Hero (Much Ado About Nothing)

Last updated
Hero
Much Ado About Nothing character
Hero, Much Ado About Nothing, John William Wright.jpg
John William Wright's 1849 depiction of Hero
Created by William Shakespeare
Portrayed by
In-universe information
Relatives Beatrice (cousin)
Leonato (father)

Hero is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing . She is the daughter of Leonato, a governor in Messina, and cousin to Beatrice. In the play, Hero falls in love with Claudio, who, under the influence of Don John, wrongfully accuses her of adultery; this leads her to fake her death. Hero is ultimately proven innocent, and reconciles with Claudio at the play's conclusion.

Contents

Hero's origins are possibly from The Faerie Queen, Orlando Furioso, and Matteo Bandello's Novelle. The Hero/Claudio plot has attracted criticism that its difference in tone from the Beatrice/Benedick plot gives rise to dramatic incoherence, and this has led to Much Ado About Nothing sometimes being termed a tragicomedy. Especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, Shakespeare's depiction of Hero has been criticized by feminist readings of the play.

Actresses that have portrayed Hero on stage and screen include Ellen Terry, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Gould, Billie Piper, Jillian Morgese and Jennifer Paredes.

Origins

A version of the Hero-Claudio plot appears in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene in Book II, Canto iv. [1] Ludovico Ariosto's story of Ariodante and Genevra in Orlando Furioso is a likely source for Spenser's tale. [2] It also influenced Shakespeare's interpretation of Hero and Claudio, though Melinda Gough identifies the Hero-Claudio plot more strongly with Aristoto's tale of Ruggiero and Alcin. [3] However, Shakespeare may not have read Aristoto directly and possibly only had access to his works through translation. [4]

Scholars have also located the origins of the Hero-Claudio plot within Matteo Bandello's twenty-second story of part one of his Novelle, which deals with the character of Fenicia. In this story, Fenicia is defamed because her lover overhears another man talking about her as if she was his mistress. Additionally, Fenicia's father is named Messer Lionato de' Lionati, a name which resembles Hero's father's. [5] [6] Bandello's story may be influenced by Chariton's Greek romance, Chaeras and Callirrhoe, which Shakespeare may had have access to through a French translation. [7]

Name origins

The name Hero comes from the Greek ἥρως (heros) meaning "hero". [8] Shakespeare's choice of the name Hero may have been a reference to Christopher Marlowe's Hero and Leander , which features the line, "Who ever lov'd, that lov'd not at first sight." [9]

Role in the play

Hero lives with her father, Leonato, and cousin, Beatrice, in Messina, Italy. At the play's outset, Leonato welcomes a group of soldiers to his house, including the young soldier Claudio. Claudio is immediately smitten with Hero. Don Pedro offers to woo her in his place and does so, disguised at Leonato's party. Claudio and Hero plan to marry in a week. Following along with Don Pedro's plan, Hero helps to gull Beatrice into thinking Benedick is in love with her.

Marcus Stone's depiction of Hero fainting after being accused by Claudio Claudio, deceived by Don John, accuses Hero stone.jpg
Marcus Stone's depiction of Hero fainting after being accused by Claudio

At her wedding to Claudio, Claudio, misled by Don Jon into thinking Hero (actually a disguised Margaret) spent the night before the wedding with Borachio, accuses Hero of being unfaithful. Being completely innocent of all accusations, Hero makes a few brief attempts to defend herself and ultimately faints. When she regains consciousness, the friar suggests that Hero fake her death to give the truth time to come to light and have Hero's accusers change their opinions of her. Dogberry discovers Don Jon's plot and proves Hero's innocence. Leonato invents a niece for Claudio to marry. The niece is actually a veiled Hero who reveals herself as the two marry.

Analysis

Some critics have claimed that the Hero/Claudio plot is tonally inconsistent with the often light-hearted comedy Beatrice/Benedick plot. [10] The darkness of Claudio's treatment of Hero has led some to label Much Ado a "trage-comedy". More contemporary critics have used this same argument to suggest that Much Ado is a "serious comedy", despite its flippant title. [11]

Convention

The coupling of Hero and Claudio has been described by some scholars as the play's more conventional couple, in comparison to Beatrice and Benedick. Claudio's wooing of Hero is from afar and places him in the conventional Petrarchan position of the lover admiring his love as on a pedestal. [12]

Feminist critiques

In Elizabeth Griffith's 1775 text, Morality of Shakespeare's Drama Illustrated, Griffith writes that the slander of Hero was "so very irksome a theme, that it disgusts me to dwell upon it." It was not until the late 19th-century that criticism of the patriarchal mistreatment of Hero reemerged. Grace Latham, in 1891, detested how Hero's independence and self-assertion are taken away from her. 20th-century feminist readings of Much Ado follow in Latham's view and often criticize the ways in which Hero and Beatrice are both silenced as they become wives. [11]

Comparison to other Shakespeare characters

Scholars have noted that the sudden attraction in the Hero/Claudio plot shares certain similarities with Shakespeare's earlier play, Romeo and Juliet . Additionally, both Hero and Juliet are advised to fake their deaths by friars, though with wildly different outcomes. [9] Martin Mueller identifies Hero as part of Shakespeare's "sleeping beauties", a group of female Shakespeare characters also including Hermione, Desdemona, and Juliet, whose "deaths are subject to doubt and draw attention to the poet's freedom to dispose of their fate one way or another." [13]

Performance history

Theatre

Asia

In the huangmei opera, Hero is called Hai Luo. In Jiang Weiguo and Sun Huairen's 1986 production with the Anhui Huangmei Opera, Hai Luo was played by Wu Qiong. [14] In this production, after Claudio cried on Hero's supposed-grave, she emerged from it and sang and danced around Claudio. [15]

Europe

Nederlands Toneel's 1983 production of Veel Leven Om Niets (Dutch) in Ghent, Belgium featured Chris Thys as Hero. [16]

United Kingdom

Ellen Terry performed the role of Hero when she was 15 (c. 1863) at the Haymarket, though she is more widely remembered for her portrayal of Beatrice. [17] In the 1870s, Ellen Wallis played Hero at the Drury Lane Theatre. She later took over the role of Beatrice from Helen Faucit. [18]

In 1961, Michael Langham directed a production of Much Ado with the Royal Shakespeare Company in which, instead of showing Margaret pretending to be Hero meeting with Borachio, the actress who played Hero pretended to be Margaret pretending to be Hero. [19] With the Royal Shakespeare Company, actresses including Julia Ford (1988) [20] and Kirsten Parker (2002) [21] have played Hero.

North America

Canada

At the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Hero has been played by many actresses including Jennifer Gould (1998), [22] Sidonie Boll (1991), [23] Bethany Jillard (2012) [24]

United States

Rosalyn Newport played Hero at the 1958 Ashland Shakespeare Festival. [25]

In 1981 Shakespeare in Central Park in Louisville, Kentucky, Janet Burrows played Hero. [26] In 1980 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hero was played by Deborah Moradzadeh (Valley Shakespeare Festival), Julia Fletcher (American Conservatory Theater), and Laurell Ollstein (San Francisco Shakespeare Company). [27] Holly Thuma was Hero at the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival in Pittsburgh in 1983. [28] In 1988 at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Phoebe Cates played Hero. [20]

In the Folger Theatre's 2005 production, Hero was played by Tiffany Fillmore. [29] In 2019, Margaret Odette played Hero in an all-black production at Shakespeare in the Park in New York City. This performance was later broadcast on PBS as part of their Great Performances series. [30]

In 2022, Hero was portrayed by Jennifer Paredes in Denver Center for the Performing Arts' production of Much Ado About Nothing. [31]

Film

In the 1964 German adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, Viel Lärm um Nichts, Ursula Körbs played Hero. [32] In Kenneth Branagh's 1993 adaptation of the play, Hero was played by Kate Beckinsale. [33] Hero was played by Jillian Morgese in Joss Whedon's 2012 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing . [34]

Television and web series

The first episode of the BBC Television Shakespeare , then known as the BBC Complete Works, was set to be a production of Much Ado About Nothing featuring Ciaran Madden as Hero. This 1978 episode was scrapped for unconfirmed reasons, though it was filmed and edited in its entirety. [35] Much Ado About Nothing was reshot for the seventh series of the BBC Television Shakespeare with Katharine Levy as Hero. [36]

In the ShakespeaRe-Told adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, Billie Piper played Hero. [37] In this production, Hero was a weather presenter. [38] The play's ending was altered to remove the wedding of Hero and Claude [nb 1] and to have Hero reject Claude's apology for his accusations during the wedding. However, the production hints at a possible reconciliation between the two in the final scene when Beatrice and Benedick marry. [39]

In the web series "Nothing Much To Do", Hero was played by Pearl Kennedy. "Nothing Much To Do" was a New Zealand adaptation told through vlogs that transposed the play to a high school setting. [40] [41] [42]

Notes

  1. ShakespeaRe-Told changed Claudio's name to Claude

Related Research Articles

<i>Cymbeline</i> Play by William Shakespeare

Cymbeline, also known as The Tragedie of Cymbeline or Cymbeline, King of Britain, is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early historical Celtic British King Cunobeline. Although it is listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance or even a comedy. Like Othello and The Winter's Tale, it deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy. While the precise date of composition remains unknown, the play was certainly produced as early as 1611.

<i>Béatrice et Bénédict</i> 19th-century opéra comique by Hector Berlioz

Béatrice et Bénédict is an opéra comique in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based in general outline on a subplot in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> (1993 film) 1993 period film directed by Kenneth Branagh

Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Kenneth Branagh, who adapted the play for the screen and directed it, also stars in the film, which features Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and Kate Beckinsale in her film debut.

<i>Elizabeth Rex</i> Play by Timothy Findley

Elizabeth Rex is a play by Timothy Findley. It premiered in a 2000 production by the Stratford Festival. The play won the 2000 Governor General's Award for English language drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dogberry</span> Character in Much Ado About Nothing

Dogberry is a character created by William Shakespeare for his play Much Ado About Nothing. The Nuttall Encyclopædia describes him as a "self-satisfied night constable" with an inflated view of his own importance as the leader of a group of comically bumbling watchmen. Dogberry is notable for his numerous malapropisms, sometimes called "dogberryisms" or "dogberrys". The character was created for William Kempe, who played comic roles in Shakespeare's theatre company the Lord Chamberlain's Men.

ShakespeaRe-Told is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays broadcast on BBC One during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day. The plays were produced in collaboration by BBC Northern Ireland and the central BBC drama department. In August 2006 the four films aired on BBC America.

A ghost character, in the bibliographic or scholarly study of texts of dramatic literature, is a term for an inadvertent error committed by the playwright in the act of writing. It is a character who is mentioned as appearing on stage, but who does not do anything, and who seems to have no purpose. As Kristian Smidt put it, they are characters that are "introduced in stage directions or briefly mentioned in dialogue who have no speaking parts and do not otherwise manifest their presence". It is generally interpreted as an author's mistake, indicative of an unresolved revision to the text. If the character was intended to appear and say nothing, it is assumed this would be made clear in the playscript.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eve Best</span> British actress (born 1971)

Emily "Eve" Best is an English actress and director. She is known for her television roles as Dr. Eleanor O'Hara in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie (2009–2013), First Lady Dolley Madison in the American Experience television special (2011), Monica Chatwin in the BBC miniseries The Honourable Woman (2014) and Princess Rhaenys Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon. She also played Wallis Simpson in the 2010 film The King's Speech.

<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> Comedy play by William Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623.

Critical approaches to <i>Hamlet</i> Critical approaches to Hamlet

From its premiere at the turn of the 17th century, Hamlet has remained Shakespeare's best-known, most-imitated, and most-analyzed play. The character of Hamlet played a critical role in Sigmund Freud's explanation of the Oedipus complex. Even within the narrower field of literature, the play's influence has been strong. As Foakes writes, "No other character's name in Shakespeare's plays, and few in literature, have come to embody an attitude to life ... and been converted into a noun in this way."

The Law Against Lovers was a dramatic adaptation of Shakespeare, arranged by Sir William Davenant and staged by the Duke's Company in 1662. It was the first of the many Shakespearean adaptations staged during the Restoration era.

<i>Riverside Shakespeare</i> Long-running series of editions of the complete works of Shakespeare published by Houghton Mifflin

The Riverside Shakespeare is a long-running series of editions of the complete works of William Shakespeare published by the Houghton Mifflin company.

Much Ado About Nothing is an opera in four acts by Charles Villiers Stanford, to a libretto by Julian Sturgis based on Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. It was the composer's seventh completed opera.

Viel Lärm um nichts is an East German film based on William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. It was released in 1964.

<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> (2012 film) 2012 romantic comedy film by Joss Whedon

Much Ado About Nothing is a 2012 American romantic comedy film written, produced, directed, edited and composed by Joss Whedon, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The film stars Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher, Jillian Morgese, Spencer Treat Clark, Riki Lindhome, Ashley Johnson, Tom Lenk, and Romy Rosemont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoist with his own petard</span> Quote from Hamlet indicating an ironic reversal

"Hoist with his own petard" is a phrase from a speech in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet that has become proverbial. The phrase's meaning is that a bomb-maker is blown off the ground by his own bomb ("petard"), and indicates an ironic reversal or poetic justice.

Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, is a fictional character from William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. In the play, Don Pedro is a nobleman who visits his friend Leonato in Messina, Italy, after a successful military conquest. Don Pedro helps Claudio to woo Hero and helps set up Benedick and Beatrice who together form the two key couples in the play.

Imogen Says Nothing: The Annotated Life of Imogen of Messina, last sighted in the First Folio of William Shakespeare's Much Adoe About Nothing is a three-act play by Aditi Brennan Kapil inspired by a ghost character in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The play premiered on January 20, 2017 at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i> (1973 film) 1973 Soviet film by Samson Samsonov

Much Ado About Nothing is a 1973 Soviet romantic comedy film directed by Samson Samsonov based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name.

Beatrice (<i>Much Ado About Nothing</i>) Fictional character

Beatrice is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. In the play, she is the niece of Leonato and the cousin of Hero. Atypically for romantic heroines of the sixteenth century, she is feisty and sharp-witted; these characteristics have led some scholars to label Beatrice a protofeminist character. During the play, she is tricked into falling in love with Benedick, a soldier with whom she has a "merry war", after rumours are spread that they are in love with each other.

References

  1. Harrison, GB, ed. (1968). "Much Ado About Nothing introduction" . Shakespeare: the Complete Works. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. p.  697. ISBN   0-15-580530-4.
  2. Shakespeare, William (2018). "Introduction". In Mares, F.H. (ed.). Much Ado about Nothing. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN   9781107174733.
  3. Gough, Melinda J. (1999). ""Her Filthy Feature Open Showne" in Ariosto, Spenser, and "Much Ado about Nothing"". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900. 39 (1): 41–67. doi:10.2307/1556305. ISSN   0039-3657. JSTOR   1556305 via JSTOR.
  4. Cairncross, Andrew S. (1976). "Shakespeare and Ariosto: Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, and Othello". Renaissance Quarterly. 29 (2): 178–182. doi:10.2307/2860464. ISSN   0034-4338. JSTOR   2860464. S2CID   193058621.
  5. Gordon, D. J. (1942). ""Much Ado about Nothing": A Possible Source for the Hero-Claudio Plot". Studies in Philology. 39 (2): 279–290. ISSN   0039-3738. JSTOR   4172572.
  6. Gaw, Allison (1935). "Is Shakespeare's Much Ado a Revised Earlier Play?". PMLA. 50 (3): 715–738. doi:10.2307/458213. ISSN   0030-8129. JSTOR   458213. S2CID   163471928 via JSTOR.
  7. Shakespeare, William (2018). "Introduction". In Mares, F. H. (ed.). Much Ado about Nothing. Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN   9781107174733.
  8. Campbell, Mike (2020-05-29). "Meaning, origin and history of the name Hero (1)". Behind the Name. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  9. 1 2 Smith, Peter J.; Cartmell, Deborah (2018). "Introduction". In Smith, Peter J. (ed.). Much Ado About Nothing: A Critical Reader. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781474284394.
  10. Henze, Richard (1971). "Deception in Much Ado about Nothing". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900. 11 (2): 187–201. doi:10.2307/450059. ISSN   0039-3657. JSTOR   450059.
  11. 1 2 Findlay, Alison (2018). "The Critical Backstory". In Smith, Peter J. (ed.). Much Ado About Nothing: A Critical Reader. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781474284394.
  12. Gay, Penny (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies. Cambridge University Press. p. 74. ISBN   9781139469777.
  13. Mueller, Martin (1994). "Shakespeare's Sleeping Beauties: The Sources of "Much Ado about Nothing" and the Play of Their Repetitions". Modern Philology. 91 (3): 288–311. doi:10.1086/392169. ISSN   0026-8232. JSTOR   438435. S2CID   162274615.
  14. Ruru, Li (1988). "Chinese Traditional Theatre and Shakespeare". Asian Theatre Journal. 5 (1): 38–48. doi:10.2307/1124021. ISSN   0742-5457. JSTOR   1124021.
  15. Peide, Zha; Jia, Tian (1988). "Shakespeare in Traditional Chinese Operas". Shakespeare Quarterly. 39 (2): 204–211. doi:10.2307/2870631. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2870631.
  16. De Vos, Jozef (1984). "Shakespeare in Belgium". Shakespeare Quarterly. 35 (4): 465–468. doi:10.2307/2870168. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2870168.
  17. Shakespeare, William (2018). "Introduction". In Mares, F. H. (ed.). Much Ado about Nothing. Cambridge University Press. p. 15. ISBN   9781107174733.
  18. Desmet, Christy (June 2012). "Helen Faucit and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1879". Critical Survey. 24 (2): 4–21. doi:10.3167/cs.2012.240202. S2CID   161408417.
  19. Shakespeare, William (2010). Bloom, Harold (ed.). Much Ado about Nothing. Facts on File. p. 266. ISBN   9781438132037.
  20. 1 2 Berg, Fredric (1989). "Review of Much Ado about Nothing". Theatre Journal. 41 (3): 403–405. doi:10.2307/3208191. ISSN   0192-2882. JSTOR   3208191.
  21. Jackson, Russell (2003). "Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon: Summer and Winter, 2002-2003". Shakespeare Quarterly. 54 (2): 167–185. doi:10.1353/shq.2003.0073. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   3844174. S2CID   191531623.
  22. Taylor, Gary (1999). "Theatrical Proximities: The Stratford Festival 1998". Shakespeare Quarterly. 50 (3): 334–354. doi:10.2307/2902362. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2902362 via JSTOR.
  23. Chapman, Geoff (1991-05-30). "Monette makes much of Ado About Nothing: [FIN Edition]". Toronto Star . ProQuest   436398711 . Retrieved 2021-09-10 via ProQuest.
  24. Aune, M. G. (2016-10-01). "The Stratford Shakespeare Festival 2012". Shakespeare. 12 (4): 421–428. doi:10.1080/17450918.2013.805804. ISSN   1745-0918. S2CID   194254231.
  25. Johnson, Gloria E. (1958). "Shakespeare at Ashland, Oregon--1958". Shakespeare Quarterly. 9 (4): 543–547. doi:10.2307/2867141. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2867141.
  26. Gatton, John Spalding (1982). "Shakespeare in Central Park, Louisville". Shakespeare Quarterly. 33 (3): 353–355. doi:10.2307/2869743. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2869743.
  27. Jacobs, Laurence H. (1981). "Shakespeare in the San Francisco Bay Area". Shakespeare Quarterly. 32 (2): 263–267. doi:10.2307/2870048. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2870048.
  28. Adam, Donald G. (1984). "Shakespeare in Pittsburgh, 1983". Shakespeare Quarterly. 35 (2): 227–229. doi:10.2307/2869937. ISSN   0037-3222. JSTOR   2869937.
  29. Hocking, Bree (2005-10-25). "In 'Much Ado,' All's Fair in Love and War". ProQuest. Roll Call. ProQuest   324352379 . Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  30. Dickie, George (2019-11-17). "All-black 'Much Ado About Nothing' brings Shakespeare into 21st century on PBS". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  31. Thomas, Dillon (2022-09-14). "'Much Ado About Nothing' gets a modern take at DCPA". KCNC-TV . Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  32. "Viel Lärm um nichts (1964)". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  33. Ebert, Roger (1993-05-21). "Much Ado About Nothing movie review (1993) | Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  34. Beckerman, Jim. "Fair Lawn actress gets starring role in Joss Whedon's take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" Archived 2016-09-17 at the Wayback Machine , The Record (Bergen County) , June 18, 2013. Accessed July 19, 2016."
  35. Prince, Kathryn (2018). "Ladnmarks, Tendencies, Outliers, Recursions and Riffs in the Performance History of Much Ado About Nothing". In Smith, Peter J. (ed.). Much Ado About Nothing: A Critical Reader. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781474284394.
  36. Wilders, John, ed. (1985). Much Ado About Nothing. The BBC TV Shakespeare. London: BBC Books. p. 20. ISBN   9780563203384.
  37. Hricik, Paul (2015-07-31). "Short Review: Shakespeare Retold- "Much Ado About Nothing."". The Shakespearean Student. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  38. Guardian Staff (2005-11-02). "How the Beeb's upcoming Shakespeare season misses the point". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  39. Kj (2008-03-05). "Bardfilm: Much Ado About Ending (Caution: Spoilers!)". Bardfilm. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  40. "Nothing Much To Do Official Trailer | The Candle Wasters". Youtube. July 27, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  41. "About". The Candle Wasters. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  42. Gregorio, Trisha (2015-12-03). "[REVIEW] Nothing Much To Do". The Silhouette. Retrieved 2021-09-02.