The Meaning of Much Ado About Nothing

There is little need to ask what the central theme of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is. The answer stares us in the face. It is much ado about nothing, literally. Shakespeare makes no secret about it; he tells us point blank, since it is exactly what the title says.

Being an uncomplicated theme, Much Ado About Nothing ideally illuminates how Shakespeare weaves his meaning through the incessant echo of his motifs. From beginning to end, the thematic resonance on this central theme is intense and relentless.

Shakespeare’s plays often portray our human condition, a mundane state of being constrained by our failure to grasp the truth. We live in a disquieting world where thoughts and actions are frequently born of misperception. Much Ado About Nothing focuses on this aspect of our lives, its central theme summarized by three complementary motifs:

• Our partiality—attraction or aversion—is an arbitrary projection based on imputed qualities not inherent in the object of our feelings.
• Our feelings of liking or hating are often conjured up by a misperception of reality.
• These arbitrary feelings, born of misperception, often create unnecessary strife and turmoil, and hence “much ado about nothing.”

Thus, the title, Much Ado About Nothing, expresses the message in the play. The strife and discord—the “much ado”—arise from feelings and attitudes that are mere imputations projected upon an object or situation; these feelings and attitudes are not inherent in the object or situation, and hence are really “nothing.”

For example, our friends are “our friends” not because it is inherent in their nature; neither are our enemies “our enemies” because it is inherently so. These relationships are readily altered by external circumstances. Liking or disliking is an extraneous property we unnecessarily project onto an entity, thus making our reactions to this projection a case of much ado about something not real, i.e. nothing.

Have a close look at the entire play of Much Ado About Nothing. The thematic resonance on this dominant theme is relentless, echoing all the way from beginning to end. There is literally no respite from it. The same theme is repeated, again and again. Even the title of the play is part of the thematic resonance. This is how Shakespeare conveys his meaning.

Shakespeare has meticulously crafted every scene in each of his plays to convey its sage message to humanity, using three unique techniques: cohesive unity, thematic resonance and focused allegorical scenes. Something so elaborate and consistent in Shakespeare’s plays could not have occurred by chance. What this means is that Shakespeare is an even greater literary genius than previously thought, and his plays are more wonderful and profound than previously imagined.