Much Ado About Nothing
Character Breakdown
Primary Characters
Beatrice: Leonata’s niece and Hero’s cousin. Beatrice is “a pleasant-spirited lady” with a
very sharp tongue. She is generous and loving, but, like Benedick, continually mocks other
people with elaborately tooled jokes and puns. She wages a war of wits against Benedick and
often wins the battles. At the outset of the play, she appears content never to marry.
Benedick: An aristocratic soldier who has recently been fighting under Don Pedro, and a
friend of Don Pedro and Claudio. Benedick is very witty, always making jokes and puns. He
carries on a “merry war” of wits with Beatrice, but at the beginning of the play he swears he
will never fall in love or marry.
Claudio: A young soldier who has won great acclaim fighting under Don Pedro during the
recent wars. Claudio falls in love with Hero upon his return to Messina. His unfortunately
suspicious nature makes him quick to believe evil rumors and hasty to despair and
take revenge.
Hero: The beautiful young daughter of Leonata and the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is lovely,
gentle, and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John
slanders her and Claudio rashly takes revenge she suffers terribly.
Don Pedro: An important nobleman from Aragon, sometimes referred to as “Prince.” Don
Pedro is a longtime friend of Leonata, Hero’s mother, and is also close to the soldiers who
have been fighting under him—the younger Benedick and the very young Claudio. Don
Pedro is generous, courteous, intelligent, and loving to his friends, but he is also quick to
believe evil of others and hasty to take revenge. He is the most politically and socially
powerful character in the play.
Leonata: A respected, well-to-do, elderly noble at whose home, in Messina, Italy, the action
is set. Leonata is the mother of Hero and the aunt of Beatrice. As governor of Messina, she is
second in social power only to Don Pedro.
Don John: The illegitimate brother of Don Pedro; sometimes called “the Bastard.” Don John
is melancholy and sullen by nature, and he creates a dark scheme to ruin the happiness of
Hero and Claudio. He is the villain of the play; his evil actions are motivated by his envy of
his brother’s social authority.
Secondary Characters
Margaret: Hero’s serving woman, who unwittingly helps Borachio and Don John deceive
Claudio into thinking that Hero is unfaithful. Unlike Ursula, Hero’s other lady-in-waiting,
Margaret is lower class. Though she is honest, she does have some dealings with the
villainous world of Don John: her lover is the mistrustful and easily bribed Borachio. Also
unlike Ursula, Margaret loves to break decorum, especially with bawdy jokes and teases.
