed that she had done wrong.In conclusion, it could be argued that Claudio was not at fault. He was just mirroring the values of renaissance society. It is important to understand how social status and honour worked in the renaissance period to understand Claudios cruelty. He was a man of honour betrayed and to understand what he did to Hero, audiences would have to consider that he thought that he had been betrayed. Nevertheless, it would be hard for any audience to sympathize with Claudio, as he did not behave with chivalry. However, Claudio realized his mistake and was willing to marry Heros cousin.