Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing Analysis

In Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, Branagh takes a minor character who didn’t have much to contribute to the plot and uses his song as an important part of the plot development in the movie. The song is used three times throughout the movie during central parts—the beginning, the middle, and the end. What Branagh is doing by placing Balthazar’s song throughout the play, is showing the audience the main point of the play which is that Hero will supposedly be an unchaste women and it matters because she is a female and not a male. The song is placed in three different spots as a reminder to the audience of what is going on.

The first time the audience is introduced to the song is in the opening line. As someone who recently read the play, one would recognize this song from a different part of the play. Beatrice reads it out loud as if it were a poem at first, but then it goes into the song it was written as. The beginning opens with a black screen, but then it leads into the world Branagh created which is full of sunshine and laughter. The next time the audience will hear the lyrics is towards the middle right before Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato trick Benedick into believing Beatrice was in love with him. The third time the song is placed in the movie is after the climax of the play when everything has settled down and Claudio is aware that Hero has not made a mockery out of his ego. I think all placements of the song were deliberate. The way one could read it is as a foreshadowing to what is to come.

In the play, Balthasar expresses his talent isn’t the best by saying to Don Pedro, “O, good my lord, tax not so bad a voice To slander music anymore than once” (2.3. 42-43). Whether his voice is truly bad or good, the comment is meant as a showing of good manners because to not be modest is of bad taste. However, the reception of the song leads audiences to believe there is always room for improvement by Benedick’s hidden harsh critique:

An he had been a dog that should have howled thus

they would have hanged him.

And I pray God his bad voice bode no mischief.

I had as lief have heard the night raven,

come what plague could have come after it. (2.3. 63-66)

This is interesting since no one seemed to wonder why he chose to sing this song. Before he begins the song, he insinuates Don Pedro is a man who behaves promiscuously. While he sings, the audience can gather what he is alluding to by the lyrics. So what is the importance of the song in the movie?

This song became a central point in the movie because the lyrics are addressing a common thread that still exists today: a double standard. Although Balthazar’s role is mainly for entertainment, some people can see through the lyrics he sings about how gender roles are perceived. Double standards can be found anywhere in current times and in past times. The double standard that is presented in the song is still very relevant in current times. The song is saying certain people (men) are allowed to be promiscuous whereas (women) have to be virginal and chaste until marriage. The song is mentioned three times in the movie. Each time beginning with, “Ladies, sigh no more” (2.3. 64). This opening line explains how something is bothering women. The next line reads, “Men were deceivers ever” (2.3. 65). From this line, the audience realizes the meaning behind the song. Through these lyrics, the audiences understands the song is about infidelity. It is with this second line that the audience will understand the lyrics have a deeper meaning and involvement with the plot. The song continues to say men will lie and cheat to get what they want and when it comes to women, they will objectify them through sex. After the deed is done, men will drop all contact with whomever he had a relationship with. The song is telling women they shouldn’t have trusted men. The beginning lyrics set the tone of what should be expected from men—that men have always behaved this way and it should just be accepted by everyone. This reason is why women are said to be sighing several times within the song. This common thread is so relevant in today’s culture. Men are still accepted when they “sleep around,” but if a woman takes agency for her own sex life she is considered a “slut.”

By placing the song several times within the movie, Branagh is making it easier for the audience to understand what is going on within the movie. It’s by his first placement that the audience can see why he made the decision to frame it the way he did. He uses Beatrice’s voice over the lyrics like a sing along version to High School Musical. By doing this, he is framing the audience to be welcomed in to sing along with her. This will let the audience open up with humor at the expense of the songs meaning. It through his framing the audience can appreciate Branagh’s location of the film. He has taken audiences from the printed text to the stage and now to the big screen.  

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