MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHINGの喜劇的構造

抄録

The main plot of Much Ado About Nothing bears a striking resemblance to that of Othello. Their difference is only in that one comes to a happy ending while the other rushes into a disastrous catastrophe. The story that a lover is tricked into believing his beloved to be false and rejects her bitterly is undoubtedly tragical. In Othello Shakespeare explored the psychology of the man who was driven to stand in such a plight. In Much Ado he chose a similar story as the chief material of a romantic comedy, but, needless to say, it was not suitable to comic dramatisation, even if it had a happy denouement. He had to relieve the tragedy of the story as much as he intensified it in Othello. He improved Leonato's status so that he did not need to feel small before Claudio in both rank and wealth; made Hero as sparing of words as possible and avoided leaving her alone with Claudio; weakened the force of evil by making Don John and other villains less intelligent; omitted the rendezvous scene of margaret and Borachio lest they should appear more wicked; abstained from dwelling on Claudio's mental suffering at the expense of him; and made the audience feel easy by giving the knowledge that the scheme against Hero had already been discovered before the church scene and only awaiting the disclosure. Moreover Shakespeare interweaved this main plot with the comic sub-plot of Beatrice and Benedick. The characters of Hero and Claudio are restricted in various ways by the parts they have to play, but Beatrice and Benedick give full scope to their gay and witty turns of mind. The former pair is easily brought together at the beginning and then separated by a malicious trick, whereas the latter pair, separated at first by mutual mistrust, is brought together by a, this time well-intentioned, trick. Antithesis is one of the well-worn devices in Shakespeare's dramaturgy, and he employs it here again with brilliant dexterity. It is, however, through the impact of Hero's calamity that the declared antagonists are brought to a final union. Thus the main and under plots are combined with the highest degree of closeness. This comedy is built up on tricks and overhearings, which are counted by eight times respectively. The drama is made to be complicated and interesting by the alternations and clashes of these devices.