Stereotypes

I think that Shakespeare was making fun of the stereotypes in society. First of all, Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy, which means the characters are supposed to be somewhat comedic. For example, when Hero is accused of being a whore, no one assumes otherwise because she is a weak woman just like Eve. Yet, we as the reader know that this is not the case, and obviously she was not off being a whore and the automatic thought that she was was misguided. And also the fact that just because Beatrice does not fall in love that she is proud and heartless. Only witty women never fall in love, beauties like Hero, with not as much wit, just fall in love all over the place. Yet, in the end they both fall in love, showing us that the thought that the stereotype of headstrong women is also misguided
The lower class people are portrayed as dumb with low vocabulary. Yet, they provide an element of humor that everyone can understand. And they are made fun of in a way that almost makes them see unrealistic, portraying the way the higher classes thinks of them. This makes their thought seem wrong, that no one is so idiotic as to speak this way; hence Shakespeare makes fun of them.