Sick in Love
Shakespeare utilizes the theme of lovesickness repeatedly in his work Much Ado about Nothing. He rarely uses the term “lovesick”, but refers to such thing with other terms like “sick” “ill” or “pale” with love. Not only does he utilize such language, but his characters seem to fall into a pattern of being head over heels in love. For example, Hero and Claudio both fall sick in love with each other. A second occurrence of this is demonstrated by Beatrice and Benedick. Although their process of falling in love is different than that of Claudio and Hero’s, Beatrice and Benedick also develop an overwhelming sense of lovesickness for one another. Both couples’ relationships are intact at the finale of the play.
It is clear that Claudio is sick with love. This language is first utilized in Act I scene I line 284 when Claudio says to Don Pedro, “..that knows love grief by his complexion.” Don Pedro can see that Claudio is lovesick. The theme is blatantly situated also in line 671 where Beatrice is talking of his “jealous complexion”. Earlier in the play this is foreshadowed when Claudio is telling Benedick in Act I scene I line 205 that he feels that he loves Hero. Benedick, who had just exclaimed about Cupid,- the one who creates lovesickness- admits to Claudio and Don Pedro that he will never be sick with love. Don Pedro responds to him and says in line 222, “I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love.” This very ironic because later, when Benedick overhears the gossip of how Beatrice loves him, he declares that he will be madly in love with her. Similarly In Act I scene I Leonato says to Beatrice, “You will never run mad, niece.” He is referring to falling victim to Benedick’s disease. She confidently responds, “No, not till a hot January.” Again, this is ironic because she too eventually falls victim to the pestilence of love.
Further, in Act III scene I, Hero is talking with Ursula, and brewing her plan to trick Beatrice into hearing that Benedick is ill with love for her. When Beatrice overhears that Benedick loves her she is at first confused, but then declares she will be in love with him. In Act III Scene IV after Beatrice swears that she is sick, Margaret advises her to invest in some “carduus benedictus” and to lay it on her heart to heal her illness. Later in the play in Act IV scene I, although they are at first hesitant, Benedick and Beatrice exclaim their love for one another privately.
This theme of lovesickness is apparent yet again in Act V scene I; Don Pedro is referring to Benedick and says, “As I am an honest man, he looks pale. Art thou sick, or angry?” Later in the act Claudio swears that Benedick’s pale complexion, anger, and sickness, are a result of his love for Beatrice. Additionally in scene IV Benedick admits to Leonato, “And I do with an eye of love requite her.” He is bright-eyed in love with Beatrice and accordingly asks Leonato to bless their marriage. Nevertheless, he addresses Beatrice publicly and tells her Leonato, the prince and Claudio relayed that she was almost sick for him. She says that she was told he was lovesick and wasting away.
Most of the references to being lovesick are in the first act. According to the pattern of the dramatic comic curve, the first act is supposed to be the most normal. In the case of Much Ado about Nothing it is not abnormal for a man and a woman to fall in love. The men have just returned from war, therefore it is almost expected for them to meet women and possibly procreate, as the men have been withdrawn from their counter-sex for quite some time. In Act I, there are by far the most occurrences of the theme, which mirrors the normality of the initial act in the typical comic curve.
There are too happenings of lovesickness in Act III. Here, the presence of lovesickness is not very ordinary. This is when Hero and Ursula are trapping Beatrice into believing how lovesick Benedick is for her. This theme arises at the customary low point in the play, where its orientation symbolizes the abnormality in the third act. In Act IV a new normal is formed, as Beatrice and Benedick publicly announce their illness of love for one another and plan to marry. This is not surprising, as the fifth act usually represents redemption, as a new level of normality is achieved.
The data that I retrieved supports my first thoughts on Shakespeare’s obsessive use of lovesickness. As we read the play I note multiple instances where lovesickness was referred to, first with Claudio and Hero and later with Benedick and Beatrice. However, after researching and analyzing the play in depth I now realize how truly obsessed Shakespeare is with the theme. There are an extensive amount of references to lovesickness, both visible to the nonobservant and vigilant eye.
The visual media project that my group and I produced has contributed to my understanding of the play. We organized our visuals strategically to represent the comic curve and how lovesickness in Much Ado about Nothing mirrors that. We began the presentation with pictures representing falling in love. A few of them include cupid and his arrows, images of hearts, a sketched note, happy couples etc. Next, is the abnormal stage according to the curve and our visuals include people, young and old, who are sick. Finally, the last portion of pictures signifies bonding and connecting. There are images of holding hands, spending time together, kissing, making love and getting married. It is the resolution phase in the slideshow, the play, and the comic curve.
Our orientation of slides also reflects the relationship of Hero and Claudio. Their love affair began very well when they fell for each other. However, in the middle of the play, and the middle of the presentation, Claudio falls out of love with Hero when he sees a man and woman making love and assumes that it is Hero. By the end of the play, the confusion is resolved and the couple remarries, and reunites their bond of love. The finale of our slideshow represents reunion and resurrection of the beauty of love.
I previously investigated Sonnet 16. This sonnet advocates the bond of love and marriage which corresponds linearly to Shakespeare’s theme of lovesickness. The sonnet is expressed through the viewpoint of Beatrice. She is indeed a victim of lovesickness in the play Much Ado about Nothing. In the beginning of the play she was opposed to being in love and to getting married. Ever since she overheard Ursula and Hero talking of Benedick’s love for her, her mind has changed. The sonnet captures her new feelings of surrendering to and being a hopeless victim of love. Her lovesickness, in both the play and the sonnet, lasts until the very end. For example, the sonnet includes, “O no! It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken… but bears it out even to the edge of doom.” The bond created through lovesickness is unconditionally infinite and is portrayed accordingly in the sonnet and remains intact in the plays conclusion.
