Cuckolding in Much Ado About Nothing
In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the idea of cuckoldry is raised when the men joke about the skepticism of marriage, or when they put their underlying anxieties about women's power on display. This is not your typical locker room banter, as it seems the men actually take a lot of what they are saying to heart. The more they joke around, the more you get the feeling they are actually quite serious about what is being said. Cuckoldry is also brought up when a woman is accused of being unfaithful to her man, thus potentially leaving him looking like a fool.
In the play, the men's constant joking about marriage and cuckoldry can be seen as a passive aggressive way of revealing their anxieties about marriage. Women have the ability to dishonor men through cuckoldry; the men's fears of cuckoldry reflect how much they are uncomfortable with this power.
Benedick
One of the main characters, Benedick, has a skeptical view of women and seems to be dead set against marriage. When discussing if he would ever marry, Benedick states, ''the savage bull may but if ever the sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull's horns and set them in my forehead and let me be vilely painted.'' He is basically stating that he hopes he is too sensible to be married; however, if that time comes, he knows he would have horns—he would end up a cuckold like all other foolish men.
Here, we see Benedick foreshadow the end of the play. When he is about to get married, he is teased by Claudio for looking a little fearful of being cuckolded in marriage, ''he thinks upon the savage bull. Tush, fear not, man; we'll tip thy horns with gold and all Europa shall rejoice at thee.'' Just like Benedick predicted, he now has horns. However, his friends will ensure they are gold, so at least he will not look foolish. Hey, what are friends for?
Claudio and Hero
The main character of the play, Claudio, is not fearful of marriage, which is why he is the first one to be married; however, he is fearful of losing his honor. He needs his bride to be chaste and faithful because he is terrified of ending up with horns. When Claudio is told his future bride, Hero, may be unfaithful, he quickly lashes out like a soap opera drama queen by declaring, ''If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her, tomorrow in the congregation, where I should wed, there will I shame her.'' The mere thought of becoming a cuckold is enough for him to ignore reason and go straight to scratching away horns before they even appear.
We've all seen the Jerry Springer episodes where guests are just waiting to pounce on their cheating loved ones; this is basically how the ''I refuse to become a cuckold'' confrontation goes down at the wedding, where he ends up shaming her. We all know she is innocent, which makes the scene even more entertaining, if not a little sad, because there's nothing she can do about it until she's proven innocent.
Beatrice
Beatrice, cousin to Hero, is a very strong woman who does quite well to defy the typical expectations for female gender roles for the time period. She seems dead set against marriage when she says, ''if He send me no husband, for the which blessing I am at Him upon my knees every morning and evening.'' Additionally, Beatrice does not bow down to the men around her, which is why she epitomizes the strong, powerful woman that the men try to hide their fear of behind all their jokes and banter about cuckoldry. Beatrice doesn't want to be tied to one man; by demonstrating this capability of choice, she almost becomes the very symbol for why men should worry about growing those horrid horns once they get married.
Lesson Summary
Cuckolding refers to a man being cheated on by his wife. It is said that a cuckolded man will grow horns on his head that he cannot see but everyone else can. In Much Ado About Nothing the characters use the idea of cuckolding to express their underlying skepticism and anxieties about marriage.
Main characters Claudio and Benedick, in particular, show their insecurities about the fact that women have the power to take away a man's honor through their jokes and references to cuckolding. Beatrice, Hero's cousin, on the other hand, symbolizes this power. Throughout the play, sarcasm and banter are used when discussing cuckolding, but it is clear how seriously the characters really feel about this powerful term.
