At first glance, the reader will probably not notice the immediate clue in the title of William Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing. If one, however, were to follow the example of a Shakespearean actor in Elizabethan times and pronounce the word "nothing" as "noticing", one would find oneself introduced to a very significant play on words because the ideas of noticing, or observation, and nothing, are important themes in this story. Noting is something that motivates characters to take actions that greatly affect the plot, and is an idea that reflects the theme of reality versus appearance, where reality is nothing and appearance is due to noting . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First of all, it is the observation of characters that drives them to take actions that influence the plot. The first example of this is when Claudio falls in love with Hero. The relationship between these two characters plays an important role in the story, and originates when Claudio notices Hero: "Benedetto, have you noticed Signor Leonato's daughter?" (Acts 1,1, l. 158-59) Claudio then asks the prince to woo her for him. The important chain of events that follows - the pastime of formulating a romance between Beatrice and Benedick, Don John's plan, the "death of Hero" - is all due to Claudio falling in love with Hero, which is not would have happened. , if he hadn't noticed. Another example is when Benedick and Beatrice fall in love with each other. The only reason this happens is because, first of all, Benedick notices the prince, Claudio and Leonato discussing how much Beatrice is in love with him: "Come here, Leonato. What did you tell me today, that your niece Beatrice was in love with Mr. Benedetto?" (Acts 2:3, l. 95-7) This, of course, is not true, but Benedick believes it and falls in love with Beatrice: "I will fall terribly in love with her!" (Act 2:3, l. 237) Likewise, Beatrice overhears Hero and Ursula purposely inventing Benedick's love for her, and she falls in love with him: "I will reward you, I tame my wild heart in your loving hand ". (Acts 3:1, l. 117-18) The relationship between these two characters is important to the plot, as many events revolve around them, and it only happens because Beatrice and Benedick notice the others' conversations falsely discussing their love for each other. Probably the most important example of a character influencing the plot is when Claudius watches Borachio woo Margaret and believes she is the Hero. Thinking Hero is disloyal, Claudio publicly shames her and refuses to marry her. This event and the actions taken to resolve the problems it creates constitute the main conflict of the plot. The characters must devise a way to prove Hero's innocence and make Claudio feel remorse for his actions. They do so, staging Hero's death and uncovering his slander. None of this would have happened, however, if Claudius had not noticed Borachio courting "Hero" and then acted on his false impression. Two other examples of the meaning of notice are when the Watcher notices that Borachio tells Conrad about the crime he committed by helping to slander Hero. The two men are then arrested, which is important to the plot; otherwise they would never have been questioned and Hero's innocence would never have been confirmed. The other example is when Dogberry goes to tell Leonato that he has captured some criminals, who happen to be Borachio and Conrad. Leonato notices Dogberry, who speaks in malapropism, and sends him away. If Leonato had noticed this more deeply, he would have understood that it was important to question the criminals immediately, and thus he could have prevented the slander of his daughter. InThis way, his inability to properly notice Dogberry greatly affects the plot. Annotating doesn't just serve to motivate the characters - it reflects the story's ongoing theme of reality versus appearance. One aspect of this theme involves the idea that objects or affairs, when noticed, are not always what they seem. The frequent use of masks throughout history supports this idea. Masks create a distorted version of reality by giving a person a false appearance. The first use of masks is during the dance, where there are several cases of people appearing to be different from what they are. Antonio flirts with Ursula, pretending not to be himself. The Prince courts Hero, posing as Claudio. Claudio pretends to be Benedetto and thus allows himself to hear Don Giovanni say that the prince is courting himself. Benedetto, recognizing Beatrice, who may or may not recognize him, is subjected by her to a series of harsh criticisms towards himself. At the end of the story, Claudio marries Hero when she is behind a mask, not knowing his identity. All of these events take place when most of the characters are behind masks, which therefore relate to the theme of reality versus appearance by giving a false appearance to a reality, and which relate to the theme of annotation by depriving the characters of their ability to notice a. another correctly. The topic of reality versus appearance, which implies that objects or things are not what they seem, goes to a higher level. Characters are deceived by what they notice because the things they notice appear to be different from what they are. Then, reacting to what they think they have noticed, the characters react to what, in reality, is nothing. For example, Beatrice and Benedetto fall in love because, from what they hear others say, it seems to them that each is in love with the other. They react to the false appearance they notice by truly falling in love with each other. They later discover that neither of them originally loved the other, and so their reaction of falling in love was not, in fact, based on anything. Another example of the reality versus appearance theme is when Claudio notices Margaret and Borachio and believes that Margaret is the Hero, then slanders Hero, justifying himself with the idea that she appeared to be disloyal. As he shames her, he makes many references to the contrast between her appearance and what he believes her to actually be: "See how she blushes here like a maiden! ...Wouldn't you swear, all ye who see her, that she was a servant, / From these outward signs? (Acts 4,1, l. 34-40) Subsequently she makes another statement which refers again to the theme of reality versus appearance, in which she describes what she seems to be and what she thinks it is: "You seem to me like Diana in her sphere/ As chaste as the bud is before it is blossomed./ But you are more intemperate in your blood/ Than Venus, or those spoiled animals/ That rage in wild sensuality (Acts 4:1, l. 58- 62) Thus Claudio, causing a great upheaval in the plot, accuses Hero in reaction to her disloyalty. He later discovers that she was always innocent and that what he had noticed was false. His accusations were based on nothing: she had appeared unfaithful but , in fact, was fair.Keep in mind: This is just one example.Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.The title, Much Ado About Nothing, sums up the entire story which is significant to the plot: if it means "much ado about annotation", it describes all the activity that happens because of character annotation. If it means "much ado about nothing", it describes how all the characters' activities are based on nothing. The title itself, in all its cleverness and contrasting meanings, is representative of the text?.