Gender Wars: Emotions in Much Ado About Nothing

In order to explore the relation between love and war, I apply a theory showing the affinity between romance, shame, and anger in a classic text. Shakespeare's plays present an exceedingly grim portrait of the relationship between men and women. Even his lighthearted treatment of this theme in Much Ado about Nothing suggests that love between a man and a woman involves unending tension and conflict, much like the continuous distrust, deception, and outright warfare between nations. A close reading of the text of Much Ado shows shame/anger sequences both in conventional courtship (Hero and Claudio) and in the unconventional relation of Beatrice and Benedick. Both relationships involve infatuation. My analysis suggests that acknowledging shame and anger between men and women may be an important first step toward resolving their conflict.