Claudio: The Lover Who Loves an Idea
First appears: Act 1, Scene 1
Claudio falls in love with Hero immediately, before he has spoken to her, before he knows anything about her except that she is Leonato's daughter and heir. That is the foundation of everything that follows. He loves an idea of Hero, not the actual person.
When Don John suggests she has been unfaithful, Claudio believes it at once, tells no one, and plans a public humiliation. He does not ask Hero directly. He does not wait for evidence. He accepts the word of a man everyone in the play knows to be a troublemaker.
Shakespeare asks you to forgive him by the end, and many audiences find that hard. His behaviour at the altar (the cruelty of the speech he prepares and delivers) is not a moment of passion. He planned it in advance.
Key Scenes
Famous Quotes
“She knows the heat of a luxurious bed: her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.”
Claudio — Act 4, Scene 1
“O Hero! what a Hero hadst thou been, if half thy outward graces had been placed about thy thoughts and counsels of thy heart!”
Claudio — Act 4, Scene 1
Themes
Other Characters in Much Ado About Nothing
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