A young Florentine soldier who fights for Don Pedro, and a friend of Benedick. He falls in love with Hero and plans to marry her, but disgraces her publicly after he is tricked by Don John and Borachio into thinking she has been unfaithful. By the end of the play, after her faithfulness has been proven, he marries her. Claudio is one of the characters who participates in the scheme to bring Benedick and Beatrice together.
Claudio Quotes in Much Ado About Nothing
The Much Ado About Nothing quotes below are all either spoken by Claudio or refer to Claudio. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 1
Quotes
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
“Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love:
therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues;
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.”
“Silence is the perfectest herald of joy: I were but little happy, if I could say how much.”
Related Characters:
Claudio (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 2
Quotes
“Even she: Leonato’s Hero, your Hero, every man’s Hero.”
Act 4, Scene 1
Quotes
“Oh what men dare do! what men may do! what men daily do, not knowing what they do!”
Related Characters:
Claudio (speaker)
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Claudio Character Timeline in Much Ado About Nothing
The timeline below shows where the character Claudio appears in Much Ado About Nothing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 1
...Leonato, Governor of Messina, to inform him that the Spanish Prince Don Pedro, the Florentine Claudio, and the Paduan Benedick have returned victorious from a recent battle. They have lost almost...
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...her in a battle of wits. When she hears that he is good friends with Claudio, she scoffs that he changes friends as quickly as he changes the fashion of his...
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Don Pedro, Don John, Balthazar, Claudio and Benedick arrive at the house. Don Pedro apologetically jokes that Leonato is “come to...
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...at his home for a month, and Don Pedro accepts on behalf of everyone. Privately, Claudio tells Benedick that he has fallen for Leonato’s daughter Hero, and asks him what he...
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Don Pedro enters the room where Benedick and Claudio are speaking, and asks what they are being so secretive about. Benedick instantly tells him...
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Now that Benedick is gone, Claudio speaks with Don Pedro more honestly about his love. He explains that before he left...
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Act 1, Scene 3
...of tapestry), Borachio learned of Don Pedro’s intention to disguise himself and woo Hero for Claudio. Don John complains that Claudio “has all the glory of [his] overthrow,” (1.3.67) in battle,...
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Act 2, Scene 1
The dance begins. Don Pedro, masked and assumed to be Claudio, goes off to propose to Hero. She wants to see his face, but he charmingly...
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Claudio concludes that in love, you cannot even trust your friends. Delivering a monologue, he observes...
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Just as Benedick is speaking of her, Beatrice arrives, along with Claudio, Leonato and Hero. Benedick and Beatrice begin arguing bitterly. A remark Beatrice makes seems to...
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Act 2, Scene 2
Don John has heard that Claudio and Hero are going to be married. Borachio proposes a plan to ruin it. Since...
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Act 2, Scene 3
Alone in Leonato’s garden, Benedick complains that Claudio, who he had considered a bachelor and a military man at heart, has become a...
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Don Pedro, Leonato, Claudio and Balthazar enter the garden. Benedick hides behind some trees, and though they see him...
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Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio talk somberly about Beatrice’s supposed love for Benedick. Aware that Benedick is listening from the...
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Act 3, Scene 2
Benedick arrives in the middle of a conversation between Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio. He is pale, melancholy, and complains of a toothache. Realizing what has happened, Don Pedro...
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Don John comes to tell Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero has been disloyal and is, in fact, “Every man’s Hero.”...
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Act 3, Scene 3
...the rain. Borachio brags that Don John has given him a thousand ducats for convincing Claudio and Don Pedro of Hero’s betrayal. For reasons which are unclear to Conrade, Borachio begins...
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Act 4, Scene 1
Claudio is about to be married to Hero in the church. When asked by the Friar...
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...a plan: Leonato will pretend that Hero has died, and meanwhile investigate the truth of Claudio’s accusations. If they are true, he will send her to a convent. If they are...
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...another. When Benedick says he would do anything for her, she asks him to kill Claudio for what he has done to Hero. When Benedick refuses, she claims she will be...
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Act 4, Scene 2
...clumsily interrogate Conrade and Borachio. Instead of focusing on the important matter in the case—that Claudio and Don Pedro have been tricked into doubting Hero’s faithfulness—Dogberry becomes obsessed with minor matters....
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Act 5, Scene 1
...this opinion childish, and advises him to get back at Don Pedro, Don John and Claudio instead. Leonato agrees, admitting he has come to believe his daughter was lied about.
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Don Pedro and Claudio arrive. When Leonato accuses them of murdering his daughter with their slander, a fight almost...
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Benedick arrives. Claudio and Don Pedro say that they had been looking for him, and mention the fight...
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...wisdoms could not discover, these shallow fools have brought to light.” (5.1.231-233) Don Pedro and Claudio are filled with remorse for their awful mistake, and Claudio exclaims that he again loves...
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Leonato and Antonio reenter, and Leonato forgives Claudio on the condition that he will admit Hero’s innocence, put an epitaph on her tomb,...
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Act 5, Scene 2
Beatrice arrives and wants to know what has happened between Benedick and Claudio. After learning that they have only had an argument, she threatens to leave without giving...
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Act 5, Scene 3
Don Pedro accompanies Claudio to the tomb of Hero. Claudio reads out an epitaph for her, and attendants sing...
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Act 5, Scene 4
Leonato, Benedick, Antonio and the Friar wait at the church for Claudio and Don Pedro. Everyone is happy that the slanders against Hero have been discredited, and...
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Claudio and Don Pedro arrive, and two masked women—Beatrice and Hero—are brought forward. Claudio, noticing that...
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...and relatives, and did not initially love each other after all. At the last minute, Claudio and Hero bring out two love poems: one written by Benedick for Beatrice, and one...
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