Much Ado About Nothing: Allusions 9 key examples

The suggestion that Benedick will be able to substitute for "blind Cupid" if he ever falls in love contrary to his stated beliefs implicitly highlights Benedick's own "blindness" to the fact that he will later fall in love with Beatrice. The allusion also establishes a parallel between Cupid shooting his arrows without seeing his target and love striking Benedick, Beatrice, Claudio, and Hero where they least expect it. Indeed, when Hero prepares to hold a staged conversation in Act 3, Scene 1 that will convince Beatrice that Benedick is in love with her, she declares:

Of this matter
Is little Cupid’s crafty arrow made,  
That only wounds by hearsay.

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Since Cupid is blind, he can only use what he hears—"hearsay"—as a guide when shooting his arrows. Likewise, Hero, Beatrice, and Benedick all fall in love without the use of sight: Hero falls in love with Claudio while both are masked at the ball, and Benedick and Beatrice fall in love by eavesdropping on their friends. Cupid is therefore a suitable figure to encapsulate both the unpredictability of love and the use of rumors and eavesdropping to spark romance in the play.

Using the metaphor of a house, Claudio suggests that thoughts of love have now replaced thoughts of war in his mind. This illustrates how greatly his mindset has changed after his return from the battlefield.

However, although the romance plots that entangle the men in Messina seem trivial by comparison to the military matters to which the men are accustomed, the challenges of courtship often resemble those of war. Indeed, Leonato explicitly describes the hostility between Beatrice and Benedick as a "merry war" or "skirmish of wit" in Act 1, Scene 1. The numerous allusions to Cupid, the god of love armed with arrows, also encapsulate this relationship between courtship and war. In Act 3, Scene 2, for instance, Hero notes, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." Love, then, can be just as violent as war. 

Here, Beatrice suggests that a marriage proceeds in three phases, each of which can be compared to a dance. The "wooing" phase of a relationship resembles a "Scotch jig," a fast-paced folk dance, because of the whirlwind excitement of falling in love. The "wedding" is a dignified ritual like a "measure," a term that refers to a variety of ceremonial dances in 16th- and 17th-century Britain. Finally, Beatrice jokes that "repenting" is the final phase of a marriage because, in her view, all those who marry come to regret it. This phase of marriage resembles the "cinquepace," a 16th-century French dance, suggesting that marriage traps a couple into going through the same motions until death. Through this simile, Beatrice reveals her perception of marriage as an absurd ritual that dooms both parties to dissatisfaction. 

By alluding to formidable figures from legend, including "Prester John" (a legendary Eastern king), "Cham" (the ruler of the Mongols), and "the Pygmies" (a mythical race from Greek mythology), Benedick declares that he would rather attempt impossible tasks than interact with Beatrice. His language here is a hyperbolic expression of his intense aversion to Beatrice. His use of hyperbole not only contributes to the comic tone of the play, but also makes the prospect of his falling in love with Beatrice seem even more unlikely. This increases the audience's anticipation for their ultimate marriage. 

In Act 2, Scene 1, Benedick suggests that he does not want to be like Hercules because Beatrice would tyrannize him despite his strength: "She would have made Hercules have turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make the fire, too," he says, suggesting that Hercules would, in this scenario, cook for Beatrice.

In Act 3, Scene 3, after the two have fallen in love, Beatrice positions Hercules as the ideal man and challenges Benedick to rise to his example, lamenting that "he is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it." In other words, a man of genuine Herculean caliber would prove the love he swears to have for Beatrice by killing Claudio to avenge her cousin. Now smitten with Beatrice, Benedick agrees to kill his friend—and thus rises to the challenge of becoming like Hercules to prove his love. In doing so, he ironically proves his earlier statement true: he's now willing to do anything for her, it seems, just as Hercules would be willing to cook for her instead of going about his normal activities as a buff hero.

Later in the same scene, Benedick declares to the Prince that he would not marry Beatrice "though she were endowed with all that Adam had left him before he transgressed"—that is, the Garden of Eden. It is ironic that, despite the pair's outward hostility toward each other, they are prone to using the same allusions. In fact, Beatrice's comment that she would not marry a man because all men are "Adam's sons" (making them her relatives) further implies that she and Benedick are alike. Beatrice and Benedick's shared allusion to Adam thus foreshadows the fact that they are well-matched romantically despite their fraught relationship. 

The suggestion that Benedick will be able to substitute for "blind Cupid" if he ever falls in love contrary to his stated beliefs implicitly highlights Benedick's own "blindness" to the fact that he will later fall in love with Beatrice. The allusion also establishes a parallel between Cupid shooting his arrows without seeing his target and love striking Benedick, Beatrice, Claudio, and Hero where they least expect it. Indeed, when Hero prepares to hold a staged conversation in Act 3, Scene 1 that will convince Beatrice that Benedick is in love with her, she declares:

Of this matter
Is little Cupid’s crafty arrow made,  
That only wounds by hearsay.

Cite this Quote

Since Cupid is blind, he can only use what he hears—"hearsay"—as a guide when shooting his arrows. Likewise, Hero, Beatrice, and Benedick all fall in love without the use of sight: Hero falls in love with Claudio while both are masked at the ball, and Benedick and Beatrice fall in love by eavesdropping on their friends. Cupid is therefore a suitable figure to encapsulate both the unpredictability of love and the use of rumors and eavesdropping to spark romance in the play.

Using the metaphor of a house, Claudio suggests that thoughts of love have now replaced thoughts of war in his mind. This illustrates how greatly his mindset has changed after his return from the battlefield.

However, although the romance plots that entangle the men in Messina seem trivial by comparison to the military matters to which the men are accustomed, the challenges of courtship often resemble those of war. Indeed, Leonato explicitly describes the hostility between Beatrice and Benedick as a "merry war" or "skirmish of wit" in Act 1, Scene 1. The numerous allusions to Cupid, the god of love armed with arrows, also encapsulate this relationship between courtship and war. In Act 3, Scene 2, for instance, Hero notes, "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." Love, then, can be just as violent as war. 

"Dian in her orb" refers to Diana, the virgin goddess of the hunt and the moon (her "orb") in Roman mythology. Venus, meanwhile, is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and desire. Claudio's simile compares Hero's outward appearance to the chaste Diana, but he states that she is, in reality, promiscuous like Venus. This allusion to the Roman goddesses highlights the distinction between appearances and reality that plagues the characters throughout the play, particularly with regard to women's sexuality. The fact that a woman's apparent loyalty cannot be trusted plagues the male characters throughout the play because it leaves them at risk of being betrayed and thus turned into "cuckolds." By making allusions to two different Roman goddesses, Claudio illustrates the seeming duality of women that the male characters so fear. 

In Act 2, Scene 1, Benedick suggests that he does not want to be like Hercules because Beatrice would tyrannize him despite his strength: "She would have made Hercules have turned spit, yea, and have cleft his club to make the fire, too," he says, suggesting that Hercules would, in this scenario, cook for Beatrice.

In Act 3, Scene 3, after the two have fallen in love, Beatrice positions Hercules as the ideal man and challenges Benedick to rise to his example, lamenting that "he is now as valiant as Hercules that only tells a lie and swears it." In other words, a man of genuine Herculean caliber would prove the love he swears to have for Beatrice by killing Claudio to avenge her cousin. Now smitten with Beatrice, Benedick agrees to kill his friend—and thus rises to the challenge of becoming like Hercules to prove his love. In doing so, he ironically proves his earlier statement true: he's now willing to do anything for her, it seems, just as Hercules would be willing to cook for her instead of going about his normal activities as a buff hero.

Leander is a figure from Greek mythology who swam across the Hellespont every night to be with Hero, a priestess with whom he fell in love. Meanwhile, Troilus is a Trojan prince from Greek mythology who fell in love with Cressida despite his earlier contempt for romance, after which Cressida betrayed him by falling in love with another man. Benedick declares that he is more in love with Beatrice than Leander, Troilus, or any other epic heroes; in fact,  compared to him, they are mere "quondam carpetmongers," or people who are overly fond of pleasure. 

The allusion to Leander is particularly significant because he loved a woman named Hero in the original Greek myth. Benedick, then, subtly suggests that his love for Beatrice exceeds that of Claudio for the Hero of this play. The timing of these allusions is also notable: Benedick gives this soliloquy right before he agrees to kill Claudio for Beatrice. Therefore, by affirming the intensity of Benedick's love for Beatrice and showing how much he has changed since the beginning of the play, these allusions help justify his subsequent decision to turn on his friend. 

Claudio suggests that Benedick is anxious about the possibility of Beatrice's infidelity, which would lead him to don the cuckold's horns and become "the savage bull." However, Claudio transforms this imagery into something positive through his allusion to Europa and Jove. In the original Greek myth, Jove wooed Europa by transforming himself into a bull. Claudio suggests that, like Jove, he should embrace marriage with its accompanying risk of cuckoldry, as embodied by the image of the horns tipped with gold.  

At the very end of the scene, Benedick embraces this optimistic vision of marriage by declaring, "There is no staff more reverend than one tipped with horn." Benedick's use of this metaphor shows that he has overcome his earlier opposition to marriage and decided to accept it, even if it comes with risks. The allusion to Europa and Jove thus demonstrates that Benedick has come to terms with the prospect of marriage.