How is the theme of honor presented in Much Ado About Nothing?

Honor is a much-desired quality in most people but historically it has been the cause of many disturbances, rifts and killings. Honor means different things to different people and such is the dilemma facing anyone who upholds it. It also has opposing perspectives when considered from a female or male point of view. Such is the problem facing Much Ado About Nothing.

Even from the outset, honor is associated with keeping up appearances. In line 6 of Act I, scene i a messenger comments on the casualties from battle by advising Leonato that "none of name" has been lost. The messenger further discusses Benedick's virtues when he says in line 47, "A man to a man; stuffed with all honorable virtues" because being a "good soldier " is a sure sign of honor. A man's honor is also affected by the way his wife or future wife behaves and she can dishonor him if she is not obedient and chaste. In assessing Hero, Claudio asks in line 141, "Is she not a modest young lady?" indicating the virtues necessary in a woman to make her worthy and therefore honorable.     

Being honorable and appearing to be honorable creates conflict in the play especially when apparently honorable men behave dishonorably such as when considering Hero's fidelity or lack thereof. Claudio and Don Pedro are aware of Don John's reputation and yet they are persuaded by him because they consider a man more capable of honor than a woman. To them, honor defines a man and a dishonorable man denies his masculinity which would be a preposterous notion.

Therefore, they more readily accept that a woman may behave inappropriately and it is that she dishonors her husband or her father rather than herself. Even if a woman's name is unreasonably maligned and with no proof, it is already too late for her. Only a man can fight for honor; his own or his wife's. Hero's own father laments how she has dishonored him and wishes her dead, becoming quite vindictive when he says, "The wide sea hath drops too few to wash her clean again"(IV.i.141). Honor is thus presented from a male perspective to satisfy his audience but, as with all Shakespeare's works, Shakespeare is himself far more open-minded to the truth.