Theme of Deception in Much Ado About Nothing Each of the main characters in Much Ado About Nothing is a victim of deception, and it is because they are deceived that they act in the ways they do which they do it. Although the central deception is directed against Claudio in an attempt to destroy his relationship with Hero, it is the deceptions involving Beatrice and Benedick that form the dramatic focus of the play. Almost every character in the play at some point has to draw conclusions from what he or he himself has done. sees, has been told or hears. Likewise, almost every character in the play at some point plays the part of consciously pretending to be something they are not. The idea of ​​acting and the illusion it creates is rarely far from the surface: Don Pedro plays the part of Hero, Don John plays the part of an honest friend, concerned for the honor of his brother and Claudio; Leonato and his family behave as if Hero were dead, encouraged in this deception by the Friar himself, who feels that deception may be the way to get to the truth; and all the main characters in the plot pretend towards Benedick and Beatrice so convincingly that they reverse their normal attitudes towards each other. In I.1 Don Pedro offers to play Claudio and win Hero for him. This plan is overheard and mistakenly reported to Antonio. His excited disclosure to Leonato of the false news of Don Pedro's love for Hero is not, however, without some caution: the news will be good because «the event impresses it; but they have good coverage, they can be seen well towards the outside' (I.2.6). Leonato shows a sense here that he might well exploit later in the play: "Does the one who told you this have any wits at all?" . . . 'we'll keep it like a dream'. . . 'maybe this is true'. Of course, he doesn't question the "good cutting... the middle of the paper..." or anything else in the play, the power of language to alter reality, and questions of conscious or unconscious deception. forget that in the body of the work those who are masters of a language of extraordinary wit and refinement - a language that seems to guarantee rationality and good judgment - get things almost completely wrong. The resolution of the play occurs through the action of the people whose speech is an assault on language, who are dismissed – by Leonato – as "boring" when they should be listened to patiently. But, as Borachio says 'what your wisdom could not discover, these superficial fools have brought to light' (V.1.221-222). And, even more disturbingly, this resolution comes by pure chance: overhearing a conversation. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Much ado about nothing. Ed. AR Humphreys. New York: Routledge, 1994.