Discover Top Posts Tagged with #oh claudio

I got an interesting question from thetenthdoctormccoy and my reply was becoming ridiculously long so I turned it into a post. Here's the question:

Hey! I saw your post about NMTD and I was really interested in it. I wanted to ask you more about Claudio. Personally, I hate Claudio with a passion. I hated him when I first read the play in high school, and every time I've watched a version of it since. (Especially in the BBC version with Billie Piper.) I wanted to ask you what you think of how Claudio is portrayed as a very jealous person in NMTD. I don't remember him being like that as overtly in the play, but it's been awhile.

Oh, Claudio. I have so many feelings about him. He really gets the short end of the stick. To be honest, I don't think Claudio is a very jealous person. I think he's a passionate person and I don't think he tends to think much before he speaks (mainly because he's young) but I don't think he's jealous. But I think a lot of adaptations have to change that aspect of him to make the story work.

The problem lies in updating the story. Much Ado was (probably) written in 1598 and the sources for the Claudio/Hero plotline all date from the 16th Century. This is a time period still very much obsessed with royalty, honor, and other very important ideas that just don't quite translate to a modern adaptation.

During the masked ball in Act II, Scene I, when all the confusion is finally cleared up and Hero and Claudio get together, Leonato tells Claudio, "take of me my daughter and with her, my fortunes" and Claudio, when he finally speaks, tells Hero, "Lady, as you are mine, I am yours. I give away myself for you, and dote upon the exchange." These lines are easily glossed over by the modern readers as the "awwww, they got together" moment but you know what really happened there? They got married. It's called a spousal and in Elizabethan times, speaking those words in front of witnesses (and Leonato and Don Pedro are pretty big witnesses) made you as good as married. Although the marriage ceremony would of course still have to take place, a spousal is basically a legally binding engagement so the ceremony was more for show than anything else at this point.

That's why, when Claudio's going on his rant at the wedding and Leonato's all, "Well, if YOU slept with her, it's cool," it really would have been okay. Most couples consummated their marriage after their spousal. True fact, it's estimated less than half of Elizabethan brides were virgins on their wedding nights. But Claudio not only knows that he didn't sleep with Hero, he (thinks he) saw her with another man WITH HIS COMMANDING OFFICER/PRINCE. Even if Claudio wanted to take back his stupid rant at this point (and I have seen a few productions where it's clear Claudio is more heartbroken than angry and tries to run to her when she swoons, only to be dragged back by Don Pedro,) Don Pedro is upset at what he sees as an affront to his honor by having his best officer "tricked" into marrying someone he thinks isn't worthy. It's bigger than just Claudio's hurt feelings; they've pissed off the prince and he isn't going to let this stand.

It's interesting to remember that, after Claudio and Don Pedro are tricked, they don't spend a single scene apart, really, as if they constantly have to remind each other that they're in the right, despite all these sad and angry people around them.

Of course, when you do an updated version of Much Ado, no matter how you translate the characters, there's no way you can make Don Pedro have that much sway over Claudio's relationship with Hero. In the modern world, it just doesn't work any more. Your boss/coach/friend, no matter how much pull he has over you, doesn't dictate your love life. The easiest way to compensate for that is to make Claudio jealous. Jealous guys definitely still exist and Claudio's actions, which before were dictated by breaches in honor, mostly, now become dictated by jealousy. It's an easy switch but it does make Claudio look like a way bigger dick. NMTD's Claudio has definitely fallen into this category. But I don't see a way he couldn't have.

Also, I've never seen an 'already married' Hero and Claudio, which, now that I think about it, I would really like to see in an modern adaptation. Like, they could get secretly married before the ceremony and then have everything go down before their big public ceremony. That would be awesome. Someone do that.

Anyway, obviously, I'm in no way exonerating all the stupid nonsense Claudio does. He says a lot of horrible, hateful things. But I also think that a lot of people just go "he's a douche" and write him off, which isn't quite right, either.

Basically, Claudio gets dicked over. And he doesn't always do it to himself. To be honest, I see him less as an actual character and more as a pawn in a game between Don Pedro and Don John. And, unfortunately, Don Pedro doesn't even know he's playing half the time.

#much ado about nothing #claudio #nmtd #nothing much to do #oh claudio #you can't do anything right

You know you got a good friendship going when they hand you a blank receipt they'd written on in rows and rows of Spanish and ask you to translate to watch your world burn.

#oh claudio #i don't want him to move to sweden #bah humbug

Visit Original Link

If it was up to me I would've figured you out Way before the year clocked out Oh, I hope you're waiting...

#coheed and cambria #the suffering #oh claudio

Visit Original Link

But you.... you were my favorite.

#coheed and cambria #the crowing #oh claudio #in keeping secrets of silent earth: 3

Claudio to the Audience: hey guys...how's it going? Do you guys want talking or do you want to hear all of these back to front? Put up your hand if you want talking

-entire audience puts hands up-

Claudio: ....you motherfuckers

#Oh claudio #Coheed #Cotf #Neverender DVD