Too Much Ado About Nothing?

What do you think that the theme of the play is? Remember, a theme is not just a word, it is a whole sentence that conveys the message that the author (Shakespeare) is trying to get across to the audience (you). Find three quotes from the play to support your assertion.

I think the theme of the play is that people make big deals out of nothing. Hence the title, Much Ado About Nothing. One example is of Beatrice and Benedict making BIG deals out of love and marriage. One quote, by Beatrice is in Act 1, Scene 1, Line 125-6. She tells Benedict that she "had rather hear [her] dog bark at a crow than a man swears he loves [her]." Oh, please. Tell that to yourself by the end of the play. 

Another exaggeration, by Benedick, is when he is arguing with Claudio over whether Hero is hot or not. In Act 1, Scene 1, 219-22, he says: "That I neither feel how she should be loved, nor know how she should be worthy, is the opinion that fire cannot melt out of me. I will die in it at the stake." He literally said that if he was burning to death, he would not think otherwise. Dramatic, much?

One last example of the much ado about nothing in this play is when Claudio slut shames Hero at their wedding. I understand that at that time it was a life-ruining thing if a woman was not a virgin before she was married, but he still made it a much bigger deal than necessary, especially with the fact that he did it in front of everyone. Leonato, Hero's dad says: "Death is the fairest cover for her shame that may be wished for" (Act 4, Scene 1, Line 114-5). Okay, really? Even if it was true, you'd rather your daughter be dead? Puh-lease.

Those are just three of the many examples of the exaggerations in Much Ado About Nothing.