Preface to Anxious Masculinity and Women as the Other in Shakespeares

Much Ado About Nothing

The final essay in this collection is included to meet the research requirement of the
English Literature portfolio. I wrote this essay in the winter of 2014 for the English 401
Shakespeare seminar, taught by Dr. Eaton. This was the first time I took the course. As I
indicated in the introduction, this course was quite a challenge for me because of my initial
dislike for all things Shakespeare, so I consider this essay to be a sign of significant
improvement. At this point in my college career, I had just returned from a semester abroad in
Canterbury, England. I remember noticing I was less motivated in my academics. I felt
disoriented and uninspired. The rigorous reading schedule of this course was almost too much
for me. However, I discovered that I enjoyed watched the movie adaptations of the plays we
read for class. I made it a habit to watch the adaptation after I had finished the reading. This not
only motivated me but helped me understand that Shakespeare truly is meant to be performed.
I spent three weeks writing this essay probably the longest amount of time Ive ever
dedicated to one paper or project, other than my senior thesis. As I researched, I discovered a
vast amount of rich resources online that dramatically improved my overall understanding of
how to analyze Shakespeare. I consider this paper to be the first truly well-researched essay of
my college career. The comments I received were mostly positive. However, I once again
struggled with paragraphing (my original first paragraph was an entire page and a half). This

assignment helped me understand early modern culture and provided me with a helpful context
to more fully comprehend the world in which Shakespeare was writing.

Anxious Masculinity and Women as the Other in Shakespeares

Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare highlights the early modern English issue of male anxiety towards female
infidelity and sexual betrayal in the romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing. By developing
Claudios jealous love for Hero and Heros obvious innocence, Shakespeare emphasizes the early
modern periods tendency to portray women as the other, as outsiders in a patriarchal society.
In order for women to be understood, they must be interpreted or read by men, which leads to
the objectification of women. Claudios anxiety towards Heros supposed impurity is a
manifestation of the early modern view of women as the other. In this view, masculinity is
defined by the males ability to interpret a woman solely based on her purity. This male anxiety
towards female infidelity reflects a view of women as inherently untrustworthy and deceitful.
In Much Ado About Nothing, this anxiety is demonstrated through numerous jokes and
references to cuckoldry, all made by the male characters. The women of Much Ado About
Nothing confirm the mens honor and reputation, and not the reverse. Specifically, Claudios
reputation is dependent on Heros reputation, even before they are married. The plays marriage
theme is deeply tied to the theme of deception about cuckoldry anxiety is a manifestation of
mens desire to know the unknowable concerning a womans sexual fidelity. Masculinity is
defined in part by this intense desire to interpret the status of a womans sexual purity. In Much
Ado About Nothing, masculinity is defined by the fear of a womans potential to be sexually
disloyal. The men in Much Ado attempt to counteract this masculine anxiety by trying to read
women like texts.

Cuckoldry anxiety is an important theme in early modern English culture. Many popular
songs and stories from the English Renaissance center on cuckold jokes and jealous male lovers
suspicions of their wives fidelity (Maus 561). Consequently, the cuckold figure frequents the
early modern stage, particularly in Shakespearean drama. Although the cuckold figure extends
at least as far back as the medieval fabliau, and forward to its current use in some cultures as an
insulting gesture, it became particularly popular in English Renaissance drama (McEachern
607). The word itself comes from the bird cuckoo, a bird that lays its eggs in the nest of a
different bird, consequently avoiding the responsibility of raising its young (McEachern 615).
Specifically in Shakespeares romantic comedies, cuckoldry is presented as a direct result of
marriage, a universal condition an inevitable consequence of marriage itself (Cohen 6). The
prominent horns of the cuckold figure earned a place in literature precisely because they are
exposed to the public eye (McEachern 607).
Scholars have debated the significance of the horn in recent decades; however, the
presence of the eye-catching horn(s) is most often associated with cultural anxiety. The
extruding horn on the cuckolds head is both a phallic symbol and a symbol of the inevitability of
emasculation that marriage brings (Cook 187). Because a cuckolds horn(s) protrude from his
head, the shame and humiliation associated with the womans sexual betrayal is public. In
becoming a public spectacle, the cuckold is emasculated because it is revealed to the community
that he no longer has power and control over his wife. The cuckolds horn displaces a form
of anxiety, or at least uncertainty (which is generally held to produce the former) (McEachern
611). Early modern audiences believed that cuckoldry was an unavoidable aspect of marriage
because men only have a womans word for the paternity of their children (Cook 187). With
only a womans word, masculinity is threatened by the potential illegitimacy of a child, who

has the responsibility to carry on the family name. In other words, a man could never truly know
if his wife was pregnant with his child, or the child of another. Out of this uncertainty comes a
growing, intense anxiety towards the sexual loyalty of a married woman. In the final lines of
Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick instructs Don Pedro to get thee a wife. / There is no staff
more reverend than one tipped with horn (5.4.1117-18). His advice reflects the early modern
assumption that married men will always become cuckolds.
The abundance of cuckold jokes at the beginning of Much Ado reinforces the early
modern idea that cuckoldry is a direct result of marriage. Benedick voices the opinion held by
all of the men in Much Ado that women are inherently disloyal:
That a woman conceived me, I thank her. That she brought me up, I likewise give her
most humble thanks. But that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my
bugle in an invisible baldric, all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the
wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none (1.1.195-99)
Benedicks lines may be delivered as teasing, but his sarcastic remarks reveal his own insecurity
about the untrustworthiness of women, which is a reflection of a larger cultural fear of cuckoldry.
Although he acknowledges a womans potential to give birth and raise a child, Benedick cannot
allow himself to be married because of the unavoidable bugle in an invisible baldric (1.1.198).
The bugle (horn) was attached to a baldric or belt to hold it in place (Greenblatt 576).
Benedick makes the point that the belt is invisible because the bugle is really a horn growing
out of the cuckolds head. To have a horn placed prominently on ones head a trumpet blast
blowing from ones forehead is to publicize the cuckolds shame (Cook 187). Benedicks
remarks reflect his fears of marriages ability to emasculate by displaying the displaced phallus
in his forehead (Cook 187). Obviously, this male anxiety towards female infidelity is very
much centered on shame and humiliation. The womans honor determines the mans reputation.

Therefore, it is when the wifes unfaithfulness (or perceived unfaithfulness) becomes public
knowledge that the cuckold figure is created. Indeed, the cuckolds role in society is someone
at a disadvantage with respect to others characters in the play as well as the audience who
can see what he cannot (McEachern 610). Benedick expresses this fear when he mentions the
invisible baldric on his head. Because a woman holds this ability to control how a man is
perceived in the public sphere, the men must make constant jokes about cuckoldry to make light
of their vulnerability.
The idea of women as untrustworthy is manifested in the cuckoldry jokes that are
repeated frequently throughout the first scene in an obsessive manner, as if the only way the men
can appropriately express their anxiety is by way of a nervous joke. The primary purpose of
these horn jokes is to mediate cultural anxiety (McEachern 608). Don Pedro, Leonato, and
Benedick obsessively make jokes about cuckolds in the opening scene because the laughter it
solicits is nervous and it allows the men to express their very serious fears in a comedic way,
thus relieving tension and making the subject lighthearted (McEachern 610). For example,
when Don Pedro mentions that Hero is Leonatos daughter, Leonato jokingly responds Her
mother hath many times told me so, as if his wifes word cannot be taken seriously (1.1.86).
Although the line is delivered playfully and the readers are not to infer that Leonato is
harboring serious doubts, the frequency of these jokes reflects a deeper preoccupation with
female sexuality and fidelity (Cook 187). Also, the telling of cuckoldry jokes restores the male
prerogative because it silences the woman and produces male camaraderie (Cook 189).
Because one cuckold joke is never enough, Benedick jokingly questions Leonato about the
legitimacy of his daughter: Were you in doubt, sir, that you asked her? (1.1.87). Don Pedros
response is a more serious attempt to confirm Heros legitimacy as Leonatos daughter: Truly,

the lady fathers herself (1.1.90). This assertion is exactly the sort of confirmation the early
modern audience would anticipate. Since Hero looks like her father, she is assumed to be his
biological daughter, although the obsessive manner in which the men joke about cuckoldry
betrays their nervousness.
Don Pedros visual assessment is a common motif within the theme of cuckoldry.
Ocular proof is a means by which the men can confirm a childs legitimacy and, in doing so,
confirm a womans fidelity (Maus 563). In most English Renaissance dramas that deal with
cuckoldry, there is an emphasis on the jealous husbands (in this case, the husband-to-be) need to
see physical proof of the infidelity (Maus 566). This is one way the men in Much Ado interpret
or read women as texts; the men place themselves in a position to examine and determine the
legitimacy of the child a woman produces based on his or her physical likeness. The masculine
is the place of speaking and reading subjects, of manipulators and interpreters of signs (Cook
186). In this particular example, Don Pedros ability to visually examine the evidence and
make a judgment call based on the physical proof is an expression of his masculinity. This
ability to judge based on ocular proof is also an attempt to conquer the anxiety caused by the
unknown history of a womans sexual past. Furthermore, the ability to interpret women in the
play is always an act of aggression (Cook 187). Because the act of reading another human is a
demonstration of power or dominance, to be read is an act of emasculation (Cook 187). The
person being read must occupy a position of weakness. Since the act of reading and interpreting
is one of power and aggression, the men in Much Ado must interpret women as an attempt to
regain the power they feel they cannot have over their wives sexual history.
Another example of men visually interpreting women is when Claudio hides beneath
Heros window in order to catch her in the act of adultery. Initially, Don John plants the idea in

Claudios mind that Hero is unfaithful. He refuses to provide any extra details, leaving Claudio
to imagine the worst:
The word [disloyal] is too good to paint out her wickedness. I could say she were
worse. Think of you a worse title, and I will her to it Go but with me tonight,
you shall see her chamber window entered, even the night before her wedding
day. If you love her then, tomorrow wed her. But it better fit your honor to
change your mind. (3.2.91-97)
Heros reputation is formerly that of a chaste and innocent young woman. However, even the
most virtuous women might humiliate or dishonor a man (Finke 359). Because of the
cultural anxiety towards female sexuality and the belief that women are inherently deceitful,
Claudio is quick to believe his fellow man instead of waiting to see the actual proof of Heros
infidelity. At the same time, Claudio is still very interested in witnessing Heros disloyalty so he
can behold it for himself and then interpret her actions accordingly. Don John knows this is just
the sort of ocular proof that Claudio wants, which is precisely why Don John stages the
betrayal and tells Claudio to be an eyewitness. Go but with me tonight is an invitation for
Claudio to observe and interpret Heros actions for himself (3.2.93). The unacknowledged
presence of the cuckoldcasts him as both a traumatized, impotent child and as omniscient
father-judge (Maus 571). To remain unseen while seeing Heros infidelity gives Claudio a
certain level of satisfaction because he can judge her from a distance. Traditionally, the
cuckolds role is passive because he is either unaware of his plight or he is aware but unable to
do anything except watch helplessly (Maus 568). However, although Claudios role as observer
is passive, he is able to pass judgment and condemn Hero for her supposed infidelity, thus
reconstructing his role as observer into that of an interpreter. As an interpreter of women,
Claudio is no longer a passive figure, but an aggressive figure. This aggression is made manifest
later in the play when he publicly shames Hero at the wedding ceremony.

Although Don Pedro is the first and only character to express any doubt regarding Heros
unfaithfulness (I will not think it 3.2.99), Don John quickly counters him by claiming that the
only way to determine whether or not Hero is false is to see it. If you dare not trust that you
see, confess not that you know. If you will follow me I will show you enough, and when you
have seen more and heard more, proceed accordingly (3.2.100-02). In other words, Don John
subscribes to the belief that men are in charge of interpreting the unknown (Heros fidelity) based
on their senses, primarily seeing and hearing. Hero is therefore objectified because she is
reduced to a mere sign or item to be read and interpreted, instead of an actual human that can be
asked directly about the state of her purity. In her silence, Hero becomes a cipher, the target of
unconscious fantasies and fears, and is dangerously vulnerable to the representations and
misrepresentations of men (Cook 189). The emphasis on gaining knowledge from the senses is
an attempt to regain the male prerogative (Maus 564). The male role is that of the spectator who
absorbs the spectacle through seeing, hearing, smelling, etc. (Maus 569). In this analogy, the
spectacle is feminine, which means that the cuckold, after his plight is exposed, is emasculated
because he becomes the new spectacle (Maus 569). Claudios masculinity is threatened when he
hears from Don John that his betrothed is unchaste, and he is made a spectacle in front of the
prince. Because Claudio feels vulnerable, a trait that is traditionally associated with femininity,
he becomes obsessed with his own masculinity or manliness, displacing powerlessness onto
women (Finke 359). Claudios plan to publicly shame Hero at the wedding is an attempt to gain
back his masculinity by making her the spectacle and himself the spectator. In this way, the male
privilege is restored because Claudio has interpreted Heros actions as lustful and unworthy of
marriage. Because a male has construed the status of her purity, it will not be questioned.

Nothing she could say will convince the men that she is innocent. Like a text being read, Hero
remains silent while the men condemn her based on shallow evidence.
Before Claudio has any visual confirmation of Heros unfaithfulness, he has already
decided what her punishment will be: he will go through with the wedding ceremony as planned
and then publicly disgrace Hero by refusing to marry her during the ceremony. He reveals his
plans to Don John, If I see anything tonight why I should not marry her, tomorrow, in the
congregation where I should wed, there will I shame her (3.2.103-105). Heros honor and
reputation are not actually based on her actions, but on what others say about her, specifically
what other men say about her. Don John is able to paint (or portray) Hero according to his
purpose. The concept of painting women reflects the Renaissances idealization of women
(Finke 357). Masculine views of women in the English Renaissance produced a cultural fear of
female unfaithfulness. This fear, characteristic of most men in the period, conceals an
obsession with woman as a memento mori masked by a beautiful faade (Finke 360).
Although this obsession is most obvious in Shakespeares tragedies, Claudio clearly states his
suspicion of Heros exterior shows during the would-be wedding scene. He believes that
Heros innocent appearance is merely a sign and semblance of her honor, a mask that hides her
lustful nature:
Comes not that blood as modest evidence
To witness simple virtue? Would you not swear,
All you that see her, that she were a maid,
By these exterior shows? But she is none.
She knows the heat of a luxurious bed.
Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty. (4.1.35-40)

Because reputation and honor are linked with appearance, Claudio reads Heros physical
appearance like a text and assesses her based on the exterior. As a result of Don John painting
Hero in a negative and immoral way, Hero transforms from body to text: she is dispersed into
words (Finke 362). Claudio interprets Heros blush (that blood as modest evidence) as a
disguise to hide the heat she has experienced in a luxurious bed with another man (4.1.35).
Claudio infers Heros blush is simply a way to cover her sin (4.1.33). Clearly, Claudio is
convinced that underneath the blushing beauty hides a sexual appetite that is beyond his control.
He is at once attracted and repulsed by Heros appearance, and he tells her so: Fair thee well,
most foul, most fair, farewell (4.1.101). However, her supposed corruption overrides her
physical appearance of innocence and beauty. Although she is innocent, Claudio interprets
Heros beauty (the signifier) in the most unappealing way possible, to align with what he sees
when he spies on her at night. Under Claudios scrutiny, Hero formerly idealized by Claudio
is painted as a corruption of the ideal woman she once was.
Ultimately, Claudio claims Hero itself can blot out Heros virtue that is, Heros
reputation can ruin her actual virtue (4.1.81). After hiding out under Heros window and seeing
the proof of her alleged infidelity, Claudio begins to paint Hero in the same way Don John
paints her starting in Act 3 Scene 2. At its core, the masculine desire to paint women reveals
the male fantasy of power over all that is feminine and unknown (Finke 370). Because the
feminine was largely unknown to men in the English Renaissance and because the status of a
womans sexual purity could not be officially confirmed by men, a great amount of anxiety
centered on sexual betrayal. The painting of English Renaissance women reduces them to
foreign objects defined solely by their sexuality which must be interpreted by men to make
sense in a patriarchal society. Heros sexuality is as an object of knowledge that Claudio must

interpret (Breitenberg 379). In portraying Hero as the other, Don John, Claudio, and the men
in Much Ado who believe Hero is unfaithful are expressing their shared anxiety of cuckoldry and
attempting to compensate for this vulnerability in a display of dominance that is, by discerning
knowledge from appearances.
The theme of appearance versus reality is central to Heros reputation. After Claudio
points out her blush and interprets it as a sure sign of her infidelity, Leonato Heros own father
agrees that his daughter is guilty. Could she here deny / The story that is printed in her
blood? (4.1.120-121). Apparently Heros blush tells a story of her infidelity that cannot be
denied by any man who sees her. Once Claudio points out Heros blush as evidence of her
unfaithfulness, Leonato cannot ignore it. Indeed, the jealous man reads and over reads those
signs available to him (Breitenberg 379). Heros blush is the main sign to which Claudio and
Leonato firmly cling. Furthermore, Leonato takes this reasoning a step further and laments the
state of his daughters purity by essentially implying that her beauty is the reason for her
impurity, O one too much by thee! Why had I one? / Why ever wast thou lovely (4.1.129).
Leonatos initial reaction is to wish death for himself and then, after Hero faints, to
wish for her death, which speaks to the extremes of shame and rage that anxious masculinity
produces (Scheff 153). Mark Breitenberg addresses the link between anxious masculinity,
jealousy, and women as the other in the English Renaissance:
Jealousy is a form of paranoia that is always in place in an economy in which
women are constructed by men as other. In other words, the self-consuming
frustration, anxiety, and violence of the jealous man is a logical response to the
inequalities of the same patriarchal economy that has engendered his very identity
in the first place. This begins to explain why male characters and texts written by
men in the Renaissance so often anticipate being cuckolded, as if it were an
unavoidable aspect of marriage. (Breitenberg 382).

In his analysis, Breitenberg makes an especially fascinating point that cuckoldry is equated with
marriage in this period because jealous, anxious men are affected by paranoia, which then taints
their discernment and prevents them from logically responding to the disparities between men
and women within the patriarchy (382). In this case, Claudios logical response to Heros
perceived infidelity is to publicly shame her in order to express his jealousy and anxiety.
Beatrice and Benedicks relationship and Hero and Claudios relationship both involve
frustration, anxiety, and violence (Breitenberg 382). However, each couple displays these
qualities differently. Namely, shame and anger are key factors in Claudio and Heros
relationship because shame and anger play a key role in relationships that involve extensive
idealization or hostility (Scheff 150). In Claudios case, his idealization of Hero (Can the
world buy such a jewel? and In mine eyes she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on.
1.1.146-151) happens without a single conversation with her. Because of her beauty, Claudio
raises Hero up on a pedestal in his mind; however, she is still a woman, and consequently, she is
still an outsider to his masculine world. This attitude is what enables Claudios violent change
from adoration without limit to intense hatred (Scheff 162). Claudio is infatuated with the
appearance of Hero. Because he lacks actual knowledge of the other, he is more likely to
project his own desires and beliefs onto his beloved (Scheff 162). In this way, Hero is the object
of Claudios affection. Because Claudio does not actually know Hero, he projects his own
perceptions onto her. The image of the loved one is almost entirely made up in the beholders
imagination (Scheff 163). This means that Hero is subject to Claudios interpretation and
misinterpretation of her. And if men are the subjects that perform the act of interpretation, then
women are the objects of their interpretation.

Ironically, Claudio admits that his desire for marriage and his love for Hero have made
him untrustworthy. When Benedick expresses his shock at Claudios attraction and exclaims
But I hope you have no intent to turn husband, have you? Claudios reply indicates he was
once just as marriage-averse as Benedick: I would scarce trust myself though I had sworn the
contrary, if Hero would be my wife (1.1.156-159). Claudios reveals that he never intended to
marry; in fact, he had sworn the contrary. Essentially, Claudio is pointing out the fact that he
cannot trust his own word anymore because of Hero, which is an ironic foreshadowing of
Claudios inability to speak the truth about Heros purity.
Breitenberg also discusses several historical texts which point to a very deliberate,
masculine attempt to read a womens sexuality, thus categorizing women as the other. Essays
and manuals such as Tell-Trothes New-years Gift, published in 1593, and A Discourse of
Marriage and Wiving, published in 1615, emphasize the correct interpretation of women by
their prospective husbands (Breitenberg 394). In response to the cultural anxiety surrounding
cuckoldry, these texts attempt to explain women by providing an empowering, interpretive
knowledge of female sexuality (Breitenberg 394). For example, in A Discourse of Marriage
and Wiving, Alexander Niccholes describes the ideal woman as honest (Breitenberg 394).
Among other particulars, Niccholes emphasizes How to choose a good wife from a bad. She
must:
Be of a sober and mild aspect, courteous behavior, decent carriage, of a fixed eye,
constant looke and unaffected gate [because] an honest woman dwells at the signe
of an honest countenance. Wilde looks (for the most part) accompany wilde
conditions; a rowling eye is not fixed, but would fixe upon objects it likes, it looks
for, and affected nicety is ever a signe of lascivious petulancy. (Breitenberg 393394)

Although these manuals represent an attempt, however futile, to understand female sexuality,
these texts only fueled the anxiety behind cuckoldry and marriage by trying to make a
universally accurate system for interpreting women. According to Breitenberg, the advice on
how to choose a good wife in Niccholes manual is presented somewhat humorously (394).
However, the fact that many of these texts existed and were popular in the period suggests that
male readers took the material seriously.
In Tell-Trothes New-years Gift, the author heavily relies on the relationship between
sight, appearance, and knowledge. One passage in particular points to the fact that female
sexuality is inevitably outside the specular and interpretive economy that needs to know
(Breitenberg 390). If she meanes to deceive thee, her invention is hard to be prevented, for,
watch her never so narrowly, she fill finde a time to performe her knavery (Breitenberg 390). In
other words, a woman must be watched at all times because deceit is inherently a part of
femininity. This early modern way of thinking is certainly present in Much Ado About Nothing,
particularly in Claudios response to Heros supposed unfaithfulness. In fact, Hero is the
nothing that generates so much ado To note can mean to observe (to read) or to make note
of (to inscribe); both involve acts of interpretation (Cook 192).

Because she is silent for most

of the play, especially when she is accused of infidelity, Hero basically submits to the patriarchy
by inviting men to mark her reputation or read her (Cook 192). Although the status of her
purity is truly unknowable to all the men in the play, they attempt to categorize her and obtain
knowledge of her purity (or lack thereof). In this way, masculinity is thus simultaneously
empowered and threatened by the very system that shapes and sustains it (Breitenberg 394).
In order for Hero to be brought back into society, she must first die that is, her old self,
her tarnished reputation, must die before she can reenter society in an acceptable, honorable way.

This is very much tied to issues of sight, appearance, and knowledge. According to the Friar,
Hero must be secretly kept in so that Claudio thinks she died (4.1.202). When Claudio realizes
she is dead, he is supposed to experience pity instead of hatred (4.1.215). In order for this to
be successful, Hero must be concealed. Although the Friar believes Hero is innocent, he knows
there is no point in trying to prove her innocence. Instead, she must be come back to life in a
public way, thus offsetting her public shame in the wedding scene. Her reputation is already
damaged, whether she is actually guilty or not. The Friar claims that, if Hero is found to be
guilty, she should remain concealed, as befits her reputation, / In some reclusive and religious
life, / Out of all eyes, tongues, minds, and injuries (4.1.240-242). The emphasis is still on sight
because if Hero stays out of eyes, her presence will not be a threat to masculinity. The male
sexual anxiety towards women that pervades English Renaissance culture is very obviously at
work in this play because once Hero is read as unfaithful, she must leave society (die) and
then live again unpolluted. One Hero died defiled, but I do live / And surely as I live, I am a
maid (5.4.64-65). However, because of silent and submissive nature, the resurrected Hero
seems to be the same blank character from the beginning of the play. Her reputation is a blank;
she is a clean slate that has been cleared of blemishes and only waits to be marked or
interpreted once more by her the men of her society.
The English Renaissance preoccupation with female sexual loyalty is manifested in Much
Ado About Nothing through the mens obsessive jokes about cuckoldry and through themes of
marriage, deception, and reputation. As a young woman in a patriarchal society primarily
concerned with male domination, Heros sexuality poses a serious threat to all of the male
characters in the play because she has the power to reinforce cuckoldry. In an attempt to
counteract the vulnerability they experience and stabilize the patriarchy, the men of Much Ado,

specifically Claudio, Don John, Don Pedro, Benedick, and Leonato, read Hero like a text.
This process not only objectifies Hero, but intensifies cuckoldry anxiety and effectively
establishes women as the other.

Works Cited

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