Much Ado About Nothing - Characters - CCEA

There are two main love stories in this play. One shows Claudio falling in love with Hero, then being tricked into thinking she is disloyal. He denounces her at the altar and later discovers he is in the wrong. To make amends, he agrees to marry Antonio's daughter, who turns out to be Hero in disguise.

The other story is that of Benedick and Beatrice. At the start of the play they tease each other and bicker. Later, they are tricked into realising their love for the other and eventually they agree to marry.

Main characters

• Benedick
• Beatrice
• Claudio

Secondary characters

• Hero
• Don John
• Don Pedro
• Leonato

Minor characters

• Dogberry
• Antonio
• Borachio
• Conrade
• Margaret
• Ursula
• The Watch
• The Friar

Benedick is one of the main characters in this play and is initially presented as light-hearted and carefree. In his banter with Beatrice he seems quick-witted and arrogant. When talking to his friend Claudio, he scorns love and vows he will never marry. He is portrayed as mature and as having known Beatrice previously.

However, he appears hurt by Beatrice's sharp words about him at the masked ball and he is quick to give in to desire when he overhears his friends discussing Beatrice and her apparent love for him.

By the end of the play we see Benedick transformed from soldier to lover and he asks for Beatrice's hand in marriage. Their banter continues on less severe terms than at the start.

Beatrice is Benedick's equal, matching his wordplay in the opening scenes with clever retorts and put-downs. Even from the start their lively banter seems to hide deeper feelings of desire.

When she overhears Hero and Ursula talking about how Benedick loves her, she is quick to soften and acknowledge her own feelings for her former opponent.

She defends her cousin, Hero, when she is accused of being unfaithful and pleads with Benedick to “Kill Claudio!” She represents the inequality in society at the time, showing how, as a woman, she is unable to take action and seek revenge.

In the end she agrees to marry Benedick, though she continues to tease him until he silences her with a kiss.

Claudio is an honourable soldier and friend to Benedick and Don Pedro. He falls in love with Hero at first sight, showing his romantic nature (although it could be argued that this hastiness reveals an immaturity).

He asks for Hero's hand in marriage but is then tricked by Don John into believing that his wife-to-be has been unfaithful. His behaviour at the wedding is cruel as he accuses Hero of dishonesty in front of the congregation.

Later, when he hears Borachio's confession and realises his mistake, he is repentant. He apologises to Leonato and agrees to marry Hero's cousin without even meeting her. He is delighted at the second marriage to unveil his new wife and find she is actually his beloved Hero.

Hero is the innocent and obedient daughter of Leonato. She contrasts with the more outspoken and independent Beatrice and presents a conventional image of a suitable and desirable wife.

Claudio describes her as a ‘jewel’ when he first meets her and praises her for being ‘modest’. He accuses her on their wedding day of being unfaithful, and she faints. The Friar advises her father to pretend she is dead, to give her a chance of a life.

At the end of the play, when Claudio has seen the error of his accusations, Hero is given to him as a wife, in disguise as Antonio's daughter.

Don John is a thoroughly unpleasant character. Some readers say he is too evil to be believed. He appears first in Act 1 Scene 1 as a sulky and bad-tempered character. He says he is honest in that he admits his true nature, though in fact he is untrustworthy.

He is jealous of Claudio and plots to damage the soldier's new‑found romance with Hero. With Borachio and Conrade, Don John sets up a scene that appears to show Hero being unfaithful. The audience learns that they intend to trick Claudio by showing him Margaret declaring her love for Borachio and making him think she is his wife‑to‑be.

At the end of the play we learn that Don John has tried to escape but is arrested and brought back to Messina.

Don Pedro is the Prince of Arragon and Don John’s brother. At the start of the play he returns from the wars with Benedick and Claudio. When Claudio confesses that he is in love with Hero, Don Pedro offers to woo her for him at the masked ball. He keeps his promise, even though Claudio becomes suspicious.

He is involved in the tricking of Benedick with Leonato and Claudio. In the orchard scene he appears witty and light‑hearted as he plays with words and sets up Benedick.

He supports Claudio in denouncing Hero at the wedding and later joins his friend to make amends by praying at her tomb.

Leonato is the Duke of Messina, Hero’s father and Beatrice’s uncle. At the start of the play he welcomes the soldiers to his home.

He is shown as a protective and caring father and a generous host. He holds a masked ball for his guests and later helps trick Benedick in the orchard, perhaps as part of his patriarchal feelings towards his niece, Beatrice.

At the wedding, when Hero is accused by Claudio, Leonato focuses on his own sense of dishonour and wishes for death, both for himself and his daughter. However, he later shows forgiveness by allowing Claudio to marry Hero.

• Dogberry – the Captain of the Watch. He is officious and takes his role seriously, but is also largely ineffective. This is partly because he is comically lenient with any criminal he catches, but mainly because of his overblown and unclear manner of speech which makes his communication hard to understand. His inaccurate speech forms the basis of some of the comedy in the play.

• Antonio – Leonato’s brother, who takes part in the deception of Claudio at the ‘second’ wedding by pretending the disguised Hero is his daughter.

• Borachio – Don John’s immoral associate, who comes up with the plan to disgrace Hero at the altar. Margaret, Hero’s maid, is attracted to him, a fact he uses to set the plan in motion by pretending she is Hero and using her as ‘evidence’ of Hero’s unfaithfulness. He is arrested for bragging about his part in the plan.

• Conrade – another loyal but immoral associate of Don John’s, who is arrested by the Watch alongside Borachio.

• Margaret – Hero’s maid. She is sometimes witty and bawdy in her speech, and she is attracted to Borachio; it is she who is mistaken for Hero when Borachio sets up his tryst with her as ‘evidence’ of Hero being with other men.

• Ursula – another maid attending to Hero, who helps in the plan to make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love.

• The Watch – the police of Messina, comprised of Verges, Seacole and others.

• Friar Francis – first contracted to marry Hero to Claudio, he is the first man to believe Hero’s innocence after Claudio’s denunciation, and seems to have a good understanding of human nature when he notes people most want what they had when they no longer have it. It is the Friar who suggests the plan of pretending Hero has died and helps to hide her before conducting the second wedding later.