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Hero
Much Ado About Nothing character
Jilian Morgese (plays Hero in 2012 film)

Hero is a female character in the play Much Ado About Nothing written by William Shakespeare. She is Leonato's daughter and cousin to Beatrice. She is presented as an innocent, desirable woman suitable for marriage. She is also presented as a typical woman in Shakespeare's time who is quiet and submissive.

Origins

The phrase 'much ado about nothing' means a big fuss over nothing. Shakespeare used the term 'ado' in one of his earlier plays Romeo and Juliet in 1592 and wrote Much Ado About Nothing in 1599. The big fuss the title refers to is the doubt of whether Hero has had sex with another man or not, when in fact she has not.

Hero's Origin

It is quite ironic that Shakespeare gives Hero a masculine name, considering she does not act heroic. However, in Greek Mythology Hero was a priestess of sexual love and beauty. She fell in love with Leander. Leander would swim across the strait every night to meet her, guided by a lamp that Hero would light at the top of the tower. This went on for a whole summer. However, one night when the weather was bad, the light was blown by the wind and the winds made Leander's task very difficult. He eventually got lost and drowned in the sea. When Hero saw his body washed ashore, she fell off her tower to meet him in the afterlife. Therefore, the Hero in the play symbolises chastity and being a Goddess of love who dies to be with her lover and her lover only, symbolising her as pure.

Characters In Relation To Hero

• Leonato- Hero's father
• Innogen- Hero's mother
• Anthonio- Hero's uncle
• Beatrice- Hero's cousin
• Claudio- Hero's husband
• Margaret And Ursula- Hero's waiting women
• Friar Francis- Priest who weds Hero

Hero's Role In The Play

Act 1

In Act 1 Hero is seen as an object by Claudio, a beautiful and quiet girl. He decides he loves her and wants her.

Act 2

She is again presented as something that is to be won and received. Two men: Don Pedro and her father Leonato have to agree to her marriage before she can.

Act 3

Hero is presented as loving toward Beatrice, helping her to fall in love with Benedick when she speaks loudly about Benedick loving her. In this Act, Don John asks the friends to witness Hero being unfaithful. Instead of protecting her and fighting off the accusations, the friends agree to go with Don John because they are fearful of it being true. This presents Hero as a woman who is able to commit adultery even as pure as she is and the men viewing her negatively based on accusations.

Act 4

Hero sinks to the ground unconscious at her wedding. Leonato tells Benedick and Beatrice to let Hero die, since that would be better than for her to live in shame. This presents Hero as an innocent woman who is disgraced based on false lies. It is suggested in the worst case scenario that Hero can later be taken off quietly and placed in a convent to become a nun, which presents her as a victim to men's doubts.

Act 5

When Hero takes off her mask to show she is alive at the second wedding it symbolises that her name has been cleared. She can figuratively come back to life and be his wife, as she should have been before. This signifies that Hero's life is in control of men and the way she lives her life.

Overview Of Role In The Play

Hero's character is representative of a woman who is dominated by the men around her because of her subservient and quiet nature. She is the victim of men's fear of cuckolding.

Contrast to Beatrice

She is the opposite of Beatrice. She is not revengeful, outspoken or confident. Instead her silence speaks for her and it is one of the qualities that attracts Claudio- an obedient, quiet wife and also a quality that leads to her downfall. At her wedding, Beatrice is outraged wishing to kill Claudio whereas Hero is silent.

Themes in the Play Relating to Hero

Honour/ Sexuality

Hero disgraces her family when Claudio announces she is a whore, so much so that her father wishes she was dead 'let her die' (Act 4 Scene 1 Line 152). It was seen as ruining the family's reputation if a woman had sex before marriage or broke her chastity, when in fact Hero had not. The term 'cuckolding' refers to a wife having an affair and the offspring of the affair is thought to be the husband's child. The fear of being cuckolded leads Claudio to shame Hero in public for something she has not done. It also explores female freedom of sexuality being condemned and stigmatised.

Deception

Gossip, rumours and perception distort the truth in the play. Hero's reputation is damaged based on a lie. This shows the power that gossip and rumours have to distort reality which leads to negative consequences.

Patriarchy

Both Leonato and Claudio disown Hero when they hear she is not a virgin which demonstrates the power that men hold over women's reputation and protection. It is in Don Pedro's power to fix the alliance between Benedick and Beatrice as well as Hero and Claudio. Claudio's slanderous accusations in public led to Hero's downfall, presenting him as a patriarchal figure in control of Hero's life.

Films/ Adaptation

Much Ado About Nothing 1993 Film Kenneth Branagh

• Kenneth Branagh as Benedick
• Richard Briers as Leonato
• Michael Keaton as Dogberry
• Robert Sean Leonard as Claudio
• Keanu Reeves as Don John
• Emma Thompson as Beatrice
• Denzel Washington Don Pedro
• Kate Beckinsale}} as Hero

The film was released on 7th May in 1993 and filmed in Italy.

Much Ado About Nothing 2012 Film Joss Whedon

• Amy Acker as Beatrice
• Alexis Denisof as Benedick
• Reed Diamond as Don Pedro
• Nathan Fillion as Dogberry
• Clark Gregg as Leonato
• Fran Kranz as Claudio
• Sean Maher as Don John
• Jillian Morgese as Hero

The film was released on June 21 2012 and is in black and white.

In both films, Hero's character stays true to the play, she does not speak much and is dominated by almost everyone around her.