SOURCE: Henze, Richard. “Deception in Much Ado About Nothing.” Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 11, no. 2 (spring 1971): 187-201.

In the following essay, Henze offers an analysis of Claudio's character that focuses on the threat Claudio poses to social harmony.

Two major difficulties in Much Ado About Nothing, the question of unity and the character of Claudio, periodically reappear to be resolved or unresolved by the critics. On the first problem, critical opinion has been divided. While some critics feel that there is an inartistic disharmony in the combination of Hero and Claudio with Benedick and Beatrice,¹ that the play's serious and comic plots are involved with each other rather than integrated,² that there is an “inconsistency of purpose,”³ or that the play as we have it represents a less than perfect revision of an earlier play,⁴ other critics see instead considerable skill in the combination of elements in Much...