Double Happy Ending

Double Happy Ending
Image from botstudent.org

The third set of series of the play Much Ado About Nothing is my blog thirteenth for my English 102 class. This ne is going to be about the symbolic meaning of the unmasked ceremony.

In the play, the unmasked ceremony served as a symbolic meaning to clear Hero’s name and prove that she was innocent from the accusation Claudio had made in front of everyone all Messina.  In order to do that she had to reborn herself  from death. Another important symbolic meaning was that Claudio accepted to marry Hero's cousin as instructed by Leonato just as a punishment for what he had done to Hero. Claudio felt that he had made a big mistake by accusing Hero of being unfaithful in front  of the entire Messina, without having sufficient proof nor confirming it with her. A new Hero was reborn because it was the only way for her to clear her name and prove that she was mistakenly accused of something that she did not do.

Claudio also had to reborn himself. When accepted Leonato's proposal to marry his niece in order to pay for his wrong accusations to Hero. He had accused Hero in front of  all the witnesses of the wedding of something he was not even sure about, before even listening to what she had to say. From that point Claudio became a new person, he learned from his mistake. Beatrice and Benedick were unmasked by accepting their true love in from of everybody, something they had been in denial for so long.

Beatrice and Benedick have revealed themselves in front of everyone. They have shown unconditional love to each other against their own will. They have reborn themselves as new characters in the play, changing their status from being single characters and thinking of themselves as longtime bachelors to being truly in love with each other and belonging to someone other than themselves.

In a way, this double happy ending for me was perfect. First of all. it surpassed my expectations as a reader with the way it ends; by having both marriages at the same time. Also it made the story a lot more interesting at the end, it felt like Claudio did not know what he had until he thought he had lost it. Also, Benedick who bragged, would stop being a bachelor because he found his true love.